# Red Goldens



## laurenC (Sep 20, 2017)

Red Goldens= typically field line. or are you speaking strictly color? as in darker golden? If you are speaking red golden as in field line...i really dont know any in southern california....at least not reputable.....


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## laurenC (Sep 20, 2017)

If you are speaking field line I would suggest you look in the mid west where they are more common and well bred. a 2-3 hour plane flight to wyoming, etc would be well worth your trouble. It is not that expensive in the grand scheme of things and you can take puppy home in cabin at 8 weeks with a soft carrier. But if you are speaking field line make sure you are well versed on what that entails. Typically they are bird dogs that are bred to have a lot of drive and have a ton of energy. It is definitely a different type altogether than the show lines. its just something to be aware of. difference in color within a line is one thing (in that case a golden is a golden is a golden) there are absolutely darker colored "show line dogs" but the difference in breeding of field vs. show lines is pretty substantial.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Be aware that the Golden you met had a nice temperament but also had an owner who put a lot of time and training into her. Goldens who can behave themselves at outdoor cafes are not an accident. The commitment to training is going to be 1-2 years depending on the dog. Daily obedience and exercise. I know you grew up with retrievers but it's very different to be responsible for training a puppy than it is to be a kid in the household just having fun with them.

You may need to be open to the idea of flying to pick up your puppy if you have your heart set on a certain shade of Gold. Reputable breeders aren't a dime a dozen and they often have waiting lists long before puppies are born.

You will have to be careful in your search, the pitfalls of using color as a primary filter for your search is that you typically will only find crummy breeders this way. Good, reputable hobby breeders do not talk about their dogs coat colors on their websites, they talk about their dogs talents and the training they do for their hobbies and the events they compete in. As mentioned above, the field, performance and obedience breeders will generally have darker dogs. That is what you will need to use for your search filter "field" "hunt test" "obedience" "agility" etc. If you search obedience clubs and retriever clubs in your region you should be able to start that way with your hunt.

If you haven't already done so, I strongly suggest that you learn as much about health clearances and reputable breeders code of ethics in advance, it will help you weed out the really bad choices. www.grca.org is the best place to start after you've looked through the threads on the forum.

This breeder is not close to you but they're on the Pacific Coast and might be a good resource for leads on litters bred by other people. You could try contacting them and explaining that you are looking for a litter that might have pet puppies (they breed dogs for working homes mostly) and see if they could help. They will have plenty of connections. https://www.headsupkennels.com/about-us/ 

This person is not a breeder but has male dogs who are darker Gold and brilliant (I'm biased, her dogs are related to mine) and she won't have puppies but sometimes her dogs will sire a litter and she is extremely ethical and serious about clearances and could be another resource on who to contact on the west coast.

You could also try searching for Hunting Retriever Clubs or AKC Retriever clubs in your region and asking for help finding a Golden Breeder who is involved with hunt tests or performance and is very careful about clearances. 

Good luck with your search, it will take some work, just don't fall for websites advertising "American Red" Goldens - that's every bit as bad as the ones marking "English Creme" etc. If you see that term, keep looking. Reputable hobby people don't say things like that.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Color is the last thing to consider. But will promise you, when you choose a good breeder that will pick the perfect puppy for your family you won't care what color it is  What you fell in love with was a well behaved golden that just happened to be darker. You will find that puppies are easy to find, good breeders that do all 4 clearances and competes in some venue with their dogs is your challenge. Nolefan is spot on, read up on what's important to breeding a golden and maybe begin your journey at a dog show to get the names of reputable breeders. Be prepared to get on a waiting list, this is going to take some time. 
Good luck!

Welcome to the forum!


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

Of course, we all have color preferences. But when buying a dog, color should be way down the list of things to look for. Besides, puppies in the same litter can vary in color, sometimes dramatically. Here are three pups from our recent litter. Notice the different shades.










The girl in the middle did, indeed, grow up to be dark. (Oops, didn't know there was drawing on this photo.)










But her brother is lighter.










And their mother is in-between.










I'm in Southern California and I have put together a list of SoCal breeders, but I can't think of any I would recommend that specialize in "red" Goldens. If color is your thing, you'll just have to ask around about particular litters. But often by the time the litter is on the ground they are already spoken for.

It sounds like what you're really looking for is temperament. Goldens range in temperament. Some are couch potatoes, while others are so intense they make for great performance dogs but poor house dogs. We breed fairly energetic dogs, and I can't tell you how many inquiries we get looking for a "calm therapy dog." Someone picking a dark puppy from us in the belief they would get a calm dog might be very disappointed. Sometimes we get a very calm pup, but you wouldn't know it by color. 

I suggest you make a list of traits that are important to you -- color can be one, for sure -- and contact the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles puppy referral. Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Angeles | Golden Retriever Puppies


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## GoldenDude (Nov 5, 2016)

Color should be your last consideration. Color has nothing to do with personality, trainability, or good health. Service dog organizations have a definite need to produce dogs that have an excellent temperament, are easily trained, and will be healthy. Many factors go into their breeding decisions. Coat color isn’t even on the radar.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm just thinking that if you head north, you'll find more than a few goldens who are darker shades of gold. Rush Hill pedigrees have a little more color. 

In theory a lot of the show bred goldens are also being bred for pet homes. This means many things, but also some breeders might be cautious about selling pups who are high octane to regular people.

Please don't assume though that all show goldens are bred specifically for that calm temperament. Among else, whenever I mention how active and spunky (very spunky) my puppy is, everyone says that's the best temperament for showing. They don't always want a sluggish and quiet dog....

I want my pup to do both obedience and conformation - which for obedience, having a dog who wants to keep doing things over and over and doesn't want to STOP - it's a fun dog to work with. Ditto having a pup who wants things in his mouth at all times - will be a GODSEND for training for JH. 

So this pup gains energy and drive as I'm training him - and gets pretty worked up when I keep the training abbreviated. And takes a while to cycle back down....

And I have holes in most of my clothes and scratches on my hands, arms, legs from the mouthing. <= That mouthing, I swear, goes hand in hand with having a dog who naturally wants things in his mouth. 

But this is a show bred puppy, not a performance bred pup.

He's very different from his dad who is flashy and active and shows it when he's off leash and rushing through the bushes... but he can be more lazy when it comes to working. My whole routine right now with me keeping things VERY SHORT and not repeating things more than once sometimes... is what it is because of this dog.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

DanaRuns said:


> Of course, we all have color preferences. But when buying a dog, color should be way down the list of things to look for. Besides, puppies in the same litter can vary in color, sometimes dramatically. Here are three pups from our recent litter. Notice the different shades.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Gorgeous red girl! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a pretty red! My boy is a lighter color like the brother pictured. Mom and dad are both medium gold. You just never know what color you’ll get.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I have a six month old field bred "red golden" that I am training right now and would just warn to do your research before you buy. I grew up with Golden's 40 years ago and have had one in my life ever since. I've owned both types if you will, field and show bred. I honestly have in years past bought more based on health clearances and my personal knowledge of the breeder until recently. My son is now an adult and is a hunting guide. He as a teen decided he really wanted to raise a working dog so we started to head in the field bred direction. Our first professionally trained hunt Golden was a show/field line mix that was beautiful and we were very lucky he is an amazing field dog. (Much to our trainers surprise) I still have him and he is retiring from the field this year, but will be mommy's coffee companion while my son and husband go off to hunt.
What I wanted to warn you about is what I think happens to many people. We have a good friend that bought a puppy at the same time we got our new guy. This is their first Golden and he is a perfect pet for them in my opinion. He's laid back, easy to train, exactly what they need. They however love the color of our guy and really wanted me to tell them where to get "one like him". I tried to explain the difference and sort of just bowed out gracefully from their puppy buying process after explaining what clearances I felt they must have on any Golden they decided to buy. They came for a play date to socialize their puppy with our adult dog and puppy the other day. We live on a farm so it's a good place to let them run. They were blown away by the difference in temperament and energy level between the dogs. Our puppy literally ran circles around all of us and after maybe 15 minutes theirs laid happily at their feet. Ours is also very mouthy. When they left they said they knew their puppy would sleep well all night. We were going to swim ours for water retrieves, then take a play break so he didn't get bored, do his leash work, bumper work, and after another break work on some back and forth running drills to reinforce the whistle and here command.
We travel with our dogs and constantly get comments about how well behaved they are but people have no idea how much exercise they get, or that they have been trained the way the have when they see them at Fort Wilderness in Disney World. My six month old is leaving me soon for a few months of professional training and I will miss him everyday, but he needs a purpose in my opinion. He was bred for it and he loves it. That is what all that crazy energy is for and by the way my older Golden still does all the exercises and runs just as much as the puppy but he has an injury and we are TRYING to keep him a little more still. I would never discourage anyone from buying any Golden. I truly believe every one of them is terrific, but I do believe there are good and bad fits for lifestyles and a good breeder will help you with the decision but be careful in going for just color. Field Goldens tend to be "red" but they also tend to be really high energy. JMO and I'm just an owner and by no means an expert.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Interestingly enough I had several people contact me because they wanted a reddish Golden. To this day I get inquiries. I turned most of them away explaining that my breeding was for very energetic hunting dogs and they were not meant to be pets. I did part with two dogs that went to very active pet homes. 



I might add my preferences are for darker working dogs. I have my reasons...


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## David Pearson (Aug 30, 2018)

Thanks for the post, very educational. I was looking at health base on color until I read this. I have been doing a lot of reading, looking for that perfect Golden, heath wise and personality. 

Does the line determine how energetic they are or is it how they are raise in the early age? 

Blondie came from a farm, but she did not like the gun fire. She knew what a gun was too. I got her when she was two, she kill one to many chickens next door on the farm. She was very energetic and would follow me up any mountain and river (great swimmer too).


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Mine are field/show combination. They never stop! Even my “laid back” boy is probably too much for the average pet owner.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

David Pearson said:


> Thanks for the post, very educational. I was looking at health base on color until I read this. I have been doing a lot of reading, looking for that perfect Golden, heath wise and personality.
> 
> *Does the line determine how energetic they are or is it how they are raise in the early age? *
> 
> Blondie came from a farm, but she did not like the gun fire. She knew what a gun was too. I got her when she was two, she kill one to many chickens next door on the farm. She was very energetic and would follow me up any mountain and river (great swimmer too).



You definitely can tell a lot from their pedigree. If there is a strong pedigree of field/hunt titles, you are probably looking at a higher energy line. If you have a high-energy working dog, you need to cater to that in their training and exercise and care, starting in early age. But you aren't going to create or prevent a high-energy dog through the way you raise them, if that's what you are asking. 

My little red girl is what's called a "versatile" Golden - nice combo of field and obedience and agility and show in her pedigree. Her mum was dark red, her father medium gold, and she just happened to take after her mom in terms of looks. So many people look at her and think, high energy field-bred Golden. But she's not. She has great energy, which I counter with lots of exercise and training, but she has a great off switch, too.


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