# Golden mix that's all black?



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

I joined here because a lot of people have told me my dog, who is all black, could possibly have some Golden retriever in her. I can see where that might be possible as she does look retrieverish to some degree, has the great big plume of a tail, and her personality matches the description for the Golden retriever. We're pretty sure she has border collie in there and while Flat-coat has been mentioned many times her head shape doesn't match the "one piece" look of the flat coat.

So anyone know anything about genetics? Is it possible that a dog that's a mix of Golden and something else could end up all black? Or is that highly unlikely?

Thanks all!


----------



## Bell (Jan 23, 2010)

I was also thinking flatcoated retriever.


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Can you post any pictures of her? A lot of people here can take some educated guesses.

If whatever other breed she has in her, is black, then I don't see why not. Like Lab / Golden mix.

Welcome to the board!!!


----------



## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Very possible that a Golden mix would be black. I have a friend whose purebred Golden became pregnant by one of her clients black labs. All the puppies were solid black and most had the longer, Golden type of coat.


----------



## Ambesi (Jul 16, 2009)

My Moose is a golden retriever/border collie cross. As you can see, he's mostly black, but does have a white blaze on his chest. His personality is all golden though.


----------



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

It's entirely possible. One of the dogs that we had when I was a kid was a golden retriever/black lab cross. Mom was golden and dad was a black lab. We rescued him from the shelter when he was a puppy. He was all black with a longer coat like a golden. We also had a yellow lab/golden retriever mix who was a pale golden color. Could you post a picture or two?


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

I'm glad to post pictures! I didn't want to inundate the group with pics of my girl (her name is Dahlia, btw). I take...let's just say "a lot" of pictures (I have over 2000 on my flickr account). Here are a few.

Laying down in the grass, good frontal picture of her face (her nose is all black; she had recently cut it there, hence the pink splotch):










Dahlia's head from the side.










Dahlia standing from the side (she was wagging her tail in the pic):










And just because, here's a couple others:










Here's the gigantic tail.










I hope those help!


----------



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

I can definitely see a bit of golden in her, especially in that fourth picture. She looks a lot like the golden/black lab mix I had growing up.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

I suppose, as I consider it, it's possible she has more than one retriever in there, since her history is unknown. We're almost 100% positive there's border collie in there as she shows herding behaviors (stalking, eye, crouching down, attempting to herd the geese and ducks at our local pond). But there could be a bunch of retrievers in there with it.


----------



## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

Welcome to the forum.
All my dogs have been rescues so, I know nothing about breed standards.
But - I think Ranger on here has a full black GR cross.

She has a beautiful coat and such an impressive tail!!!


----------



## Ambesi (Jul 16, 2009)

I can see how she could have some golden in her. Like jwemt81 said, especially in pic #4. I love how long the feathers are on her tail. Gorgeous! I just looked up some pictures of flat coat retrievers and she has a lot of similarities of that breed as well. Most noteably the muzzle.


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

She is absolutely gorgeous, and I see golden in her too.

If you are willing to spend the money, there are now DNA tests out there to satisfy your curiousity.


----------



## Adriennelane (Feb 13, 2008)

Oh, she can be a black golden mix. Meet Dory, my black lab / golden mix puppy.


----------



## ruby55 (Mar 24, 2009)

I had a black lab/golden mix. He looked like a big black golden. Full feathers, pants, and bib. He even had the "smart bump" on his skull. I'm positive he was part golden as I helped "birth" him. I loved him very much; he was my BFF. He inherited his brains from his father though. He was named after Mongo, the character in Blazing Saddles because that's how he acted. "Mongo LIKE candy!!!"


----------



## CosbysMommy (Feb 20, 2010)

I can see some Golden in there, I love black golden mixes! :-D lol


----------



## fuzzbuzz (Aug 3, 2008)

Dahlia is beautiful. Agree with the others, Golden in there. She looks so sweet.


----------



## LauraBella (Feb 9, 2010)

I enjoyed the snaps of all the Black Beauties. Pretty babies, whatever the lineage.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Thank you all for your kind comments! Dahlia IS very sweet. She's just the nicest dog. Loves everyone, including men and women and children and dogs and cats. lol She's never met someone who's not her best friend in the whole wide world. I couldn't imagine a more wonderful companion!

I always forget to include this, but in case anyone is wondering, she weighs 52 lbs.

I never can see the flat coat muzzle there, but I think it's her higher-set ears that throw me off when I look at it, because they change the shape of her head a bit. If I cover them up I can see the flat coat possibility. I'm pretty sure she has some retriever in there (not that she can retrieve lol) and she definitely has the personality, except for her herding behavior times. I thought I'd add a couple more pictures as a thank you, since all of those are so darned serious. She doesn't ALWAYS look quite so serious!


----------



## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

crysania said:


> Thank you all for your kind comments! Dahlia IS very sweet. She's just the nicest dog. Loves everyone, including men and women and children and dogs and cats. lol She's never met someone who's not her best friend in the whole wide world. I couldn't imagine a more wonderful companion!
> 
> I always forget to include this, but in case anyone is wondering, she weighs 52 lbs.
> 
> I never can see the flat coat muzzle there, but I think it's her higher-set ears that throw me off when I look at it, because they change the shape of her head a bit. If I cover them up I can see the flat coat possibility. I'm pretty sure she has some retriever in there (not that she can retrieve lol) and she definitely has the personality, except for her herding behavior times. I thought I'd add a couple more pictures as a thank you, since all of those are so darned serious. She doesn't ALWAYS look quite so serious!


the picture on the chair up-side-down...makes her Golden.


----------



## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

You have a gorgeous dog! I definitely see golden retriever in there, along with the border collie you mentioned too! Thanks for sharing pics with us


----------



## mullietucksmom (Mar 22, 2009)

She is beautiful.. I love Flat Coats.. I don't see Flat Coat in there. So I'd go with Lab and Golden..


----------



## desilu (Nov 2, 2006)

My late, great, Winnie-the-Pooch was a collie/golden retriever mix. As you can see, she was black with white on her chest. (The white on her face came with old age. She was 12 in this picture.)


----------



## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Could totally be a golden/border collie mix, or with some flat coat in there. With border collies they do come in a gold/red color much like a golden, and those dogs can produce black puppies, and two black border collies with the right genes can produce gold puppies. Or chocolate, blue, sable....

I do see a bit of flatcoat in the head but then again who knows. Doesn't matter, she looks very cute!

Lana


----------



## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

I see golden/lab and maybe some Border collie, with the white on the tummy.
The head sure is golden! I don't see flat coat either. She is adoreable!


----------



## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

crysania said:


> I'm glad to post pictures! I didn't want to inundate the group with pics of my girl (her name is Dahlia, btw). I take...let's just say "a lot" of pictures (I have over 2000 on my flickr account). Here are a few.
> 
> Laying down in the grass, good frontal picture of her face (her nose is all black; she had recently cut it there, hence the pink splotch):
> 
> ...


:wavey:She is gorgeous!! My Nellie is a black lab/ golden retriever mix. She has more of a blocky type head and weighs about 78lbs. I just love her!  Beautiful pictures, you have talent!


----------



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I have the opposite end of the golden/lab mix in my Jasmine. I know for a fact that her mother was a purebred golden, but dad was anyone's guess. She turned out to look almost pure black lab. Her coat isn't black though, she is a very, very dark brown. 










Your girl is adorable!


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

nellie'smom said:


> :wavey:She is gorgeous!! My Nellie is a black lab/ golden retriever mix. She has more of a blocky type head and weighs about 78lbs. I just love her!  Beautiful pictures, you have talent!


Aww thank you! I'm not so sure if it's talent or just the ability to take hundreds of photos to get the right ones. LOL She's a beautiful subject though and I love taking photos of her!

Dahlia has a thinner, smaller build than most retrievers. She always looks, to me, she has a slightly larger than average border collie body with the gorgeous plumey tail of the Golden plus a more retrieverish head with higher-set ears.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

fostermom said:


> I have the opposite end of the golden/lab mix in my Jasmine. I know for a fact that her mother was a purebred golden, but dad was anyone's guess. She turned out to look almost pure black lab. Her coat isn't black though, she is a very, very dark brown.
> 
> Your girl is adorable!


Wow she does look almost like a purebred black lab, though I can see that her coat is lighter than the black. She's gorgeous! It's funny how genetics work sometimes. 

We have NO clue about either of Dahlia's parents. She was picked up as a stray, somewhere around (best guess) 2 1/2 years of age. No history, no idea what she was. The originally listed her as a lab/chow mix because her tongue had spots on them, but I'm 100% certain there's no chow in her.

Dahlia's coat does have a sort of reddish/brownish undertone (my partner calls them her "copper colored highlights"). You can see them pretty well here:











Most of the time she looks all black but if the light hits her or if you look closely at her, you can see the reddish-brown underneath the black.


----------



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Those red highlights make me lean even more towards a golden mix. I had a lab/golden (we were sure of the mix because the people we got her from had the mom, who was a golden and the next door neighbor's lab had "visited") who had the long hair and the red highlights. I always loved that color!


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Thank you! I'm thinking more and more it's likely that there's Golden in there. Which makes me happy as I love both Border collies and Goldens. If that's the combo she is, it's made one awesome dog!

And I love your dogs in the pool! They look like they're having a blast! One of my goals this year is to get Dahlia to try swimming. She loves water and will go into it up to her neck, but she won't let her feet leave the ground yet.


----------



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Thanks! That's up at the lake, actually. The dog on the right, Jasper, doesn't like to swim at all! That's why the top of his back and his head look dry. The other two would play in the water all day long if it were possible. Especially Jasmine!


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

You know, a part of me KNEW that was an actual body of water but then I wrote pool. I have no idea why. LOL

Dahlia has a blast in the water and will dunk her head right under (she looks crazy and spiky haired when she does it too...she's hilarious when all wet!). But she just won't let her feet leave the ground. Did you teach your dogs to swim or is that just something they learned on their own>


----------



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

It just came naturally. Jasper can swim, but he is like Dahlia, he prefers his feet on the ground! I have a video of Jasmine when she took her first swim at 4 months old. She looked like a seal! She adored (and still adores) the water. Danny is pretty much the same. Jasper prefers to wade and do his superman imitation when he gets too warm. LOL


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Superman imitation? LOL

I'm hoping we might be able to lure Dahlia in a little further this summer. She'll do almost anything for chicken or steak! She'll also do almost anything for other dogs. She would barely go in the water until we went to a local creek and met up with two other dogs (a lab and a golden retriever) who were in and out of the water playing fetch. Then it became the best time ever for her.

I found out there's a "dog beach" a few hours from us so we're going to head there this summer, camp nearby, and see if she'll go further into the water.


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

What a gorgeous dog! There's some crazy resemblance between our dogs! I think Ranger is a flat coat/golden cross, but I just tell people who ask that he's a flat coat x. His adoption society had him listed as a golden/husky/shepherd x for some wild reason. 

Does your dog have much of an undercoat? I've been told flatties typically have little to no undercoat and Ranger has none at all. Even with this minus 30 degree winter he hasn't grown much of a coat. That plus his really light eyes makes me think he's a flattie cross, though he has more of golden retriever head/body. Here's some pics!

Had to add: Ranger also has/had some reddish highlights on his chest/belly which are only noticeable in direct sunlight. I think they might have disappeared this winter though...I'll have to check. Ranger's not an enthusiastic swimmer, either. He's happy to wade in up to his chest but the few times I carried him deep enough to swim he was very unhappy. He also does the belly to the ground stalk while staring at "prey" (which includes other dogs he's interested in or children he wants to meet), but shows no herding instinct at all.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Aww they do look a lot alike! How big is he? He looks quite a bit larger than Dahlia. He's a handsome dog! I would definitely have guessed some sort of flat coat or flattie mix. He has the "flat coat" I suppose they're known for! 

Dahlia definitely has an undercoat. Quite a thick one really. She shed it out all over our apartment the first summer we had her. Good thing I wear dark clothes because I was covered in it! lol Last summer she didn't shed too much of it out. I'm not sure if it's because the summer was really cool compared to the year before or if it was because she was eating a better quality food than the year before.

But there's definitely an undercoat there. My furminator attests to that! lol


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger was 25'' at the withers when I measured him last May and 66 lbs, which was too skinny for him. He's hovering around 73 lbs now which is a little too much "padding" so I'll say he's supposed to be about 70 lbs. I think in the pics, he's around 70 lbs. He's also incredibly long...I'm not sure how long most goldens or flat-coats are but I've had some people think he's a hound cross by how long his body is. (That and his funny howling bark he does, "whoo whoo whoo whoo!"). 

I'm lucky with the no undercoat! He barely sheds at all, actually. He's losing his winter coat right now so there's a little more hair on the floor but usually I only vaccuum once a week and barely pick up any Ranger hair. 

I love seeing all the pics of these gorgeous dogs!


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

We vacuum quite a bit and there's all sorts of Dahlia hair around. It's in everything I swear. I'm content with it though. I knew she would be a shedder when we got her. She's not as bad as some dogs though. Our neighbor's German Shepherd has hair flying off him when you pet him, which doesn't happen with Dahlia despite how thick her coat is. (I know they call them German Shedders for a reason!).

Dahlia's much smaller than Ranger. She looks pretty big in the pictures, but she really only weighs about 52 lbs (and was around 21-22 inches tall when I measured her). She looks tiny next to our friend's 95 lb Golden retriever. You can see the resemblance but she looks so dainty next to that big guy. She has these tiny little paws too. His paws were huge when he put them in my hand, but she's got little feet!


----------



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

I didn't read every post...so I apologize if this is a repeat.

I have a golden mix who is black and white like a border collie or aussie. Black is a dominant coat color and so often will show up with golden mixes where one parent is black.


----------



## Griffyn'sMom (Mar 22, 2007)

My friend has a Golden/Lab mix that looks just like a black Golden Retriever. She is wonderful! 

I'd love to see more pics of your dog. (must scroll back through the pages to see if you already posted some.)

Edit: Just looked further - ooooh she is lovely!!!


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Griffyn'sMom said:


> My friend has a Golden/Lab mix that looks just like a black Golden Retriever. She is wonderful!
> 
> I'd love to see more pics of your dog. (must scroll back through the pages to see if you already posted some.)


Yep I posted a bunch of photos of her early on and then a few others smattered throughouth. She's a beautiful dog, but I might be partial. ;-)


----------



## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

What a BEAUTIFUL dog!! Have you thought about ordering one of the DNA tests they have for dogs these days? They aren't 100% but will give you a primary and secondary listing of breeds. There is a cheek swab version (cheaper) and also a blood draw you can get through your vet. We were cuirious about our curly Barkley and did the cheek swab one first (didn't send in photos so there wouldn't be any cheating..) and it came back as golden retriever. We still didn't believe so we went with the blood draw (which for some unknown reason I believed would be more reliable even though DNA is DNA is DNA). It came back the exact same. Anyway, a DNA test might satisfy curiousity, though some people don't believe the results.

Enjoy your beautiful baby!


----------



## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

Ranger said:


> What a gorgeous dog! There's some crazy resemblance between our dogs! I think Ranger is a flat coat/golden cross, but I just tell people who ask that he's a flat coat x. His adoption society had him listed as a golden/husky/shepherd x for some wild reason.
> 
> Does your dog have much of an undercoat? I've been told flatties typically have little to no undercoat and Ranger has none at all. Even with this minus 30 degree winter he hasn't grown much of a coat. That plus his really light eyes makes me think he's a flattie cross, though he has more of golden retriever head/body. Here's some pics!
> 
> Had to add: Ranger also has/had some reddish highlights on his chest/belly which are only noticeable in direct sunlight. I think they might have disappeared this winter though...I'll have to check. Ranger's not an enthusiastic swimmer, either. He's happy to wade in up to his chest but the few times I carried him deep enough to swim he was very unhappy. He also does the belly to the ground stalk while staring at "prey" (which includes other dogs he's interested in or children he wants to meet), but shows no herding instinct at all.


 Now that is a Nellie look alike! Ranger looks a lot like my Nellie!


----------



## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

These dogs are SO BEAUTIFUL! The rich amber eyes paired with the long, glossy black coat is just gorgeous.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Dallas Gold said:


> What a BEAUTIFUL dog!! Have you thought about ordering one of the DNA tests they have for dogs these days? They aren't 100% but will give you a primary and secondary listing of breeds. There is a cheek swab version (cheaper) and also a blood draw you can get through your vet. We were cuirious about our curly Barkley and did the cheek swab one first (didn't send in photos so there wouldn't be any cheating..) and it came back as golden retriever. We still didn't believe so we went with the blood draw (which for some unknown reason I believed would be more reliable even though DNA is DNA is DNA). It came back the exact same. Anyway, a DNA test might satisfy curiousity, though some people don't believe the results.
> 
> Enjoy your beautiful baby!


Thank you! I do enjoy her...a lot. We've had her for almost 2 years now and she's just the most amazing dog. We love her so much.

I'm glad to hear of a good experience with the DNA tests. We've thought about doing that but so many people say they're pretty inaccurate. I thought I might wait a little bit before doing it but I may some day down the line!


----------



## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

My Raine also resembles the X's here. I was originally told she was a golden/flat coat mix, but like you I believe there is border collie in her. As far as the gold color in the sun, I discount that because I had a black cat who shone a brownish gold in the sun or bright light. 

Here is my baby girl. She is smaller than my conformation golden, and my field golden coming in at about 50.5 lbs and 20 inches.

She really hates having her photo taken, so its hard to get good shots.


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Cham, I can totally see some border collie in your girl. The shape of her ears, the way she's walking in the first pic, and especially the way she's holding her ears in the 2nd last pic completely reminds me of my old border collie. She's a gorgeous girl, that's for sure. 

Crysania - I've also thought about doing the DNA test...just haven't gotten around to it yet. I was a little skeptical about the accuracy as well, which I'm sure is partly the reason I haven't done it. Also, I just had to say I love Dahlia's name - very clever!

It's hard to see in the pics, but does anyone else's dog have really light coloured eyes? My old golden retriever (purebred) had the deepest coloured brown eyes I've ever seen, like chocolate pudding. My old border collie's eyes were a lighter shade, but Ranger's are even lighter than that. You can really see in the one pic I posted how very light his eyes are. Any other light-cloured eyed dogs out there?


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Dahlia's eyes are an amber colour. They're pretty bright, almost organgish at times. This is about the best picture I have of her eyes.










As for the name? Alas I cannot take credit. The shelter named her that (she's black see...Black Dahlia...lol) and it just kind of stuck!


----------



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I saw what I thought was a Black Golden Retriever at my son's ballgame years ago and fell in love with the look of the dog. Turned out the dog was a Flat Coated Retriever. Flatties are said to Not have a Golden's temperament/personality, which is why I love Goldens, so having a dog that looks like a Flattie with the disposition of a Golden sounds like a win/win to me.  She's beautiful...as are all the mixes posted in this thread. 

I hope to pester the DH into letting me rescue a pup one day. Hopefully it'll be a Golden mix that looks like these beauties.


----------



## Ambesi (Jul 16, 2009)

crysania said:


> Dahlia's eyes are an amber colour. They're pretty bright, almost organgish at times. This is about the best picture I have of her eyes.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Moose's eyes are almost the same color as Dahlia's. I think that's the border collie gene there.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Ambesi said:


> Moose's eyes are almost the same color as Dahlia's. I think that's the border collie gene there.


I think it is too. It's a very intense colour. Probably helps with the BC "eye." Alas, the ducks and geese do not seem to be intimidated by it (they are, however, intimidated by 50 lbs of black dog hurtling at them).


----------



## Adriennelane (Feb 13, 2008)

The reddish/ gold tint in black fur occurs in a lot of black animals. There's a red pigment in it. I've thought about buying black on black shampoo for Dory to counteract the red pigment in her ears with green.


----------



## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

Ranger said:


> Cham, I can totally see some border collie in your girl. The shape of her ears, the way she's walking in the first pic, and especially the way she's holding her ears in the 2nd last pic completely reminds me of my old border collie. She's a gorgeous girl, that's for sure.
> 
> Crysania - I've also thought about doing the DNA test...just haven't gotten around to it yet. I was a little skeptical about the accuracy as well, which I'm sure is partly the reason I haven't done it. Also, I just had to say I love Dahlia's name - very clever!
> 
> It's hard to see in the pics, but does anyone else's dog have really light coloured eyes? My old golden retriever (purebred) had the deepest coloured brown eyes I've ever seen, like chocolate pudding. My old border collie's eyes were a lighter shade, but Ranger's are even lighter than that. You can really see in the one pic I posted how very light his eyes are. Any other light-cloured eyed dogs out there?


 
Some day I will do the DNA testing when I have the $$$. Raine has the darkest chocolate brown eyes, much darker than my PB Goldens. The goldens have a medium brown color. I have to say that Raine has the best disposition out of the the three of them. The sweetest and most obedient. And I am convinced that what they thought was a hearing impairment when I adopted her, is actually just the intense focus of a herding dog...


----------



## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

Adriennelane said:


> The reddish/ gold tint in black fur occurs in a lot of black animals. There's a red pigment in it. I've thought about buying black on black shampoo for Dory to counteract the red pigment in her ears with green.


 
Where can you find that shampoo? I would love to bring out more shine and lose the rusty tone on Raine's legs...


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I checked Ranger today and he's lost the reddish tinge to his coat. I wonder if it's like how horses with black manes/tails will fade and get a reddish hue from the sun. Ranger was chained up outside for his first 9 months so it'd make sense if that's how he got them and why they're not there anymore after being inside most of the winter. 

You can buy a shampoo for horses called "quic colour" that really emphasizes dark colours; it'd probably be gentle enough for dogs. There's SO many different products in the horse world for keeping grey horses white and bays/blacks as dark as can be. I actually fed paprika to my chestnut horse for awhile and his coat turned a rich dark, liver chestnut. He looked almost black except for reddish tint to his legs. I wonder if a sprinkle of paprika would make Ranger's coat even blacker...hmmmm.


----------



## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

The lighter eyes do happen in Goldens (and all breeds for that matter). I think it's just a matter of pigment, same as how some goldens will have a black nose year round and others get snow nose or just pink noses instead. Same as the feet/pads can be black or pink.

I asked about it on a border collie list a month or so ago because I wondered the same thing, many of the chocolate border collies I've seen have light yellow eyes and then I saw some pictures of dogs with the darker eye, which is prefered in the show ring. I don't think the livestock cares much what coloured eyes the dog has, usually they're more concerned with the colour of the teeth! 

Lana


----------



## Adriennelane (Feb 13, 2008)

cham said:


> Where can you find that shampoo? I would love to bring out more shine and lose the rusty tone on Raine's legs...


http://www.chrissystems.com/whiteon.htm

My Lucy has light eyes, nose, and lips, but she's pure golden. I've seen her mom and dad and brothers.


----------



## tessalover (Nov 29, 2009)

crysania said:


> You know, a part of me KNEW that was an actual body of water but then I wrote pool. I have no idea why. LOL
> 
> Dahlia has a blast in the water and will dunk her head right under (she looks crazy and spiky haired when she does it too...she's hilarious when all wet!). But she just won't let her feet leave the ground. Did you teach your dogs to swim or is that just something they learned on their own>


 
My golden Tessa was horrified of water she would love to go to the beach and walk along the side, but if water touched her she would freack. But finally when she was a year old I took her for a walk at the beach and she slowly took her self in a little bit, but still wouldn't go in so I went back to the house got some cloths on incase I went in the water to and we went back and threw some stick sin and she would go in, but if it touched the top of her back she wouldn't go any farhter. So when she was two I had her on the leash and I just slowly took my time and walked her in until I knew she couldn't touch she was scared at first, but then as soon as she knew she was ok she loved it. And now she's six and if she's any water watch out! She loves water however she won't go off are boat dock with my friends dog yet. She's so funny about it because she knows how she can get dog by my friends dog in the water she when he jumps in at the end she runs to the part where she knows it;s not really deep and jumps in the water that way and then will swim out past are boat dock with my friends dog. Of course when she is on the dock she wears a life jacket along with when she's on the boat (when we stop the boat in the water to get out and swim she like's to jump out so she has to wear it), but when we just playing fetch she doesn't use a life jacket. 

P.S. - (crysania) : your dog is beautiful! And she for sure has some Golden in her. I think she has a cross of lab/collie and golden in her.


----------



## kaysy (Jan 9, 2010)

Gorgeous dog, novice here, but I'd say golden/black lab. Isn't her head too wide for a flat coated? I thought they were "smaller boned". I think Dahlia looks like a black golden retriever.


----------



## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

Adriennelane said:


> The reddish/ gold tint in black fur occurs in a lot of black animals. There's a red pigment in it. I've thought about buying black on black shampoo for Dory to counteract the red pigment in her ears with green.


 
I just ordered the Black on Black, Red on Red, Gold on Gold, and the Ice on Ice. I have 3 dogs, one black, one red, and one gold, and Ice on Ice works as a detangler, shine product. This should be interesting! See how it works!:crossfing


----------



## Adriennelane (Feb 13, 2008)

cham said:


> I just ordered the Black on Black, Red on Red, Gold on Gold, and the Ice on Ice. I have 3 dogs, one black, one red, and one gold, and Ice on Ice works as a detangler, shine product. This should be interesting! See how it works!:crossfing



Let me know about the Black on Black! Dory's really starting to show a lot of red. She look purpleish at times.


----------



## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

Adriennelane said:


> Let me know about the Black on Black! Dory's really starting to show a lot of red. She look purpleish at times.


 
Darn computer ate my first post as I was almost finished...:doh:

Anyway, The Black on Black give a great shine to the coat, I will have repeat the treatment on her tail and legs, but the rest of her coat is gorgeous. I have gotten so many complements on her color, What was a pleasant surprise, is the white blaze on her chest DIDNT discolor at all!
The Gold on Gold I can't see much difference in Hailey's gold coat, some but not much.
The biggest surprise was the Red on Red, Beautiful shine and color on Mitchman, and according to the bottle the more you use it the deeper the red. You could go mahogny if you choose to. I did find a red spot on the carpet the next day from where Mitch was layingh, but with a bit of Resolve carpet cleaner and the carpet cleaner it came right up!
I also ordered the Ice on Ice, which is a wet or dry spray on conditioner/detangler. It leaves an incredible non greasy shine. 
I would definately recommend these products, just wear old colors as the colors does show on your clothing but it does eventually come out in the wash, and the red does also stain your skin, but again several washings takes the color off. 
I would definately recommend these products.


----------



## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Wow!!*

*Your dog is absolutely gorgeous!! What a knockout*
My first impression looking at her is she could possibly be Flat Coated Retriever, but I know the breed standard is very s!!!!trict, so I would guess Golden Retriever/Border Collie or Golden Retriever/Black Lab.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Karen519 said:


> *Your dog is absolutely gorgeous!! What a knockout*
> My first impression looking at her is she could possibly be Flat Coated Retriever, but I know the breed standard is very s!!!!trict, so I would guess Golden Retriever/Border Collie or Golden Retriever/Black Lab.


Thank you! She has some herding instincts and since she's smaller than either a lab or Golden (only about 50lbs) I'm figuring BC is definitely in there (alternately, it could be Australian shepherd). And from everyone's responses on the board I've pretty much decided to call her a BC/Golden mix. It seems to fit her personality and looks best.


----------



## Stircrazy (Nov 30, 2009)

Ok, I am going to be a minority, I don't see the golden, I do asee flatcoat, especialy in the muzzel/head and on a few other features. 

I think we all tend to "want" to see golden because we love them so much so we see what we want to see.

nice dog though

Steve


----------



## EvilNessCroft (Feb 17, 2009)

What a gorgeous dog!!!! Love her black shiny coat! And Dahlia is a lovely name!


----------



## MelieBianco (Mar 23, 2010)

Lurker here, :wavey: but I'm so glad this thread was bumped! (I've owned purebred Goldens in the past, so I registered here but have yet to really post because I know my new boy isnt a pure Golden, so I feel a little out of place..! 

We adopted an 8 week old Border Collie/Golden Retriever mix on Sunday. I did a lot of Googling before bringing this little guy home, and other owners out there have appropriately have nicknamed them 'Coltrievers.' Here is a link to a pool of 'Coltrievers' on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/groups/coltrievercrossbreeds/pool/

I DEFINITELY think Dahlia looks to be a Border/Golden mix.  Our Beau is from a litter of 7, and 3 of the 7 puppies were all black. (He had the most white actually.) Below are a few pics of the variations from the litter that were taken by the breeder:

























Below are the pics we took of our Beau, and he picked up a lot of the border collie markings vs his litter mates - so the markings can vary quite a lot.


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

Oh wow! Beau and all his siblings are GORGEOUS.

And those Coltrievers look so much like Dahlia! She has a higher earset than most of them, but that's probably from the BC side of things.


----------



## ChelseaTheDogLover (Jul 17, 2016)

*Your correct answer to your answer is:*

Omg!
Everyone who has answered are talking non-spence! You know why I know? Well I have a dog who looks just like yours! He is a Black Labrador, Collie, and Golden retriever mix. So your dog is a golden lobbie! That's what I call them!


----------



## crysania (Mar 9, 2010)

ChelseaTheDogLover said:


> Omg!
> Everyone who has answered are talking non-spence! You know why I know? Well I have a dog who looks just like yours! He is a Black Labrador, Collie, and Golden retriever mix. So your dog is a golden lobbie! That's what I call them!


I don't know why everyone must be talking "nonsense." She's a mixed breed. She could be anything. At only 45 or so pounds, I would assume she's not mixed with Golden, Lab, and Collie as those are all pretty large breeds (unless you meant Border Collie)?

I think her being a BC/GR mix is quite likely, to be honest. And in the intervening years since this was first posted (she's now about 10), I've settled on that as her mix. This dog, btw, is a known BC/GR mix (as in, the people who owned her saw the dogs tied) and she is pretty much identical in every way to my girl.


----------



## Wolfeye (Sep 15, 2015)

A couple decades ago, I brought home a black dog, half golden retriever, half black Lab. I named him Lupo.

Lupo was AMAZING. This was the smartest dog I ever had. My sweet departed Fenris, bless his heart, was going to be just as smart, but he died at age 11. Lupo lived 'til almost 15. 

I brought my future wife over to my house one night, and when she was getting ready to go, I turned to Lupo and told him, "Go get HER shoes." and emphasized the word her. He'd been getting MY shoes for years, and that one word change was all it took for him to immediately grasp what I wanted. I was frankly, shocked, when he did exactly that. He went and got her shoes. 

I am getting another half-lab-half-golden. He'll be coming home September 10th.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> I am getting another half-lab-half-golden. He'll be coming home September 10th.


Lots of lab mixes in shelters - definitely, if a mixed breed is your preference... please adopt.


----------



## Wolfeye (Sep 15, 2015)

I did look at the local shelter first, but the current lot is nearly all pit bull mixes. Our future dog is a deliberately bred gold-lab mix. He's black, although most of his siblings are gold/yellow.

I even have a name for him.


----------



## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Wolfeye*

Wolfeye

What is his name?


----------



## waitingcruel (Sep 23, 2016)

They could do a DNA test on their dog to see what breeds are in it. I have seen Gollies that are black. Golden Border Retrievers can also be black or partially black. Golden Labradors are another cross that can be black. So, it's kind of impossible to pinpoint what breed the dog could be mixed with based on the color. Golden Cocker Retrievers can be black. It's no telling what the dog is crossed with. Spangold Retrievers are usually black. Australian Retrievers are often black tricolor. Goldmaraners are usually black (they are a newer cross between a Golden Retriever and Weimaraner). Bernese Golden Mountain Dogs are usually tricolor.


----------



## Wolfeye (Sep 15, 2015)

Karen519 said:


> Wolfeye
> 
> What is his name?


Meet Bagheera, for those of you who haven't!  He's 1/2 Golden and 1/2 Labrador Retriever.


----------



## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Bagheera*

Bagheera is beautiful!


----------



## Amystelter (Jul 31, 2013)

Wolfeye said:


> Meet Bagheera, for those of you who haven't!  He's 1/2 Golden and 1/2 Labrador Retriever.




Beautiful, I hope you post more pics!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Bagheera is so adorable! I LOVE his name too. Hope his GI issues are getting better!


----------

