# Puppy Fur length?



## Pumba19 (Oct 19, 2011)

it gets fluffier as they age.. when i first got Pumba i was convinced i was given a lab not a golden, Pumba is 10 months now and she still doesn't have the long coat yet.. i have people still mistaking her as a lab


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

6 weeks is quite young. Most puppies don't go home till they are 8 weeks, because they need that time to learn and bond with their litter mates. I would be more concerned with training properly and overcoming some disadvantages of getting the puppy this early. 

I think the length of coat as a lot to do with breeding, as the conformation lines tend to have really thick coats and is evident with being fluffy as a puppy, but some more than others. Where as a field bred golden can have pretty short or thin coat as a puppy, but grow into a nice correct coat that is more practical in the field. 

But I think you can tell from the parents generally how much coat you puppy will have as an adult, although you can impact this positively with good nutrition, grooming and exercise.


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## Bella's Mama (Jun 12, 2011)

My puppy had really short hair. In fact, at almost 7 months, she still gets mistaken for a lab or mix. She doesn't have thick hair either, although the carpet would probably disagree.


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

Mine are with you on this too, except our 6 mo old is finally being recognized as a golden instead of a Lab, but our baby at almost 4 mo is always being called a pyrenese! Both of our kids are light, which are not seen a lot where I live and Coops coat is fluffy, but in no way does he look like a pyrenese, more like a fluffy lab to me, but his parents had beautiful coats, so I would expect someday he will too. Did you get to see the parents of your beautiful girl? I would think she will have something between what you saw in the parents. But take into account that her Mom may not have had the best of coats after being so young and delivering a litter. 

Just enjoy her, the coat will come and someday we will all be bemoaning the fact we have to vacumn everyday to stay on top of all the shedding hair.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

patience ... you will be sweeping up furry-dustbunnies before you know it...
Some can take 2-3 years before their full coat comes in...


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

Mia has pretty short hair too, even at 3 years old. She has the nice feathered tail though, but that didn't start happening until 1 and a half maybe...


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## Tuckers Mom (Nov 12, 2010)

shortcake: Your Mia has hair just like Tucker. It used to make me sad that he was not long haired like most of the Goldens you see, but then I realized that that there are different lines that they are bred from and this is just the genetics of his makeup that give him the coat he has. He DOES have a huge luscious tail though.... prettier than most of the other Goldens we see.


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

Thank you all for the replies. The mother was young and seemed to be at the stage where her adult fur was starting to grow in. she was a beautiful red color and had long hair on her ears already the father was a big fluffy guy the same color Sharlette is. Sharlettes ear fur is long and wavy and darker. I am thinking that when she gets her adult fur she is going to be a bit darker then she is now.

The comments about people thinking your dog is a lab or you your self thinking you got a lab puppy is funny... I have combed threw countless lab puppy picture comparing her to them. LOL

However from what I have read the original cross was of a yellow lab male named Nous, with a Tweed Water Spaniel female named Belle. So I am guessing even though that was SO long ago that the lab genetics still come out at times making for a golden with a shorter coat.



kdowningxc said:


> 6 weeks is quite young. Most puppies don't go home till they are 8 weeks



I had posted a thread about Sharlette. The people that have the mother and father did not want a litter is was an oops litter. they had never had a litter before. their female golden was still a puppy. her first heat. and their male golden got to her. The wanted the litter gone asap and had no clue what to even do with a litter. Sharlette was 5 weeks and 3 days old when I got her. it was a sad situation. there were 9 puppies. when i got sharlette there were only 8 left 1 of her litter mates had been taken several days earlier.... so more then likely that puppy was only 4 weeks old. SO SAD! the add the people had posted was posted a few days after the litter was born stating the puppies were ready to go then and they needed the puppies gone asap....


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

Tuckers Mom said:


> shortcake: Your Mia has hair just like Tucker. It used to make me sad that he was not long haired like most of the Goldens you see, but then I realized that that there are different lines that they are bred from and this is just the genetics of his makeup that give him the coat he has. He DOES have a huge luscious tail though.... prettier than most of the other Goldens we see.


It used to make me sad a bit too, but then we started fostering and the Goldens we've had so far have LOTS of hair (so hard to maintain), and now I'm grateful for Mia's cute little shorter hair... it also feels so soft! Don't get me wrong, I still think the longer hair is so beautiful! :


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## Red the super dog (Nov 9, 2011)

at the breeder where we got red, she had lots and lots and lots of goldens and they all had different hair lengths and colors. there was one that i thought was around a year because she was smaller than the rest and had much sorter hair. but i was soo wrong! she was about 8! 
when we picked out red at 5 weeks his hair wasnt "fluffy" but now at 8.5 weeks he is very fluffy. (plus when we got him home and gave him a bath, i dried his hair with a cool hair dryer to fluff him out) 

your puppy is absolutely beautiful!


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

BaWaaJige wasnt super fluffy but now that he is 6mos old he is starting to get feathering on his tail and hind legs. He has a nice wavy coat that has gotten darker as he gets older.

To the op your pup is so cute. Raising a young pup can be hard if you have any questions that I could help you with pm me. I have raised several pup from the 4wks age. All have done great and a few have been therapy dogs too.


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

Pemphredo said:


> Thank you all for the replies. The mother was young and seemed to be at the stage where her adult fur was starting to grow in. she was a beautiful red color and had long hair on her ears already the father was a big fluffy guy the same color Sharlette is. Sharlettes ear fur is long and wavy and darker. I am thinking that when she gets her adult fur she is going to be a bit darker then she is now.
> 
> The comments about people thinking your dog is a lab or you your self thinking you got a lab puppy is funny... I have combed threw countless lab puppy picture comparing her to them. LOL
> 
> ...


Wow....(sorry I missed the thread). But what kind of people would just dumb young puppies out like that, let alone not realizing that two intact dogs might result in puppies...But Glad you have her and you will take good care of her. 

It might be hard to tell what her fur will look like as her mother was not full grown, and the fact that the "breeder" probably wasn't too concerned with good nutrition early could effect the way she looks now. But I'm sure after a few weeks of good nutrition will make her look more fluffy. Also, I find adding fish oil tabs, and bit of olive oil helps the coat look nicer. I know there are a lot of supplements out there that can help coat health. 

Personally, I have a show golden who's coat is pretty short, but extremely easy to care for. But he comes from a pedigree that is know for shorter coats, so genetics does play an important role.


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## LaylaBauer1718 (Sep 25, 2011)

I got my babies relatively young as well. The breeders didn't want to 'get rid' of the puppies, it's just not a law in Georgia to sell the pups at a certain age, which is usually 8 weeks in other states. 

In any case, Layla and Bauer were less than 8 weeks when we got them (at different times). You just need to be consistent in your training. Layla (8 months now) was very mouthy as a puppy just because she simply did not get enough interaction with her litter mates to learn better, so that was a challenge to overcome. But other than that she was just a perfect puppy! As long as you have done the research on how to train her, she will be great! (And at least with Layla and Bauer, Layla (the oldest and the female) is much smarter than Bauer... maybe it's because she is female! :

Bauer (14 weeks now) on the other hand is a great puppy and not too mouthy because he has Layla to play with. However, he lacks the brains for potty training! :doh:

Layla and Bauer were also not as fluffy as I have seen, with the fluffy feathering on the backs of the arms and hindquarters. But they have gotten their fluff and feathering with time, so I think it just takes time for it to grown out. Baths do make them fluffier though! You're going to have so much fun with her!! Congrats!!


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

I noticed last night after I gave her a bath and used the blow dryer ( low setting) on her that she was a lot puffier. I don't think it is a law here to wait till 6 weeks either because my chihuahua puppy I got at 6 weeks old. 

Sharlette is so mouthy. She is always mouthing on the kids and I. I just make sure if she hurts us to say OUCH and to always replace hands/feet/what ever is in her mouth that shouldn't be with one of her chew toys.


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## LaylaBauer1718 (Sep 25, 2011)

That's what we did with Layla. I'm sure it's frustrating right now, but with consistency in a few weeks she will be a lot better!


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

*Yellow, but not a lab*

My pup, Casper, doesn't have a ton of fur yet either. He does have some nice feathers on his front and back legs. 

Sometimes I think he looks like a lab, but there is a lab puppy of exactly the same age (and color) in our dog class, and the lab fur is very different. It's much flatter and stiffer. The goldens have a very soft coat.

He's starting to grow some new kind of hair down his back. Is that the puppy coat?

-quilter


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

quilter said:


> It's much flatter and stiffer. The goldens have a very soft coat.


Yeah Sharlette's fur is puffy and real soft. Not stiff and flat to her body like a lab at all. I can run my fingers threw her hair. I am guessing I can't on a lab cause it wouldn't be as standing straight up and soft and fluffy LOL Her fur is about a little over a half an inch to an inch long....


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## Bentley's Mom (May 19, 2011)

quilter said:


> He's starting to grow some new kind of hair down his back. Is that the puppy coat?
> 
> -quilter


That's his racing stripe : That's what we called it when Bentley got his. It's his first round of big boy fur. His fur will keep changing though for quite some time to come.

8-9 weeks old










6 months old










As you can see, we started with more fluff than we had at 6 months and now at 8 months (I've been slacking on the pictures lately) we're getting a lttle fluff back and even a little tail feathering.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Sharlette has SO MUCH character in her eyes and face! She's gonna be a spitfire.


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## ebenjamin85 (Apr 13, 2008)

Samantha looked similar when she was a puppy. She's darker now and has longer fur but isn't necessarily "fluffy" like Mulligan is. Here are a few pictures of Samantha over the last year or so (She is 3 1/2) and one of her and Mulligan for comparison. Mulligan was a rescue so I don't know what he looked like as a puppy but I can imagine that he was quite hairy.


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

kdmarsh said:


> Sharlette has SO MUCH character in her eyes and face! She's gonna be a spitfire.


LOL thank you... I think.... LOL ...Lord knows she already is a little spitfire! LOL she is so bossy and feisty! lol


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

> Samantha looked similar when she was a puppy.


She is so beautiful. I would love if Sharlette looked like her when she grew up. Do you have any pictures of her as a puppy?


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## Red the super dog (Nov 9, 2011)

Bentley's Mom said:


> That's his racing stripe


 LOL! red has this stripe too! and he is totally nuts in the back yard, i think racing stripe is a great way to describe it!


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

*update on Sharlette's fur*

Since her puppy fur has all fallen out she has been growing in her adult fur NICELY. it seems to be getting longer and longer EVERY day. it is getting curly too.


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## luverofpeanuts (Jun 9, 2011)

Aspen and Spirit have quite a different feel in their coats. Aspens coat is super fine, luxurious feeling. Spirit's is more of a "big boy" coat... feels a tad coarse and thicker... of course he is thicker body wise too ;-) 

Princess Aspen

















Big Boy Spirit


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

glad i read this thread i have been worrying about Yuki's coat. now a lot of things make sense. thanks for this thread  

guess i gotta be patient and wait...lol


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## Bentley's Mom (May 19, 2011)

Oh Yuki has a long way to go but anytime now he should get his racing stripe and in a couple of months you'll probably start to see feathering on his legs and tail


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

Bentley's Mom said:


> Oh Yuki has a long way to go but anytime now he should get his racing stripe and in a couple of months you'll probably start to see feathering on his legs and tail


ooh i saw his racing stripe, he is 4 months old now  the stripe was darker on his back and the coat on his sides is still lighter and soft. his tail fur seems to be growing longer and has a few wave-like patterns.  i am excited to see what he will look like when he grows up. i love goldens with long and soft luxurious coat though i agree its a hassle when they start shedding >.<


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## abowman (Jan 5, 2012)

She is such a cute puppy and has such a sparkle. I only can laugh about our questions on their fur. I too had any so many. Finn lost his back hair and while the hair shedding was painful to clean, I was worried about something being wrong! Our association with Goldens is long hair but just like us genetics has many versions of how they will look.


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

Yuki said:


> glad i read this thread i have been worrying about Yuki's coat. now a lot of things make sense. thanks for this thread
> 
> guess i gotta be patient and wait...lol


can you post picture of Yuki? I would LOVE to see him and his fur. :O)


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

Pemphredo said:


> can you post picture of Yuki? I would LOVE to see him and his fur. :O )


 sure! here they are, he was 4-5 weeks old in first 2 pics and rest are recent ones. its hard to take pics cuz he is very active lol and hides when he sees the camera, i think he is scared of the flash lol














































here's a pic of his tail...i already kinda love the way it looks


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## abowman (Jan 5, 2012)

How old is Yuki, I forget. He is a nice looking dog. His hair pattern is similiar to Finns.


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

abowman said:


> How old is Yuki, I forget. He is a nice looking dog. His hair pattern is similiar to Finns.


 thanks, Yuki is 4 months old now  i would like to see Finns pics.


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

oh yuki looks a lot like sharlette. he is about a month older then her so I can imadgen her hair will be at about the same as his is now when he gets his age. thank you SO much for posting the pictures.


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

pemphedro,  you are welcome. i am kinda excited to see my pup growing up. i still miss the tiny furball he was lol but i also cant stop thinking about how he will look when he is all grownup.  sharlotte is gonna be a beauty. we both still have a long way ahead of us to see their growth.  so lets look forward to it.

PS: do post more of her pics.


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## Atlas Von Mckay (Oct 10, 2016)

Dumb question, is he going to have long or short hair? He hair furry toes for a while now, and "feathers" everywhere. Also will his butt sTay cream color. First time golden!! His mom was short hair and his dad long, would it be med then??


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## Carl O'Callaghan (Jul 1, 2017)

hi just wondering if anyone with a lot of experience with goldens can tell me if mine is a purebred as I bought it from a pet shop so didn't see parents but they advertised it as a full golden retriever thanks.


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## Pilgrim123 (Jul 26, 2014)

Your dog is lovely, and I'd say is definitely a golden retriever!


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