# Patch of white?



## Tahnee GR

A small patch of white on the chest is perfectly acceptable, and not all that uncommon. You will probably find that as he grows, the patch becomes less and less noticeable.


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## tippykayak

Technically, white spots are not desirable, but the chest is the one place where a few white hairs are totally acceptable.

A little white on the toes, head, tail, and chest does crop up in purebred Goldens once in a while. Those are faults in the show ring, but not necessarily disqualifications (depends on the size and location of the spot). And they certainly don't make your dog less of a Golden or interfere with his health. I say this as a proud owner of a substantially mismarked dog. The only thing he can't do is win in the show ring. And, like I said, a few white hairs on the chest wouldn't even hurt him there.


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## Merlins mom

No, it doesn't make him less of a golden! 

Merlin has a white patch on his chest and his brother did too. I say "did" because it the patch went away as he grew up


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## sammydog

Nope, we have had two Goldens with white on their chest. As they grew older, the are less noticeable...

This is from the GR Standard: "With the exception of graying or whitening of face or body due to age, any white marking, other than a few white hairs on the chest, should be penalized according to its extent."


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## missmarstar

My Dillon's got a faint little white patch on his chest.. it's only a tiny clump of hairs but I can definitely see it in the light. I think it adds character


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## Susan6953

There's a thread in the puppy area called "mismarked golden retriever". I'm sorry I don't know how to link to it.


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## MurphyTeller

Susan6953 said:


> There's a thread in the puppy area called "mismarked golden retriever". I'm sorry I don't know how to link to it.


While these threads might sound alike they really aren't. There's a huge difference (in terms of what a dog is or isn't) between a few white hairs on a dogs chest and four white feet, a white collar and a blaze....the later is not a golden retriever no matter how someone might try to twist the realities of genetics...


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## kathi127

Our Rusty was a deep red but had a patch of white on his chest. We loved seeing that patch so much that when he passed away in October we cut some of it off along with some hair from his gorgeous tail to put with his ashes to keep in memory of him.


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## Fetchtheball

Harley has a large patch of white on his lower chest also. But his long red fur covers it up unless he is in a sitting position. It's cute.


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## vixen

Our Lad had a dark patch on his head. Witch has acherly got darker as he has got older this doesn't make him any less of a golden I acherly like it at least if we lost him I have no problem claiming him.

I read somewhere that many of the early golden had white hairs on there chest, just because the standard says it less desiable doesn't make them any less golden.


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## theriot

Thanks for all the responses! We wasn't to concerned about it because he was the greatest pup out of the litter! Now if I can have some success at the house training we will be in good shape...LOL!

Thanks everyone.


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## Adriennelane

Lucy has a white patch on her chest, and had one on her head that went away before she was six months old.


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## Swampcollie

theriot said:


> We just picked up our first golden pup and his name is Payton!
> 
> My question is: He has a little patch of white on his chest, but his facial features and everything else looks like pure golden... Does the patch of white make him less of a golden? or maybe better put... Can Goldens have a patch of white?
> 
> We sure do love him and he is the best puppy ever!
> 
> Thanks in advance


 
White markings have been with the breed since it's creation. The early Goldens in North America (Post WWI) often had white markings, usually on the chest. This trait continued pretty much unchanged for decades through the completion of WWII. Not too surprising due to the Great Depression and WWII which shifted the priorities of most of the worlds population.

After WWII, breeders in north america worked harder at reducing the amount of white on the Golden Retriever. When they were making choices as to which traits they wanted, going away from white markings was high on their list of desired goals. 

Fast forward several generations to today. Many lines of Golden Retriever produce very little if any white markings at all. Other lines are still wrestling with white markings and have to keep that trait in mind when selecting parents for a prospective litter. If they don't stay on top of it for a couple of generations the white markings come back. 

So, is Payton a purebred Golden Retriever? If he has his registration paperwork in order, more than likely he is. That little dash of white isn't going to change it.

If you're going to compete with him in the Conformation ring, that little dash of white may cost you some points, but it doesn't mean your pup isn't a Golden Retriever.


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## spruce

when I got my white chested guy, someone on here told me it was "the magic white spot" & required petting/scratching a few times a day.

Bridger's patch is (was) good sized, but not at all noticeable now that there's bunches of fur


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## Fancy Pants

The best dog I ever owned had a huge blaze of white down his chest (and a small spot on top of his head). Its just superficial--it doesn't mean anything.


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## janine

Chester has a small patch of white on his chest...I tell him it's his creamy middle.


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## GoldenFan

i'm with missmarstar...gives a bit a character!


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## Oaklys Dad

I've been told it is the "Good Dog Spot". It needs to be scritched many times each day.


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## Simant

how r u?
saw ur post and wanted to contact u as i have got n identical Golden Retriever like urs...
Golden Retriever, Laddu, Jaipur, INDIA, Simant Vijai , Dogs, DogSpot

he is growing up pretty well at 10 weeks he is 20 lbs.... i am eager how will he look when he grow up.... please mail me the pictures of ur Payton at [email protected]

best regards
Simant
India


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## Goldens R Great

Finn has a little white patch on his head which you can see in the photo below. (It's more pronounced in person.) He also has a little bit of white on his feet - minus the snow.


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## Goldens R Great

:doh: I just noticed I posted to an old thread! I hate when I do that! Grrrr.... Oh well, I always like posting pictures of my boy!


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## 3 goldens

Ha ha, I think most of us have done this at one time or another. I didn't go thru all the threads, but my old red golden, Buck had a tiny patchof white on his head that went away, same with a patchof white on his checsk, but he alwasy had white on his toes.


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## ashleylp

It's funny that I'm seeing this because just yesterday we nOticed that Remy has a white dot on his head... We call it his thinking spot!


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## Vanfull

When we went to pick up Bailey all of the puppies had the same white streak right down the center of the nose between the eyes. Bailey is 15 weeks and hers is already gone.


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## Tailer'sFolks

Tailer has a"Lucky Magic White Spot" on his chest too...it does require ton of special care...it is absolutely necessary to scritch that "Lucky Magic White Spot" multiple times a day and when necessary even during the night! If this "Lucky Magic White Spot" does not get proper attention, You Will have a Wild Dog on your hands!


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## valleyclearfork

we hae been raising goldens for 28 years . One of the 2 year old females have small white spots on the face ,but they move to different areas on the head - face. ?? a mineral deficiancy ?? thanks beth.


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## Prism Goldens

Is the skin under the white spots (assuming you mean the hair is white?) changed in color?
When you say they move around on her face, how long does this take?Are you saying the hairs themselves turn white, then turn back golden color? Does this take as long as it does for her to shed the hair, or are you saying the hairs change colors?

If she's getting depigmentation, I would worry about immune disorders. But I am not sure I am understanding your verbiage. Post a picture! That helps!


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## Prism Goldens

The other thing I wonder (and a pic would help!) is whether she's losing hair- and her skin is what you are seeing- so has a vitiligo condition.

If the hair is there, and the pigment is going away, then returning, I would feel a huge need to do a scrape and biopsy personally. Leukotrichosis is what I would imagine this would be called, assuming it's not a vitiligo, but I can't imagine what would make the color return later. 
Autoimmune is all I can think of.


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## telsa

*My golden retriever*

My golden retriever is 15 years old and she has had a white mark on her chest and she pretty like that I love looking at it


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