# Your Golden's Coat--Soft or Wiry? Wavy or Straight?



## SoGolden (Jul 17, 2008)

Is your Golden's coat soft or a little coarse? I have petted some who seem to have a sort of wiry textured overlay and some who are soft as silk. Harry's coat is soft. Will it stay that way or will the outer layer be more rough? Yesterday, after his bath, his coat was wavy. It smoothed out more as it dried. Will he have a wavy top coat?


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## elliejon11 (Feb 3, 2008)

Gunner's coat is very wavy on the top but from what his vet says his coat is very soft...they were amazed the first time I brought him in, I was wondering maybe his coat shouldn't be soft...Gunner get brushed at least twice a day and vacuumed at least once a day


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## KRayl (Aug 22, 2008)

Hi SoGolden - I've been wondering the same thing. I don't have an answer for you but, I'm curious to hear how others respond. 

...and, just a side note, i noticed Harry's birthday is 7/3/08. Your puppy was born just one day after mine!


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## shannon (Jun 6, 2006)

Katies coat is soft and somewhat wavy you can see her pic in the gallery. i use a high quality shampoo and conditioner.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Hi...Their coats are supposed to be slightly coarse on their backs. I'm sure someone will pipe up with more info. My Sam had a very soft coat and very little undercoat. Not the breed standard. Ike has a noticeably coarser coat on his back and tail but his feathers and ruff are downy soft. They are bred to hunt, so the coarse coat would serve that purpose.

Sam had a dark wavy long coat. Ike has a straighter coat and is lighter in color than Sam. I won't know how long Ike's coat will become for a few more years. Sam's coat was not fully in until he was 3-4 years old. I don't think this is the norm either.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Francine is soft in areas, but has the water proof, fast drying, protective coat that IMO is correct. it's textured like most intact show Goldens' coats are, only not as profuse (though she may surprise me and grow a lot more coat- she's only nine months old, and we live in a hot climate). 

Piper has a silky, soft, delightful to touch coat (but IMO incorrect for the breed). It's beautiful, the long parts, and she's a dream to cuddle with! 

Brand new foster boy that I am taking in once Piper has her forever home has a fieldy type of coat, more wirey, tough, thick, fast drying, slightly wavy, also very correct IMO though slightly different from Francine's.


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## jonesyboy (Sep 20, 2008)

Jonesy's coat is a little coarse on his back, but still pretty soft on the sides. It's a little wavy also. When we got him (4 months) his coat on his back was coarser and I think wavier. I think maybe changing his food has softened it a little.

The older he gets it seems like his coat is lightening a little also. He's a redder golden but it seems as he matures the fur on his shoulders is getting much lighter. He's also getting blonder highlights in the fur on his back. His ears and face are still redder. Is this normal? For some reason I thought he would get redder if anything. Either way, I think he's quite handsome.

Sue


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## Dinsdale (Feb 26, 2008)

People who pet Clover regularly comment that she is the softest dog they have ever petted. Especially around the head and ears. Her ears are like velvet. It is not something I ever looked for in a dog, but now that I have it, I sure like it. The fact that she gets so soft and pretty when I comb/brush her out makes me eager to do it more often.


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Rookie has a lot of coat. If you run your hands over the top, it's not exactly coarse, but it's not particularly soft either. If you run your fingers through it, the undercoat is VERY soft. His ears are also quite soft.

I don't use a very high quality shampoo, but for a day or two after a bath he always feels very soft. His hair isn't curly per se, but he has kind of a lot of little cowlicks that keep it from looking too smooth.


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## SoGolden (Jul 17, 2008)

*Coat of a Different Color*



jonesyboy said:


> Jonesy's coat is a little coarse on his back, but still pretty soft on the sides. It's a little wavy also. When we got him (4 months) his coat on his back was coarser and I think wavier. I think maybe changing his food has softened it a little.
> 
> The older he gets it seems like his coat is lightening a little also. He's a redder golden but it seems as he matures the fur on his shoulders is getting much lighter. He's also getting blonder highlights in the fur on his back. His ears and face are still redder. Is this normal? For some reason I thought he would get redder if anything. Either way, I think he's quite handsome.
> 
> Sue


Hi Sue,
Harry is almost 5 months. I expected him to continually darken--but, I am seeing some lighter color coming in on his chest and other areas! So, Maybe some get darker and some get lighter?


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

They tend to darken in ways, but they also get the undercoat in... and that is light and breaks through and shows in shading on the shoulders and in the feathering.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

The Golden is a double coated breed. The undercoat is soft and downy, while the top coat, or guard hairs, should not be soft, but harder and courser in order to provide water repellency. The coat may be wavy but not tighly curled.

Often the undercoat is a lighter color than the outer coat, although in very dark colored dogs it is often more monochromatic and you see little difference in the color of the two, likewise with very light dogs.


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## Fidele (Sep 17, 2008)

Cedar has a slightly coarse coat on his back - super soft on head & muzzle - and is more wavy than curly. He seems to have less undercoat than either Belle or Lady had. Maybe he's a "field golden" ???


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I have experienced different coats on my goldens. 

Maxine is the SOFTEST dog I have ever had. I swear she never lost her puppy fur. She is extremely fluffy, not very long haired. She is all undercoat. She does shine. There is nothing I love more than burying my face in her coat. The only place where she exhibits an adult coat is just along her spine on her very top side. 

Teddi as a pup I thought was going to be the furriest dog I ever was going to have. She was all hair. As she shed her puppy coat, and her adult coat came in.. She is completely opposite what I thought. She has absolutely NO undercoat. Her hair is extremely long, very fine, very soft and shiny but she does not have a double coat. I am actually contemplating a "coat" for winter for her. She also has no body fat I don't want her cold. 

The other thing on Teddi I have discovered and I have never seen this on a golden before. She has "wiry" hair beneath both her eyes. Not like lashes, more like what you would see on the face of a wire haired dog, only not nearly as much. She has a few hairs on each side. I call her my wire hair golden.


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## flyaway (Jul 30, 2008)

Zoe and Riley (Harry's littermates) are very wavy! But I met an older full sibling of theirs at the dog park, and her hair was softer and straighter.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Lucky has courser very wavey outer coat, a lotta white soft undercoat and boy does it repell water. Giving him a bath is tough...takes forever to get his hair wet. The curls tend to make him look very scruffy because they go in all different directions. But I have learned a teeny, tiny bit of grooming does wonders.


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