# Color Prediction



## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Hi All,

I know that generally pups end up being the color of the tips of their ears, right? I'm curious what color Jack will end up. He's pretty light right now but his ears are significantly darker than most of his body. I'm noticing medium gold fur coming in on his back but he's still mostly light. His most recent photos are in this post (I uploaded them from home so I can't re-post them here at work! arg!) http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showpost.php?p=1025924&postcount=14 and I'm wondering what you seasoned retriever owners would predict on his coloring as an adult?


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## zeke11 (Jul 21, 2009)

He sure is cute!!! I've heard what you heard....the color of the ears is a close predictor.

Kris


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Most of the time the color of their ears is a good predictor of adult color. However, I had friends with a dog whose father was an Irish import, and even as an adult he was a light to medium blond with very red ears! Very different looking.


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

Here's what happened with my dog - she darkened a lot from her original puppy color (luckily because I actually prefer her darker color). Her ears have always been darker than her body color by a good amount. 

From a puppy photo to current - almost 2 years.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks for all the input! 

marieb, Jack's coloring is similar to your girl's puppy coloring. He's getting the darker fur on his back, so I suspect he may end up a medium gold with a light undercoat, like her. I actually would prefer him to darken a bit, but obviously we'll love him no matter what color he ends up.


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## rappwizard (May 27, 2009)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> Thanks for all the input!
> 
> marieb, Jack's coloring is similar to your girl's puppy coloring. He's getting the darker fur on his back, so I suspect he may end up a medium gold with a light undercoat, like her. I actually would prefer him to darken a bit, but obviously we'll love him no matter what color he ends up.


If I were to place a bet, I would think you called it right on the money. Cute pups!


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> Thanks for all the input!
> 
> marieb, Jack's coloring is similar to your girl's puppy coloring. He's getting the darker fur on his back, so I suspect he may end up a medium gold with a light undercoat, like her. I actually would prefer him to darken a bit, but obviously we'll love him no matter what color he ends up.


I think you're right too, when I clicked on the pictures of your puppy I think his color looks pretty close to what her color was. It did take awhile for her to darken, I just browsed through her pictures and I think it's been pretty recent that her coat has looked darker.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

He looks just like my Ike did as a pup. He'll probably darken up to be a light gold like my Ike, maybe a little lighter. Ike's sire was lighter but Mom was a red girl.

in my siggy, Ike is 6 wks, 3 mths, 6 mths, 1.5 yrs, 2.5 yrs,


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Again no guarantee your pup will progress like this but here is my anecdotal response. Unfortunately they do not appear in the order I uploaded them.
1- 4 years old
2 - 10 years old
3 - 4 months old
4 - almost 2 years old

As you can see even after the age of 2 they can still "fine tune" their color.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Paula, I think you're right on with that. Jack's sire is a medium-dark gold and dam is medium gold. The litter was a rainbow of gold though! It sounds like Jack will most likely be along the lines of your Ike and marieb's female.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Hank,

that's interesting, I didn't realize the color (except for aging) would change after they matured to adulthood. although my only experience with GRs before Jack was my childhood GR. But, I don't think I ever paid attention to her color...I was probably too busy dressing her up in jackets, wigs, hats, sunglasses, etc. She was a good dog


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I'm counting on Ike darkening has he gets older. 
My bridge boy Sam did a bit too, though he was always a red boy. His coat also became longer and thicker in his senior years too, just like Hank's 10 year old pic.

If you go through Golden books and look at the pics of Champions, you'll see that many have darkened a bit in their later years.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Tucker looked a lot like that as a pup.

To give you an idea, this was what he looked like at around 8 or 9 weeks old:









This is him now, at 17 months old (on the left in the red collar). He has darkened quite a bit to a medium gold with a very light undercoat.


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

Hi there

My girl Izzie was very light as a puppy. She has got darker gradually as she has gotten older. Your pup will probably have light feathering and darker coat on top. An attractive look. Here's a few pics to illustrate how Izzie has changed.










Just before her litter last year aged 2 years 4 months:









We have noticed her coat especially her face has got gradually darker since then:


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