# When do Goldens turn white?



## Tinachu (Jul 19, 2019)

My Fey is 8 years old. My husband says she was runt of littler, so always been smaller than average. Her has a lot of white on face. Is that normal for her age? Is she aging faster and we loose her sooner?


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## IrisBramble (Oct 15, 2015)

Golden's turn white at all ages, it depends on the golden just like humans who grey at different ages!! It doesn't mean that they will die faster. She is a sweet sugar face!!!

My girl is white so its harder for me tell but i can see at almost 4 her muzzle is turning whiter then the rest of her.


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## Atis (Jul 8, 2014)

My boy who is nine now probably had very similar markings to your girl by 8. It was a little harder to see since he is lighter. I'm no expert but I wouldn't try to correlate graying with premature aging I'm guessing it's much like humans some of us just gray sooner.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> My girl is white so its harder for me tell but i can see at almost 4 her muzzle is turning whiter then the rest of her.


Hmm... if your dog is actually white, it's likely she has something else in her. 

Golden retrievers should be shades of gold. This can be very light colors of gold - like very blond, but not white. Just having white _markings _on your dog is a pretty big fault. 

Goldens start going gray at all ages. Generally it's around the whiskers and eyes. The darker the golden, the more apparent the gray is. Like with people, early graying or late graying is hereditary. Some go white faced pretty early (me personally - I think it looks extra sweet).


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

It's based on genetics, when you have a darker golden like your girl, it's more noticeable. 

She's beautiful, the Old Golds are very special.


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## Tinachu (Jul 19, 2019)

Thanks! I feel better now. My husband corrected me, she just turned 9 in May! She is such a sweetheart. Older photos she is totally a red golden, but got white on face with age. My husband is 3.5 years younger than me and is all gray (not 40 yet), so I guess it really isn’t an indicator of age. Didn’t think that for dogs, LOL!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

The darker the golden the easier it is to see the sugar. I’ve had goldens that showed sugar at 2-3 years old. I’ve had others that were 8. They almost all seem to get some sugar. It just makes them sweeter.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

Totally depends on the dog. My girl Autumn started graying around 9 years old. She lived to be 15 1/2. My current girl April started graying at age 3. She is now 8 and still has the ability to keep up with our horses on trail rides of 8-10 miles (and we aren't just walking-we trot and canter/gallop too.) When they gray has nothing to do with how long they will live.


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## Rion05 (Jan 4, 2016)

My last golden who lived to be almost 14.5 started getting some white at 3-years-old - he was light gold n color. Seemed to be genetic, and not a health concern at all.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Alaska7133 said:


> The darker the golden the easier it is to see the sugar. I’ve had goldens that showed sugar at 2-3 years old. I’ve had others that were 8. *They almost all seem to get some sugar. It just makes them sweeter.*



Totally agree with this. :smile2:
My girl's dad started to go white quite early, so it did not surprise me when Shala started to get white around her mouth by age 4. I believe it is genetics, too. She's also red, so it shows more. At age 5, she got one white spot above her right eye - but then it all seemed to stall. There's been no real progression of the sugaring in the past year. But I know it will start up again in the next year or two..


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Young gray doesn't mean anything. I am 74 and my husband FINALY found about 5 gray hairs when he was washing my hair when I had a splint on my hand. My brothers all had gray whiskers by 50. My golden girl, Sophie had so little gray at almost 13 it was unreal. Here she is with her teddy bear. And Buck, he died of heart attack at 12 1/2 and he only had a little gray. Our other goldens re gold and gray didn't' show much. Sophie in the first two pictures was 11 when we adopted her.


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## migs (Nov 8, 2013)

Bentley my 8.5 yr old has zero white as of yet. People often mention they cant believe hes already 8.5 and shows no whitening yet. 

My new signature picture is of the boys just last week. One of the neighborhood goldies is only 4 and is very white already on his face. 

I guess its different for every dog. 

I like to think its cause hes so loved by everyone.


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## swishywagga (Nov 13, 2012)

migs said:


> Bentley my 8.5 yr old has zero white as of yet. People often mention they cant believe hes already 8.5 and shows no whitening yet.
> 
> My new signature picture is of the boys just last week. One of the neighborhood goldies is only 4 and is very white already on his face.
> 
> ...


Your boys are gorgeous!


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