Base colour
Any shade of gold or cream, neither red nor mahogany
Permissible
- A few white hairs on chest only
Large, athletic sporting dog with a dense, lustrous, flowing golden coat and friendly disposition, known for their versatility as family companions and working dogs
Developed in the Scottish Highlands during the mid-to-late 19th century by Dudley Marjoribanks (Lord Tweedmouth), who crossed a yellow retriever with the now-extinct Tweed Water Spaniel, with later additions of Irish Setter and Bloodhound for hunting and retrieving in rugged terrain and cold water
“Biddable, intelligent and possessing natural working ability; kindly, friendly and confident”
Quoted from FCI standard n°111. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: FCI breed standard; Golden Retriever Club of America — Health Statement (March 2020). An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
The Golden Retriever standard is published by the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale), the international federation of pedigree-dog clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour and size. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.
Flat or wavy with good feathering, dense water-resisting undercoat
Base colour
Any shade of gold or cream, neither red nor mahogany
Permissible
Shortened from FCI standard n°111 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health.
Height at the withers (cm)
The same scale for every breed: no source defines size categories by height.
The standard's words
“Height at withers: Males 56 - 61 cm Females 51 - 56 cm”
Quoted from FCI standard n°111.
An adult's measurements, per the standard. It does not say how big this puppy will be. Quotations from the FCI are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Golden Retriever in general; any individual animal can differ.
Known hereditary risks for the Golden Retriever breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
13 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Found in more than about one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened, or described as common in the sources.
Malformation of the hip joint causing instability and, over time, osteoarthritis. It is one of the conditions the breed's US parent club strongly recommends breeding stock be screened for. In Swedish screening of young adult dogs (2007-2016), about one in four of 10,960 Golden Retrievers had some degree of hip dysplasia (grade C or worse), and the heritability of the UK hip score has been estimated at about 0.4.
What to ask for
Hip evaluation from OFA (24 months) or PennHIP, or a BVA/KC hip score, on both parents
Developmental abnormalities of the elbow joint causing pain, lameness and a predisposition to arthritis. In Swedish screening of young adult dogs (2007-2016), about one in six of 10,907 Golden Retrievers had some degree of elbow dysplasia (grade 1 or worse).
What to ask for
Elbow evaluation from OFA (24 months or older) on both parents
An aggressive cancer of blood-vessel-lining cells, most often arising in the spleen or heart. The breed's own parent club material, citing its 1998 health survey, says nearly one in five Golden Retrievers die from it, making it one of the breed's leading causes of death, but no validated screening or DNA test exists. A genetics study puts the lifetime risk in US Golden Retrievers at about one in five, and in the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study 233 of 3,044 dogs had been diagnosed by September 2022, while the cohort was still being followed.
What to ask for
No validated screening or DNA test exists. Ask for documented cause of death and age at death for the sire's and dam's own parents and littermates, since risk is known to cluster in some lines
Malformation of the hip joint causing instability and, over time, osteoarthritis. It is one of the conditions the breed's US parent club strongly recommends breeding stock be screened for. In Swedish screening of young adult dogs (2007-2016), about one in four of 10,960 Golden Retrievers had some degree of hip dysplasia (grade C or worse), and the heritability of the UK hip score has been estimated at about 0.4.
What to ask for
Hip evaluation from OFA (24 months) or PennHIP, or a BVA/KC hip score, on both parents
Developmental abnormalities of the elbow joint causing pain, lameness and a predisposition to arthritis. In Swedish screening of young adult dogs (2007-2016), about one in six of 10,907 Golden Retrievers had some degree of elbow dysplasia (grade 1 or worse).
What to ask for
Elbow evaluation from OFA (24 months or older) on both parents
Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
A fatal, inherited neurodegenerative disease. Affected puppies develop progressively worsening neurological signs and do not survive it, though the causative mutation is rare in the breed as a whole.
What to ask for
DNA test for NCL; at least one parent should be tested
Progressive, incurable degeneration of the retina leading to blindness. Golden Retrievers carry three distinct known causative mutations, so a clear result for one does not rule out the others.
What to ask for
DNA test covering GR-PRA1 (SLC4A3), GR-PRA2 (TTC8) and prcd-PRA on both parents
A skin condition causing greyish, flaky scaling over the body from puppyhood. It is lifelong and visible but not painful or life-shortening.
What to ask for
DNA test for the PNPLA1 gene mutation (ICT-A) on both parents
A fatal, inherited neurodegenerative disease. Affected puppies develop progressively worsening neurological signs and do not survive it, though the causative mutation is rare in the breed as a whole.
What to ask for
DNA test for NCL; at least one parent should be tested
Found in roughly one in a hundred to one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened.
A narrowing below the aortic valve that makes the heart work harder to pump blood, ranging from mild with no effect on lifespan to severe enough to cause sudden death. Clinically normal-looking parents can still produce severely affected puppies. At a US university veterinary hospital over ten years (2008-2017), Golden Retrievers had more SAS cases than any other breed (42, about one in 70 of the Golden Retrievers seen there) and about ten times the odds of other dogs; pedigrees of affected Golden Retrievers suggested recessive inheritance.
What to ask for
Echocardiogram from a board-certified veterinary cardiologist (ACVIM) on both parents, at 12 months or older
A narrowing below the aortic valve that makes the heart work harder to pump blood, ranging from mild with no effect on lifespan to severe enough to cause sudden death. Clinically normal-looking parents can still produce severely affected puppies. At a US university veterinary hospital over ten years (2008-2017), Golden Retrievers had more SAS cases than any other breed (42, about one in 70 of the Golden Retrievers seen there) and about ten times the odds of other dogs; pedigrees of affected Golden Retrievers suggested recessive inheritance.
What to ask for
Echocardiogram from a board-certified veterinary cardiologist (ACVIM) on both parents, at 12 months or older
Described in this breed, but found in few or no dogs in recent screening, or only ever in one dog or one family. They are here so a test result makes sense if a breeder mentions one.
An inherited weakness at the junction between nerve and muscle described in four related puppies of this breed: from six to eight weeks old they tired after a short burst of activity and had to sit or lie down; treatment improved them. It is recessive. It is rare — roughly one in 700 of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers screened carried it.
What to ask for
Congenital myasthenic syndrome (COLQ, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result, on both parents
A progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs that starts as hind-leg weakness and ends in paralysis; there is no treatment. The SOD1 variant behind it is uncommon in this breed — roughly one in 300 of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers screened carried it — and not every dog with two copies develops the disease.
What to ask for
Degenerative myelopathy (SOD1) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited muscle-wasting disease described in this breed, caused by a variant in the dystrophin gene, the same gene as Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys: affected males develop progressive, ultimately fatal muscle weakness. It is X-linked, so it shows in males while their mothers carry it silently. It is best known from research colonies — none of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers in a large screen carried it.
What to ask for
Muscular dystrophy (DMD, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result on the dam, since carriers are female
An inherited fragility of the skin from a defect in collagen VII, the protein that anchors the skin to the tissue beneath: the skin and the lining of the mouth blister and tear easily from puppyhood. It is recessive. The variant was described in this breed and looks very rare now — none of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers in a large screen carried it.
What to ask for
Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (COL7A1, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result, on both parents
A second, separate inherited scaling of the skin found in North American Golden Retrievers that did not carry the breed's common PNPLA1 variant: the skin scales from a young age. It is recessive. It was absent from 396 Golden Retrievers of European origin, and a PNPLA1 test does not detect it.
What to ask for
Ichthyosis type 2 (ABHD5, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited malformation of the eye described in four litters of this breed that shared a sire or grandsire: affected puppies had a malformed retina or an underdeveloped optic nerve, in one or both eyes, and some were blind in an eye. One copy is enough to cause it, and how badly a puppy is affected varies. It looks very rare — none of 432 Golden Retrievers in a later screen carried it.
What to ask for
Congenital eye malformation (SIX6) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited weakness at the junction between nerve and muscle described in four related puppies of this breed: from six to eight weeks old they tired after a short burst of activity and had to sit or lie down; treatment improved them. It is recessive. It is rare — roughly one in 700 of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers screened carried it.
What to ask for
Congenital myasthenic syndrome (COLQ, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result, on both parents
The Retriever Clube de Portugal only recommends a dog as a sire once these have been done: hip X-rays, elbow X-rays, an eye examination and DNA tests for PRA 1 and 2. Hip X-rays are accepted only with a result of A or B. It also asks for at least 2 CAC at dog shows and at least 2 offspring from different litters with a Champion or Junior Champion title.
Ask the breeder: Are the parents recommended sires of the club, or do they have these tests done? Can I see the results?
This is a club recommendation, not a legal requirement. A breeder who is not a member does not meet it, and that says nothing about the health of the dogs.
Retriever Clube de Portugal, page "Reprodutor RCP", read on 4 Nov 2026. https://www.retrieverclubedeportugal.pt/reprodutor-rcp/
Median survival 13.2 years
95% confidence interval 13.1–13.2 years, from 4,252 recorded deaths among 11,504 dogs
Mortality hazard 0.76 (0.74, 0.78) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12.0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584,734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
An aggressive cancer of blood-vessel-lining cells, most often arising in the spleen or heart. The breed's own parent club material, citing its 1998 health survey, says nearly one in five Golden Retrievers die from it, making it one of the breed's leading causes of death, but no validated screening or DNA test exists. A genetics study puts the lifetime risk in US Golden Retrievers at about one in five, and in the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study 233 of 3,044 dogs had been diagnosed by September 2022, while the cohort was still being followed.
What to ask for
No validated screening or DNA test exists. Ask for documented cause of death and age at death for the sire's and dam's own parents and littermates, since risk is known to cluster in some lines
A skin condition causing greyish, flaky scaling over the body from puppyhood. It is lifelong and visible but not painful or life-shortening.
What to ask for
DNA test for the PNPLA1 gene mutation (ICT-A) on both parents
Progressive, incurable degeneration of the retina leading to blindness. Golden Retrievers carry three distinct known causative mutations, so a clear result for one does not rule out the others.
What to ask for
DNA test covering GR-PRA1 (SLC4A3), GR-PRA2 (TTC8) and prcd-PRA on both parents
An inherited fragility of the skin from a defect in collagen VII, the protein that anchors the skin to the tissue beneath: the skin and the lining of the mouth blister and tear easily from puppyhood. It is recessive. The variant was described in this breed and looks very rare now — none of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers in a large screen carried it.
What to ask for
Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (COL7A1, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result, on both parents
A second, separate inherited scaling of the skin found in North American Golden Retrievers that did not carry the breed's common PNPLA1 variant: the skin scales from a young age. It is recessive. It was absent from 396 Golden Retrievers of European origin, and a PNPLA1 test does not detect it.
What to ask for
Ichthyosis type 2 (ABHD5, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result, on both parents
A progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs that starts as hind-leg weakness and ends in paralysis; there is no treatment. The SOD1 variant behind it is uncommon in this breed — roughly one in 300 of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers screened carried it — and not every dog with two copies develops the disease.
What to ask for
Degenerative myelopathy (SOD1) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited muscle-wasting disease described in this breed, caused by a variant in the dystrophin gene, the same gene as Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys: affected males develop progressive, ultimately fatal muscle weakness. It is X-linked, so it shows in males while their mothers carry it silently. It is best known from research colonies — none of nearly 12,900 Golden Retrievers in a large screen carried it.
What to ask for
Muscular dystrophy (DMD, Golden Retriever type) DNA test result on the dam, since carriers are female
An inherited malformation of the eye described in four litters of this breed that shared a sire or grandsire: affected puppies had a malformed retina or an underdeveloped optic nerve, in one or both eyes, and some were blind in an eye. One copy is enough to cause it, and how badly a puppy is affected varies. It looks very rare — none of 432 Golden Retrievers in a later screen carried it.
What to ask for
Congenital eye malformation (SIX6) DNA test result, on both parents