What Is A Red golden Retriever?
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If you are looking for a golden retriever as a new pet, you are not alone. They are the fourth most popular dog breed in the united states (as of the year 2020).
Perhaps in your search for the perfect pup to adopt, you have come across the red golden retriever.
Often just called a red retriever, these are a natural variation within the golden retriever family, but with a striking dark red coat.
There are a few other things that set a red retriever dog apart from a more traditional golden retriever, such as size and coat, but when it comes to finding an intelligent, trainable, loyal, and friendly pet, a red-haired golden retriever is just as wonderful as the lighter golden retriever pups that you are probably more familiar with.
Read on for everything you need to know about these dark red golden retrievers.
What Is A Red golden Retriever?
A red golden retriever is a natural variation within the golden retriever breed, but with a darker coat than most golden retrievers. With a distinctive red hue, the coat is described as mahogany.
Officially, there are only three colors of golden retriever: golden, light golden, and dark golden. The red retriever falls into the last of these categories but stands out because of the clearly red hue.
For this reason, red retrievers are considered abnormalities and therefore ineligible to participate in dog shows.
Unlike other golden retrievers, whose coats have a tendency to lighten or darken as they age, a red golden retriever will retain its mahogany hair color throughout its life (though you may notice a few gray hairs).
They have the same dark brown or black nose, eyes, lips, and nails as the majority of golden retrievers.
Just like other goldens, their nose and other features can have a tendency to lighten to a pink color in cold temperatures or when they don’t get enough sunlight. This is a natural fading of the pigment common to goldens.
This red coloring is a natural genetic variation within the golden retriever breed. However, the genes that give this color are recessive, and therefore it is also a relatively rare color to see.
OUR EXPERIENCE: Over our lifetime we’ve had three different shades of Golden. Our family golden Retriever, Kiko was darker and probably would have been considered a Red Retriever. Our second golden Retriever, Raven was almost white in color typically referred to as an English cream golden retriever, platinum retriever, or white retriever. Finally, our lil’ tank was right in the middle of the color chart and was a lighter shade of gold.
Breed History
Golden retrievers were bred as gun dogs in the Scottish Highlands in the mid-19th century when wildfowl hunting was a very popular sport.
The Scottish elite did not think their existing retriever breeds were quite right for the task of retrieving the fowl.
Improved weapons meant that the retrieving dogs needed to range further to collect game, and they had to be able to retrieve the game from both land and water, as the hunting grounds were swiped with marsh ponds and rivers.
The man primarily responsible for developing the breed was the 1st Baron Tweedmouth, Dudley Marjoribanks, who had a grand estate near Glen Affric in Scotland.
The breed is a mix of a Tweed water spaniel (now extinct), Irish setter, and bloodhound, which was developed over a period of about 50 years.
Golden retrievers were first accepted by the Kennel Club in 1903 and then exhibited in 1908. They became officially recognized as the breed they are today in 1911.
It took another 14 years for the dog to become recognized in the United States, having been taken there by the sons of Dudley Marjoribanks, after which the breed quickly became popular.
The mahogany coat variation that we see from red retrievers from the Irish setter, also known as a red setter, in which mahogany is a common color.
Differences between golden Retrievers and Red golden Retrievers
While the main difference between conventional golden retrievers and red golden retrievers is their color, there are a few other differences to be aware of.
However, it is worth noting that these differences don’t stem from the same genetic markers that cause red retrievers to have their mahogany color.
Rather, red retrievers tend to come from hunting lines, while many other goldens are bred to be pets, service dogs, or show dogs. As a result, different characteristics have become dominant.
Red retrievers tend to be slightly smaller and lighter in weight than other goldens.
Male red retrievers will weigh at the lower end of the 65 to 75-pound range that is conventional for golden retrievers and will be 22-23 inches tall, while conventional goldens typically grow an extra inch or two.
Female red retrievers will again be at the lower end of the 55- to 65-pound range that is conventional for golden retrievers, and tend to be 20 to 2nullnull