Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Sporting Group · No. 3 in 2025

How to identify a Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is a medium-large gun dog known for its gold coat and feathered legs, ranked No. 3 by the AKC in 2025. Look for feathering on the backs of the legs, the front of the neck and under the tail. The coat is always some shade of gold, and the tail never curls over the back.

Photo of a Golden Retriever
Photo: Janneke Vreugdenhil (derivative: Anka Friedrich) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Golden Retriever standard.

  1. “Rich, lustrous golden of various shades”
  2. Feathering on the backs of the forelegs, front of the neck, backs of the thighs, and underside of the tail
  3. “Rather short” ears “falling close to cheek”
  4. Tail carried level or with a moderate upward curve, “never curled over back”

Tell them apart

Golden Retriever or Labrador Retriever?

Check the coat and the tail. A Golden has feathering on the legs, neck, thighs and under the tail. A Lab’s coat is short and dense all over, and its thick otter tail has no feathering. Color helps too: a Golden is always some shade of gold, while a Lab is black, yellow or chocolate. A yellow Lab is the one that fools people, so look for feathering.

Golden Retriever

Golden Retriever

  1. “Rich, lustrous golden of various shades”
  2. Feathering on the backs of the forelegs, front of the neck, backs of the thighs, and underside of the tail
  3. “Rather short” ears “falling close to cheek”
  4. Tail carried level or with a moderate upward curve, “never curled over back”
Labrador Retriever

Labrador Retriever

  1. Thick “otter” tail: “very thick at the base, gradually tapering toward the tip,” with no feathering
  2. Coat “short, straight and very dense” over a weather-resistant undercoat
  3. Wide skull, moderate stop, ears hanging “moderately close to the head”
  4. Black, yellow, or chocolate only

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