Breeds / Large
Goldador puppies
The Goldador is a retriever cross that is affectionate with people including strangers, reliable with children and other dogs, and easy to train, which is why the type is used in assistance and detection work. They need about an hour of exercise a day and shed year round.
The facts
- Size class Large
- A cross of Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever
- Country of origin Not published
- Adult weight 25 to 36 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 55 to 79 lb
- Adult height 53 to 64 cm
- Energy level High
- Grooming Moderate
- Coat type Short to medium double
- Typical lifespan 10 to 13 years
- Good with children Reliably good
- Good with other dogs Reliably good
About the Goldador
The Goldador is a Golden Retriever crossed with a Labrador Retriever, a pairing used widely in assistance and detection work rather than as a novelty. Adults are 25 to 36 kg and 53 to 64 cm, built like the retrievers behind them, with a dense coat that sheds all year. The temperament is the entire point of the cross: affectionate with everyone including strangers, reliable around children and other dogs, and very straightforward to train.
An hour of exercise a day is the floor, and swimming or retrieving games suit them far better than a slow walk round the block. Grooming is a weekly brush, with more work during the heavy moults. Both parent breeds are food driven and gain weight easily, and that extra weight lands on joints already prone to dysplasia, so measure the food and keep treats inside the daily ration rather than on top of it.
A cross, not a breed. The Goldador is a cross rather than a standardised breed, so coat length, colour and temperament vary and can favour either parent, and a first cross of two purebred parents is less predictable than a later generation bred back to one side. Size varies less than in most designer crosses because both parents are similar sized retrievers, but coat length and shedding are genuinely unpredictable.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Goldador puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and they will need a job to do long before they need long walks. Grooming needs are moderate, so build the brushing habit now while the coat is still short and easy. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything they meet calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of their life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Hip and elbow dysplasia, screened by hip and elbow scoring radiographs or PennHIP in both parents
- Exercise induced collapse from the Labrador side, detectable by DNA test and suspected from hind limb weakness after hard exercise
- Progressive retinal atrophy, detectable by DNA test in both parent breeds and by eye examination
- Cancers including lymphoma and haemangiosarcoma from the Golden Retriever side, diagnosed by imaging and biopsy
- Subaortic stenosis, picked up as a murmur on routine auscultation and confirmed by echocardiogram
- Obesity, tracked by regular weighing and body condition scoring, since both parent breeds gain weight readily
Your Goldador puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Goldador.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 25 to 36 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Kit sizes: crate 42 inch (42 x 28 x 30 in, 107 x 71 x 76 cm) for an adult of up to 36 kg; chew toys made for large breeds. Worked out the same way as the crate size calculator. PetMD bases a crate on the dog's own measurements, not weight or breed alone, so measure once the puppy is home.
Buying guides for this
Other large breeds
More on the Goldador
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.
Sources
- petmd.com for adult weight and height, life expectancy and energy, grooming and the temperament ratings
- petmd.com for coat type and health notes
- Health notes from Goldador breed information at https://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/golden-retriever. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
No published figure for country of origin, so nothing is shown rather than a guess.
Photo: State Farm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped. All photographers are listed on the photo credits page.