Grooming and care for a Golden Retriever: brush, bath, health
Golden Retriever : Its medium-length coat with a dense undercoat sheds heavily: brush 2-3 times a week with a slicker brush and undercoat rake, daily during shedding season. Floppy ears plus a love of water make ear infections common, so dry and check them regularly.
An accessory from our shop for this use: Double-sided stainless steel dematting comb for dogs (€23.90) · the whole shop
Outside our shipping area? The downloadable practical guide: Raising Your Puppy: The First Six Months (€19)
🩺 Reminder: this page informs, it does not diagnose. For any symptom or health question, your veterinarian remains the only reference.
In short: Large dog, 51-61 cm at the withers (25-34 kg), medium-length golden coat with a dense undercoat, high energy level. A gentle, patient, cooperative dog, as keen on water as on retrieving. Bred to retrieve game undamaged, it has a famously soft mouth: it greets you carrying an object rather than destroying it.
Coat care, brush by brush
Plan, for a Golden Retriever, on a slicker brush and a metal comb, two to three sessions a week; note that it sheds heavily all year round: a de-shedding tool and a sturdy vacuum are part of the kit. Start early and reward: a few positive minutes per session build an adult that accepts grooming without drama.
Baths, claws, ears, teeth
Plan a bath roughly quarterly, exceptional messes aside, with a specifically canine shampoo: a dog’s skin pH is not yours. Check claws monthly — natural wear often does the job on such an active dog, inspect ears at the same time, and brush teeth two or three times a week.
Health watch-points for the Golden Retriever
In the Golden Retriever, the documented watch-points are: hip dysplasia, ear infections linked to floppy ears and swimming and increased predisposition to certain cancers. Nothing inevitable, but they steer prevention — and at the first unusual sign, the vet decides, not the shop aisle. Life expectancy sits around 10 to 12 years.
Frequently asked questions
Which brush for a Golden Retriever?
For its coat, plan on a slicker brush and a metal comb, two to three sessions a week.
How often should a Golden Retriever be bathed?
Two to three months between baths is a good rhythm, muddy accidents aside; the shampoo, always, is a dog product.
The guides that apply to you
- Alaskan malamute coat care: managing the double coat
How do you care for an Alaskan malamute's coat? Brushing the double coat, handling the two annual moults, bathing, and why you must never shave it.
- Boxer: why every new lump under the skin should be aspirated
The Boxer is the breed most affected by cutaneous mast cell tumours in England. The good news: its tumours are more often low grade. Provided they are aspirated rather than watched.
- Alaskan malamute: chondrodysplasia and juvenile cataract screening
Chondrodysplasia and hereditary cataract in the Alaskan malamute: what the science says, how screening works, what to ask a breeder and the budget to plan.
- Scottish Terrier: bladder cancer and the role of herbicide-treated lawns
The Scottish Terrier carries one of the highest bladder cancer risks among dog breeds. What a landmark US study on lawn herbicide exposure shows and how to reduce the risk.