When people adopt Goldendoodles, they are often looking for them to have a certain appearance, and furnishings are sometimes a big part of a Goldendoodles appearance. So, how do you tell if a Goldendoodle puppy will have furnishings?
Furnishings can be seen around the eyes, ears, and nose of a puppy. If the hair around the face is longer than the rest of the coat, the Goldendoodle puppy will have furnishings. Furnishings appear when Goldendoodles are around 6 months old, when the Goldendoodle sheds their puppy coat.
Goldendoodles are known for their teddy bear-like faces, complete with a furry mustache and eyebrows. But not all Goldendoodles fit this description!
Furnishings are the longer, poodle-like hairs on a Goldendoodle. Furnishings are considered more desirable in Goldendoodles because they give the Goldendoodle puppies a more distinct “doodle” appearance, and they lead to hair that doesnt shed, like a poodle’s.
Though furnishings are common in Goldendoodles, they arent always present. whether or not a Goldendoodle will have furnishings depend on genetics that dont make an appearance until the puppy is older.
Furnishings will give a Goldendoodle a teddy bear-like appearance, with the thick fur forming eyebrows and a mustache on the puppy’s face. The hair will also be curlier.
You can’t tell if a Goldendoodle puppy will have furnishings right away, as the puppy will be born with a puppy coat. Once they shed that puppy coat, their adult coat will have either furnishings or a flat coat.
Puppy coats are thinner, softer coats meant to keep the puppy warm. You’ve probably noticed that puppies just feel so much downier than their parents, and eventually lose that fluff.
Adult coats can still be soft but are usually thicker. They are coarser and built for warmth as well as protection of the skin and camouflage. Some dogs will develop a double coat, a coat of fur with a soft and fluffy underbelly close to the skin, and a thicker, coarser, longer coat on the top.
Golden retrievers have this double coat that keeps them warmer through insulation. It also waterproofs their skin. Golden retrievers were bred in part to be swimmers, so the waterproofing of the coat was very important to early golden retriever breeders.
Poodles don’t have a double coat. Instead, they have a single thick, dense coat. This coat is pretty and easy to style, but it also doesn’t shed. Most dogs will shed when the weather gets warmer or cooler so they can grow a new coat to better protect them against the weather. Poodle coats just keep growing and growing and don’t shed. Their coat is similar to human hair.
When breeders breed Goldendoodles, they want that poodle hair that doesnt shed and can be styled. They work very hard to make sure that as many puppies as possible have furnishing rather than a flat coat.
Most people expect that all Goldendoodles have that warm, gold, curly hair that forms eyebrows and a mustache. But this actually isn’t the case with all Goldendoodles! There are some that have flat coats. Flat coats are dog coats that don’t have furnishings and are flat and unadorned. Golden retrievers have flat coats, and poodles do not.
Some Goldendoodles have furnishings like their poodle parent, but some inherit their other parent’s flat coat. Flat coats are often called “improper coats” by dog breeders because the curly hair and furnishings are most desirable in Goldendoodle puppies.
The furnishings in Goldendoodles are dominant, so it’s more likely that a Goldendoodle will have furnishings, but it isn’t impossible for them to have a flat coat. Goldendoodles with a flat coat look more like their golden retriever parent, shed, and can’t have their fur styled. They also can’t have puppies with furnishings, even though furnished Goldendoodles can have flat-coated puppies.
When you breed a flat coated dog with a furnished dog, roughly three-quarters of the puppies should have furnishings. This is a statistical probability, however, not a fact, so you shouldn’t plan on every fourth puppy being unfurnished every time.
Once the puppies have shed their puppy coats and grown their first adult coat, you can watch for the fuzzy T shape down the snout and around the eyes. If the fur there is longer than the fur anywhere else, then the puppy will have furnishings. The hair will probably be curly as well, but there are straight hair puppies with furnishings as well. It’s just less common.
If the puppy does have furnishings, prepare for regular grooming to keep it all in check! The hair wont stop growing naturally, so it will have to be cut or it will start to take over your puppys beautiful face.
How does my Goldendoodle get an improper coat?
I’d like to preface this section by saying that an improper coat isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s simply a gene that your Goldendoodle puppy can inherit from their parent dogs.
In general, Golden Retrievers are going to be double Improper Coat (IC) carriers because they shed hair. This is standard for Goldendoodle retrievers. On the other hand, Poodles can either be Fully Furnished (FF) or carry a recessive improper coat gene and be (FF/IC). This gives them the typically curly coat that is nonshedding and hypoallergenic. Fully Furnished genes are dominant genes when mixed with an improper coat.
If a Goldendoodle breeder does not genetic test their Poodle and they breed a Poodle that is (FF/IC) with a Golden Retriever (IC/IC), the result is going to be F1 Goldendoodles that have a 50% chance of shedding with an Improper Coat (IC/IC) genes. This is why many Goldendoodles shed because the parent Poodle is a recessive carrier of the improper coat gene (FF/IC).
If a Goldendoodle breeder does a genetic test for their parent Poodle, they will likely choose to breed with a dog that is fully furnished (FF/FF). For the most part, this prevents any Goldendoodle puppies from shedding because each puppy will inherit a fully furnished gene that is dominant.
There are slightly more variations to improper coats and furnishings, such as a weak furnishing gene. We included this straightforward example to help you understand furnishings and improper coats. However, genetics is not always that simple so you can read up on the full improper coat and furnishing genes from Paw Print. You can also see weak furnishings which is classified as (Fw) and can potentially cause coats that shed.
How can you prevent an Improper Coat on your Goldendoodle?
Improper coats can be prevented for the most part with breeders that genetic test their parent Poodle or Goldendoodles ahead of time. The easiest way to prevent an improper coat and allow for furnishings is to breed with a Poodle that is fully furnished with (FF) genes. However, many breeders don’t conduct genetic tests prior to breeding and they use a Poodle with (FF/IC) and they are a recessive carrier for improper coats. Breeds that don’t genetic test their Poodles have become a huge problem since Doodles have become so popular over recent years.
In order to prevent an improper coat on your Goldendoodle, you will want to look at the genetic test results from a breeder. You will want to see fully furnished genes (FF) or weak furnished genes (Fw). If you see a Poodle with improper coat (IC) genes, then your Goldendoodle many shed. If you want to high chance of a nonshedding and hypoallergenic coat, you will need to see the genetic testing results of the parent dogs.
At What Age Do Goldendoodles Start to Grow Their Furnishings?
At birth, a Goldendoodle puppy will not have any signs of furnishings. It will also be impossible to tell the kind of coat the dog will have as it grows older.
After a few weeks, the dog will start growing its facial furnishings as well as its puppy coat which it will shed later on before growing its final adult coat.
FAQ
Will my Goldendoodle get furnishings?
How do you tell what coat a Goldendoodle puppy will have?
What does it mean for a Goldendoodle to have furnishings?