color and size

Question
My Golden is unusually tall and also very red in color. He was given to us an although the information we were given says that he is a pure bred, I'm not so sure. What do you think. He is a wonderful dog and I wouldn't change anything about him but I was just curioius.

Answer
The red color is quite common.  I have found myself wondering why that Irish Setter has such a big square head.  It is because it is a Golden.  The field trainer I work with from a service dog school has a Golden as her demo dog.  He is named Brick for his color.  He is so large, he sometimes intimidates potential clients.  He is trained to do a number of tasks.  She can meet with a client, and let him show them
how a dog can help them.  Goldens are very common as service dogs.  

If you go to www.akc.org and check the breed standards, your Golden may not meet them.  That only means he would score poorly or even be disqualified in a show.  Labman is more familiar with Labs than Goldens.  Many of the purebred Labs the dog guide school breeds would do very poorly in a show.  I would be laughed at if I showed up with some of the puppies I have raised.  A few of them might get me run off with a stick.  One of them could nose print the top of the windshield of my little truck sitting on the floor.  Her father was a field Lab, a big boy, but much finer boned than the show Labs.  I am sure pure Goldens bred for other than show, don't all have the classic show looks.