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Golden Retrievers have a lot of coat, but you do not need a cupboard full of grooming gadgets to look after it. In most cases, three useful tools cover three slightly different jobs: a slicker brush for routine brushing, a Greyhound-style comb for checking your work and dealing with smaller tangles, and an undercoat rake for periods when that dense undercoat is really coming out.
If you only came here wanting to know the best brush for a Golden Retriever, my starting point would be a good slicker brush. But I would not treat any single brush as the answer to every bit of Golden Retriever coat care.
A note on price: the tools I recommend here are professional-grade rather than bargain grooming tools. They are more of an upfront investment, but Golden Retrievers need regular coat maintenance throughout their lives, so this is one category where I think buying good tools makes sense. You are likely to use them a lot, and I would rather recommend a small, solid kit than encourage you to keep replacing cheaper tools that do not work as well.
My Golden Retriever grooming kit at a glance
| Tool | Best for | My take |
|---|---|---|
| Slicker brush | Regular brushing and loose coat | The everyday starting point |
| Greyhound comb | Checking through the coat and smaller tangles | Useful alongside a brush, not instead of one |
| Undercoat rake | Dense loose undercoat, especially during heavier shedding | A more occasional, purpose-specific tool |
Best overall brush for a Golden Retriever: slicker brush
For ordinary coat maintenance, a slicker is the tool I would start with. Golden Retrievers have a double coat, with longer outer hairs over a softer, denser undercoat. A well-used slicker can work through the coat and lift loose hair rather than simply smoothing the surface. The American Kennel Club’s Golden Retriever grooming guidance likewise recommends regular brushing and notes that Goldens shed more heavily at certain times of year.
My pick: the slicker brush I recommend for Golden Retrievers.
The important bit is not to turn brushing into a battle. Work in manageable sections, use light pressure and pay attention to your dog’s response. More pressure is not better grooming. If the brush is catching repeatedly, stop and work out why rather than dragging it through.
Best finishing and checking tool: Greyhound comb
A Greyhound-style comb is one of those simple tools that earns its place because it tells you what the brush may have missed. After brushing, you can gently comb through areas of longer feathering and use it to find smaller tangles before they become more difficult.
It is particularly useful around feathering, where a Golden’s coat can look tidy on top while still catching underneath. I see the comb as a partner to the slicker rather than a competing choice between the two.
Best for heavy shedding: undercoat rake
Golden Retrievers shed, and at certain points you may find considerably more loose undercoat coming away. That is where an undercoat rake can be useful.
This is not the tool I would automatically reach for every day. It has a more specific job: helping work through loose, dense undercoat when there is genuinely undercoat there to remove. Use it gently and let the tool do the work rather than repeatedly raking the same patch of skin.
Do Golden Retrievers need a deshedding tool?
Not necessarily. I would rather have a small number of tools that each have a clear purpose than buy something simply because it has “deshedding” on the packaging. Golden Retrievers have a functional double coat, so the goal is sensible coat maintenance, not trying to remove as much hair as physically possible.
A slicker, comb and appropriately used undercoat rake give you a very practical setup without treating shedding itself as a problem that needs to be eliminated.
How often should you brush a Golden Retriever?
There is no useful rule that says every Golden must be brushed for exactly the same number of minutes on exactly the same schedule. Coat density, lifestyle, season and the individual dog all matter. The Golden Retriever guide is a useful companion if you are still getting familiar with what is normal for the breed more generally.
What matters more is checking the coat regularly enough that you notice loose coat and tangles before they turn into a bigger grooming job. During heavier shedding periods, you will probably find you need to groom more frequently than when the coat is relatively settled.
Areas worth checking carefully
Pay particular attention to longer feathering and places where coat rubs or moves against itself. Rather than repeatedly brushing the easy bits because they look satisfying, use your fingers and comb to check through the coat and find areas that actually need attention.
If you find a tight mat close to the skin, do not keep pulling at it because you feel you ought to be able to brush it out. Grooming should not become an endurance exercise for the dog. A groomer can help with matting that cannot be comfortably dealt with at home.
Make brushing something your Golden can participate in
One of the easiest mistakes is waiting until a puppy urgently needs grooming and then expecting them to tolerate a full session. Handling and grooming are skills. Build them gradually.
Keep early sessions short, pair the experience with things your puppy values and give them breaks. If they are trying hard to move away, bite the brush or avoid you as soon as the grooming kit appears, I would take that information seriously rather than simply holding them still and finishing the job.
If your Golden is still a puppy, our Golden Retriever puppy training guide covers the broader foundations for teaching skills without punishment. And if grooming attempts are turning into a mouthy wrestling match, read our guide to Golden Retriever puppy biting rather than assuming the solution is simply a tougher brush.
Other Golden Retriever grooming equipment I use
Brushes are only part of the grooming kit. I also recommend these claw clippers and this dog dryer. We will cover both in more detail in dedicated Golden Retriever grooming guides rather than pretending they are interchangeable with coat brushes.
A practical brushing routine
Work through your Golden’s coat in small sections, keeping the brush movement gentle. Pay attention behind the ears, under the front legs and around the feathering on the back legs, where tangles often hide. Finish each section with a metal comb to check that you can reach through the coat without snagging near the skin.
If you find a tight mat, avoid pulling repeatedly until your dog gives up resisting. Work slowly, or ask a professional groomer to remove it safely. Short, comfortable sessions usually accomplish more than occasional marathon grooming sessions. Our Golden Retriever grooming guide covers bathing, drying and coat care together.
So, what is the best brush for a Golden Retriever?
If you are buying one brush first, I would start with the slicker brush I recommend. Then add the Greyhound comb for checking through the coat and the undercoat rake when you need more help with loose undercoat.
That is a deliberately short list. Golden Retriever owners are marketed an extraordinary amount of equipment, and more tools do not automatically mean better grooming. I would rather you understood what each tool is for, used it gently and kept grooming comfortable enough that your dog is happy to come back and do it again.