The skull is clean without prominence of orbital arches or occipital bones. Cheeks should be clean. In profile, the muzzle is deep and, measured from nose to stop, is slightly shorter than the skull, measured from stop to occiput. The bridge of the muzzle is straight. Viewed from the top or the side, the muzzle is slightly deeper and wider at the stop than at the tip.
Lips are close-fitting, with dark pigment.
Removal of whiskers is permitted but not preferred. The Golden Retriever has a complete set of evenly spaced, white teeth meeting in a scissors bite. The nose leather is black. Nostrils must be large and open. The eyes are set in to the skull, but not too deep, and wide apart.