# Poodle colours & fading



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I was admiring some beautiful apricot and red poodles and thinking of looking for a puppy if Dogs Trust haven't had anything suitable by xmas as I really need to start training my dog next year. 

I was thinking I fancied a dark red one and would call it Phoenix (sticking with the colour theme, my other dog is called Inca meaning black). I was told that sometimes poodles coat colour fades from when its a puppy and they can be different colour by the time they are 2!! 

I was wondering if anyone would know how much a very dark red puppy would fade? ..or would a lighter apricot one stay that colour or end up cream coloured or white? I'm not bothered whether it changes colour but it would change what I would call it for obvious reasons if was going to end up a light cream colour and I had called it Phoenix meaning 'dark red'..lol! 

Is there a way to tell like if the parents changed colours radically the puppies will or if parents colour held the puppies will stay same colour? 

Do white poodles always stay the same colour? ..as you can't get much lighter than white can you? 

Anyone got pics on here of how their apricot/red poodles have changed colour as they grew up?

Thanks

Leigh


----------



## Emmastace (Feb 11, 2011)

I don't know much about it really but I seem to remember reading once that ALL the poodle colours fade except the black. Could have dreamed it though.


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I have heard black can change to grey before they are two. I was gonna go for black but that put me off. 

I was just wondering like how many shades they went down? Maybe a light apricot puppy would end up cream/white but one very dark red to start with wouldn't end up that light? 

I read they can darker too how does this happen? I can't think of any other breed whose coat changes colour like that and so young? (not counting elderly dogs going grey!)


----------



## Indi's mum (May 7, 2011)

Indi is black and he was born black and at 2 is still pure black. His mum was grey and the rest of the litter were cream/white with a little apricot on ears and face. So we were prepared for the fact he may lighten up but it wasn't really a factor. 

I did chose based on colour as we wanted a black but had his coat changed as he got older we wouldn't have loved him any less. I accept that he will go grey when he's an old man as everyone does.  

But from what we were told they can change but it's usually more the brown coats whose tend to prematurely grey. We live near two brown poodles who have both gone grey around the age of two.


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I don't mind them going grey when they get old and I don't mind if I got a red poodle and it ended up apricot or light one darker but I was just wondering if there is a way to know whether a puppy will lighten or darken for sure? 

Amber and Autumn are also lovely names for apricot poodles but would look odd on a cream one..lol! 

Did you know Indi had high chance of staying black? I heard breeders can sometimes tell from roots changing colour so should i look for a lighter puppy with dark roots rather than a dark puppy whose roots are lighter?


----------



## Guest (Oct 7, 2012)

I can't help with the poodle side of thing but wanted to say while it may seem like a big deal to you, I don't think other people would see a dog and go 'oh its colour doesn't suit its name!'. If I met a dog called phoenix I'd think 'nice name', I wouldn't look to see if the dog was red. Likewise, if I met a dog called Amber or Autumn I wouldn't think to check that it was the 'right' colour for its name.

If it's really a problem, call the dog something that doesn't suggest a colour


----------



## Indi's mum (May 7, 2011)

IncaThePup said:


> I don't mind them going grey when they get old and I don't mind if I got a red poodle and it ended up apricot or light one darker but I was just wondering if there is a way to know whether a puppy will lighten or darken for sure?
> 
> Amber and Autumn are also lovely names for apricot poodles but would look odd on a cream one..lol!
> 
> Did you know Indi had high chance of staying black? I heard breeders can sometimes tell from roots changing colour so should i look for a lighter puppy with dark roots rather than a dark puppy whose roots are lighter?


Our breeder didn't really explain how she knew he'd stay black but maybe because his dad was black and his mum silver, the black would be more dominant in him  but then his brothers were cream.


----------



## JANICE199 (Feb 1, 2008)

*I have 2 "black" toy poodles.They are both now 5 years old,and both have different colours in them.Mia,has loads of silver in her coat,plus you can see some brown.
Kai has the best coat,but even he has some brown showing,and here and there you can find white hairs.
I know nothing about breeding,but my guess is,its in their genes.I know Kai somewhere down the line has white,brown and black in him.*


----------



## thedogcabin (Jul 19, 2011)

I have a dark apricot poodle who is still dark apricot at a year old. He came from a breeder who only breeds dark apricots and reds, there are no other colours in his 5 generation pedigree. I met his parents and grandparents who all had a good strong colour, I also met all her other adult dogs and they too were still a good colour.

I think that maybe the lighter apricots are the ones which fade to cream leaving only apricot ears but it is all down to the breeding and what colours have been involved.

I have attached a pic from the day we bought him home and then some of him as he grew up til now at a year old.


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

thedogcabin said:


> I have a dark apricot poodle who is still dark apricot at a year old. He came from a breeder who only breeds dark apricots and reds, there are no other colours in his 5 generation pedigree. I met his parents and grandparents who all had a good strong colour, I also met all her other adult dogs and they too were still a good colour.
> 
> I think that maybe the lighter apricots are the ones which fade to cream leaving only apricot ears but it is all down to the breeding and what colours have been involved.
> 
> I have attached a pic from the day we bought him home and then some of him as he grew up til now at a year old.


Awwh he's gorgeous!.. to me he looks darker in third pic than second but maybe light from flash or something? I will ask about the parents and grandparents colouring too and if they held their colour for several generations. The cream ones with different coloured ears are really cute too though! which breeder did he come from? Are they online?

My only worry with very light dog is they all seem to stain on the face under the eyes and sometimes paws. Is there a way to prevent this? I guess if kept more fur on the face rather than shaving it wouldn't be so noticeable?

I would keep it in a puppy cut anyway as I'm not fan of the shaved faces and pompom hairdo's.. lol!


----------



## thedogcabin (Jul 19, 2011)

yes, i think its the flash which changes his colour slightly, he's still asdark as the day we got him 

Again, tear staining is all in the breeding, it was one of the things I looked at in my breeders adult dogs, all her dogs had clear faces and luckily Freddie doesn't suffer from tear stains.


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

is there something you can use on them if dog does get tear stains?


----------



## thedogcabin (Jul 19, 2011)

Not really, no. I'm a dog groomer and have had lots of people ask the same question. There is a product which you add to their food called 'Angels Eyes' or 'Angels Glow' that you can get online but it contains an antibiotic which is banned in this country so really wouldn't recommend it.

Other suggestions which have been used but without much success are-

Adding apple cider vinegar to their drinking water
Only let them drink filtered/bottled water
Applying a paste of bicarbonate of soda to the stains and brushing it out when dry.
Adding a spoonful of live yoghurt daily to their food.
Only feeding a fish based diet or a diet which contains no grain.

I find the best thing is to keep the hair short around the face and wipe the eyes daily to prevent a build-up of the gunge that causes the staining.


----------



## Happy Paws2 (Sep 13, 2008)

I'm sorry but is this thread for real  

Most dog coats change colour a slightly, don't they ?


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I'm on my third dog and none of them have ever changed colour.. corgi cross, yellow lab cross and border collie cross, other than a few grey hairs when they got older. 

Most people when buying a dog chose it for the way it looks and don't expect it to change dramatically colour wise... apricot to cream is a complete colour change to me! :yikes: It be like a different dog! 

If I'm naming it to suit its colour and then coat changes completely, it won't be the same. I had seen a gorgeous red poodle which I thought would be great to call Phoenix then was told they don't always keep their colour so thought I'd ask before I bought a red one and called it Phoenix! 

I can't think of any other breeds that coat change colour so much and never owned poodles before but fancied a miniature. I was just looking for an idea of how much it would fade so maybe I'd go for darkest red I could find so it would still be apricot if and when it did fade, rather than a light one that might end up white.


----------



## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

All the standard poodles I know have changed colour - the three that were black are now grey, and the light apricot is now virtually white.


----------



## JANICE199 (Feb 1, 2008)

Happy Paws said:


> I'm sorry but is this thread for real
> 
> Most dog coats change colour a slightly, don't they ?


*Most dogs might see a slight change,but Mia has changed a heck of a lot.Doesn't mean any less of her of course.*


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

ok well I have a friend with 2 black poodles one is medical assistance dog, they are sisters (the dogs) both about 5 and both still black and I seen all the pics on her facebook page form puppies. 

Someone in village also has an apricot standard poodle and so far (last couple of years) he has been the same colour everytime we have seen them on the playing field! 

Anyway it doesn't matter, Inca will have to meet them so it will probably depend on which one she seems to take to as I can tell from her body language whether she likes another dog or not instantly.


----------



## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I've got it!... JOSEPH!!! (and his coat of many colours!!) 


The lady is coming this next week! do I need to have crates, collars, etc everything ready or do they just bring him to meet us first like home check and then come back later after payment has gone through or whatever?


----------

