# color enhances



## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

ok - so to all the groomers - does anyone know of any shampoo that will deposit color in order to dull the silver hairs that are coming through jessie's beautiful chocolate color. for the most part, she is relatively dark. her choclate hairs are not fading. however, as she gets older (she's 15 months) silver, more wiry hair is blending in. again, it is not the dominant color, but i don't like it b/c i have people asking if she's going prematurely grey or if she's an old dog  when she's clipped short, they barely even show. it's when i let her grow out a bit more that they show. HELP, pleeezzz thank you


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Nope, this is typical of a Brown poodle. Very few of them hold their color. Color depositing shampoos to not work any more that they do on people who have gray hair.

The only option is to dye the dog with real hair dye. Show folks do this all the time, but I can't imagine that as a pet owner you would want to do this.


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

My daughter's spoo, Chalumeau, is around 18 months old and she also started out a deep dark brown and has lightened considerably with silver hairs in her coat. My daughter is a little sad because she loved Meau's dark brown color, but her coat is changing uniformly and I think it's BEAUTIFUL!! It was also mentioned on this board by a respected member that she may be a "nice example" of a cafe au lait (which sounds OH SO MUCH BETTER than a "bad brown") :lol:

IMO shampoos are so very temporary anyway, so I've decided to embrace Meau's newly emerging color and accept her for who she is - but that's just me... 

Good luck in your quest!


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

i know some breeders actually breed for cafe au lait. i was told by a brown poodle breeder that cafe au lait is when the brown hairs themself lighten. jessie's browns are still very dark brown. but, inbetween are the silvers. yes, it makes me sad because she was such a dreamy dark chocolate. however, she's still a beautiful dog with a wonderful personality, calm, loving, funny. so i guess i will have to deal with it in the winter and look forward to her summer clips when she's short and they (the silvers) show less!


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## AgilityIG (Feb 8, 2009)

I love Chris Christensen products and they have shampoos for certain color dogs - here is the link - scroll down to the red on red and look at the information.

Detail Informaiton


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

thank you so much! gonna look now...will let you know what i find...


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

They don't work....


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

AgilityIG said:


> I love Chris Christensen products and they have shampoos for certain color dogs - here is the link - scroll down to the red on red and look at the information.
> 
> Detail Informaiton


after reading all the info, i think the black on black is best for jessie. it says to use it on dark chocolates. just want to know for sure this won't change her coat to black - lol - i just want to dull the silvers.


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

cbrand said:


> They don't work....


not at all? have you tried any? AgilityIG sent me a link for Chris Christensen products. have you had any experience with them? i don't want to get obsessed with this. jessie will be jessie, the spoo i love to death, even if she turned green. lol howeve, if i could do anything without getting crazy, i would like to try.


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## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

The CC shampoos will make your poodle's hair look amazing!! It will more than likely make her beautiful brown fur shine and look gorgeous. I use White on White on Des, it makes his white color glow and brings out the cute biscuit markings on him. 
HOWEVER, it will not change the color of those hairs!! Color enhancers only do just that- they enhance colors that are already there, not change them. If she has silvery coarse hairs, they will not turn brown or dark with Black on Black. If there aren't very many of them, you could probably just pluck them if they bother you, or dye them. Desmond has dark apricot coarse hairs along his back- not very many of them, but they are similar to those silver hairs you're describing, only dark in color.


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## Rockporters (Jan 14, 2010)

I use the black on black on Jasper (black). Our whole process includes black on black, After Bath, and then Ice on Ice. I actually feel it dulls the look of the coat. Whatever products our groomer uses leave a nice healthy sheen, where our CC Black on Black tends to make his coat look flat. 

I think if the silver bothers you that much you'll probably need to dye.


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

colour enhancing shampoos will NOT make anything change colour. You can use black on black shampoo no a white dog if you want; they won't turn black! Only dye will make their hair change colour... 

No shampoo will change the grey hairs in her coat. They'll still be there, and still be as grey as ever. Her brown may be more brown, but her grey will still be grey... I'm afraid it is normal for browns and many blacks to get the grey hairs all through them, and to eventually lighten too... If you kept a lock of her puppy hair you'll see that the brown probably IS fading a bit, it's just not noticable!


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

thank you for all the help. i think i am going to try the shampoo, especially now that i am starting to get trained to do, at least, the maintenance part of her grooming every 2 weeks and then the professional groom @ 6 weeks. yea!! can't wait. anyway...do those shampoos have to be ordered through a distributor or can i order on the website?


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Jessie's Mom said:


> not at all? have you tried any? AgilityIG sent me a link for Chris Christensen products. have you had any experience with them? i don't want to get obsessed with this. jessie will be jessie, the spoo i love to death, even if she turned green. lol howeve, if i could do anything without getting crazy, i would like to try.


Yes. I have a Brown Standard too. My girl is in show coat and the ends of her coat are quite sunburned. Plus she has grizzled white hairs through her coat too.

I used a color depositing shampoo that was supposed to darken hair. I used it three times and it did not make one bit of difference. It does make a Hell of a mess in the tub though. 

Whitening/brightening shampoos work well on White or Cream dogs because they have blueing in them that takes the yellow dinginess out of a coat.

The only way to truly change the color of a dog is to dye it. If you want to go that route, you can buy regular human hair dye at the store and mix it into your dog's shampoo.


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

cbrand said:


> Yes. I have a Brown Standard too. My girl is in show coat and the ends of her coat are quite sunburned. Plus she has grizzled white hairs through her coat too.
> 
> I used a color depositing shampoo that was supposed to darken hair. I used it three times and it did not make one bit of difference. It does make a Hell of a mess in the tub though.
> 
> ...


excuse my ignorance but i have 2 questions: first, what is "show coat", second, is this "silvering" considered an undesirable trait when it comes to showing spoos?


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

flyingduster said:


> colour enhancing shampoos will NOT make anything change colour. You can use black on black shampoo no a white dog if you want; they won't turn black! Only dye will make their hair change colour...
> 
> No shampoo will change the grey hairs in her coat. They'll still be there, and still be as grey as ever. Her brown may be more brown, but her grey will still be grey... I'm afraid it is normal for browns and many blacks to get the grey hairs all through them, and to eventually lighten too... If you kept a lock of her puppy hair you'll see that the brown probably IS fading a bit, it's just not noticable!


yes, i guess i just have to deal with it. the good thing is when she cut short for the summer, the grays are practically gone and she's her dark chocolate again. however, i guess this summer will really tell since she is now 15 months old and her coat has matured quite a bit since last summer. maybe her brown won't be as dark as it was last year. i will have to see. thank you for the help.


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Jessie's Mom said:


> excuse my ignorance but i have 2 questions: first, what is "show coat", second, is this "silvering" considered an undesirable trait when it comes to showing spoos?


In the AKC, Poodle show dogs are shown with long coats. After age 12months, adult poodles are required to be shown in what is called a Continental trim. (See below... Delilah is especially orangie in the flash). The hair in this trim has been growing since infancy. It must be cared for in a very specific way or it will matt or break.

Because I live in Colorado, land of 300+ days of sunshine a year, and because I'm pretty active with my dogs, my Delilah's show coat has gotten sunburned. It has turned a bit orange. This is not desirable in the show ring.

Also, my girl has a substantial amount of grizzling (white hairs) through her coat. While common in a Brown, it is less desirable. If you look at her tail, you can see the white hairs in the front.


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

thank you for all the education! your girl is gorgeous - i don't see much "grizzling" and i can barely see the white on her tail. funny thing, jessie has that same white streak on her tail. i am attaching a pic of jess from 3/1/10 - day after a grooming. this shows how dark she could still look when groomed.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Jessie's Mom said:


> thank you for all the education! your girl is gorgeous - i don't see much "grizzling" and i can barely see the white on her tail. funny thing, jessie has that same white streak on her tail. i am attaching a pic of jess from 3/1/10 - day after a grooming. this shows how dark she could still look when groomed.


I would just keep her short


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

Olie said:


> I would just keep her short


lol - i know, such a simple solution. guess it's my problem - i love a longer look. maybe with my next one. don't want to belabor this and become annoying about it - i appreciate everyone's input and i understand all my options.


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