# Do apricots "clear"?



## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

Yuki's current coloring kind of reminds me of a clearing silver...his paws and face are a very light cream (though his paws a tad darker than his face), his lower legs and front of his topknot are nearly white, and his chest is also starting to lighten a bit. He also has a white ring in the middle of his tail which I thought was kind of unique (in the center of his pom)...BUT his tail base is a darker orangey color as is the top of his tail. Aside from those areas lightening, his body seems to be getting darker? Every hair cut his body seems to stay the same color, or even get a little darker, and his legs stay lighter. He is only 11 months and hasn't entered coat change yet and I'm sure his coat will continually change. But my question...do apricots clear? I don't see many apricots, mostly white, creams and blacks. I know many fade, but he seems to have a "pattern" going on, not just gradually fading like Atticus did (who is a faded red now). And even though Atticus faded, his ears stayed his original dark color...Yuki's are different. 

Just curious 

Here he is as a pup.




Once I shaved off his puppy fuzz at around 5 months old, he was very light...then his body gradually got darker.



Recent photo


These are from our walk the other day...you can really see the contrast on his legs


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

I think the answer is yes. Missy was a light apricot and cleared to cream. Also Cammie poodle on PF when she was a puppy was a lot darker and is now very light.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Look At the thread about funny poodle pics, and you can see some young photos of her.


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## Naira (Jan 9, 2015)

Apricots do clear. I have never seen one clear in the pattern that Yuki does though. I mean he is clearing in a clear pattern. he almost looks like a cream and apricot phantom if that exists. By the way Yuki is beyond gorgeous. I would definitely steal him


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

I know they typically fade into a lighter color...but I've never seen one with a pattern like his while clearing. I just thought that every hair cut they'd be a tad lighter and lighter and lighter. Not necessarily a pattern like he has. Just thought it was kind of cool since I hadn't ever seen it before! Especially since right now his body is getting darker and certain areas lighter.

This is a picture I just took of his tail...I combed it flat so its easier to see. Its not as noticeable when his tail is fluffed up.


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

Naira said:


> Apricots do clear. I have never seen one clear in the pattern that Yuki does though. I mean he is clearing in a clear pattern. he almost looks like a cream and apricot phantom if that exists. By the way Yuki is beyond gorgeous. I would definitely steal him


Thank you! I always assumed they cleared into a lighter color, but I hadn't ever seen a pattern like his before, I like it too!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Tangee got overall lighter over time, but she didn't clear like that - Teaka my silver did, and Taylee, my blue did.
Do you if there is any silver in his pedigree?


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

PoodlePaws said:


> I think the answer is yes. Missy was a light apricot and cleared to cream. Also Cammie poodle on PF when she was a puppy was a lot darker and is now very light.


Hi PoodlePaws -- I'm impressed that you noticed my girl and her coloring. She was a lot darker as a puppy, especially her ears which were a beautiful golden retriever color. She faded to a light cream, and then actually darkened a bit after having her litter. On the other hand, her son Sam was light cream as a puppy. I thought he'd fade like Cammie did and become almost white. But he retained his color pretty well and now they are both light cream.

This first 5 pictures below are Cammie, the second 4 are Sam and the last one is a recent picture of both of them in the snow.


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

Beautiful dogs! They did get lighter, but I didn't notice any pattern like Yuki has. I wonder why he has it. I'm not sure of his pedigree, the breeder was supposed to send it over to the service dog organization (where I adopted him from) but that never happened. She's not a very good breeder in all honesty. I love Yuki with all my heart and wouldn't trade him for the world, but if I were to purchase a puppy I would have gone a different route and chose a different breeder. I'm curious if there was any silver...hmmmmm. All I know is that mom is white, and dad is apricot...both supposedly AKC registered.

He also has a light pattern on his hind end


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I don't think the pattern to his clearing looks odd at all. I would guess he will probably clear to cream.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

When my missy cleared, she cleared in patches all over.


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## ApricotsRock (Jan 10, 2014)

So do apricots continue to lighten their entire lives?

I think Rookie looks very blonde now that he has been groomed. Much lighter.


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## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

When I picked up Willow from her breeder, the breeder showed me her brothers. All 4 puppies in the litter were apricot to red. She split the hair to the skin on one brother and it was whiteish ... She said he would clear to cream. Another brother she showed me has dark red hair to the skin. Willow and another brother were apricot to the skin. But, Willow is definitely lightening. She has a pattern similar to Yuki. She has darker ears and a lighter body, but has a couple darker spots on her back. I actually wondered if she were a type of phantom.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I had thought Molly was cream until her adult coat's guard hairs came in red! Then she got the 'Apricot Stripe' down the middle of her back.....so in her case I have to surmise she is an Light Apricot......
Here's some pics....the first one is a pic of her coat as a 7 monh old (I was line brushing her) she was all cream except her ears were dark red at the base
The second is of her color now...Light Apricot/Cream
The third is of the red guard hairs that turn her 'Pale Apricot' .....in bright light she looks kinda pink!!!!
She got darker not lighter Hahaha!!! Except her ears...they did get lighter!:beauty:


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## ApricotsRock (Jan 10, 2014)

Molly, now that you say that it reminded me my first guy did the same thing. Even the stripe! LOL! So some whites darken to apricot and some apricots lighten to cream. Wrap your head around that...


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## peccan (Aug 26, 2014)

Naira said:


> Apricots do clear. I have never seen one clear in the pattern that Yuki does though. I mean he is clearing in a clear pattern. he almost looks like a cream and apricot phantom if that exists. By the way Yuki is beyond gorgeous. I would definitely steal him


Just dropping by to bite the colour bait...
Such a phantom is not possible. Phantom is what we call the black-and-tan pattern, and it always consists of eumelanin ("black series") and pheomelanin ("red series"). So the main colour can be black, brown, blue, cafe au lait, silver, silver beige, and the markings red, apricot, cream, or white.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Tonka was labeled Apricot at birth. There's not a drop of Apricot in him now. He's pure Cream.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

hopetocurl said:


> When I picked up Willow from her breeder, the breeder showed me her brothers. All 4 puppies in the litter were apricot to red. She split the hair to the skin on one brother and it was whiteish ... She said he would clear to cream. Another brother she showed me has dark red hair to the skin. Willow and another brother were apricot to the skin. But, Willow is definitely lightening. She has a pattern similar to Yuki. She has darker ears and a lighter body, but has a couple darker spots on her back. I actually wondered if she were a type of phantom.



If she is darker along he dorsal stripe, that is normal, but if you are talking about random round spots, it may be from flea/tick medication as skin injury will cause the hair to revert back to it's darker original color for a few months. And if topical meds are strong enough to cause skin injury, you may want to consider alternative treatments. Tangee used to break out in all over bacterial skin infections from that stuff.


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## ladybird (Jul 9, 2011)

my light apricot has cleared in a similar pattern like yours, he has light cream patches in the phantom pattern as well, and I think it does actually have something to do with an influencing phantom gene, as I know that my poodle's grandfather is an apricot who has sired phantoms so there's a possibility mine carries phantom and it has influenced the shading (he is borderline apricot/cream)


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Here's Lou at 3.5 miles old (she looked like a creamy-lighter-apricot to me)
and now that she is almost 3 years old. (She looks like a tan / apricot to me now)

I think she has darkened... 
Or maybe her color just evened out throughout her whole body, she is all one shade now... 

Oh my... (Reliving these photos  ) It was love at first sight, I love this girl so much... And I love Apollo sooo much too I got Apollo at 11 moths old, I hear he could have started as a cream, he is white now. 

























And now


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## cindyreef (Sep 28, 2012)

http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/...creenshot_2015-02-20-22-46-49_zpsezkwk9qn.png


I don't know anything about clearing but I have to say: MY God that dog is cute! I just want to reach in and hug him. Love the way he is sitting.  And that face! Lucky you...he looks so sweet.


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

Thank you! He is such a good dog, I'm so lucky to call him mine 

And thanks for sharing photos and stories everyone!!


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