# Changing Colours in Mid Stream



## tangerineman (Nov 26, 2008)

Never having had a Poodle before, I was not aware until now that some of them will change colour between Puppy and Adulthood. 

I'm beginning to suspect my little 10-week-old Sammy is going to go from Black to Silver. 

I'd love to know what the typical pattern for this is, do they all tend to change at the same age?...Does a large percentage of Poodles change colours, or is it a rare phenomenon? I'd really never heard of this.

Black to Silver, Brown to Beige I think, dark red to light red?

I can see what I think is silver in the under-fur on his sides. Is that a for-sure?


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## IPP (Nov 29, 2008)

Almost all poodles colors fade, unless they come from a strong background of one particular dominant color and genes.

Most true blacks poodles are black at birth, have all their black pigment in on their toe pads and nose, and come from black parents or dark colored parents with a mostly black background. Browns and reds can produce black puppies as well, I think. Also most true blacks are born PURE black, with not a white hair or toe nail anywhere.

Silvers are born dark, and unless placed next to a true black puppy you would never know the difference. Silvers can all be different shades, with the lighter shades of silver taking the longest to fade out...some as long as 4 or more years to reach their final adult color which may fade even more in their older years. 

Normally if you shave a silver puppies face down at 6+ weeks you will see a noticeable difference in the color between the shorter face and longer top knot hair.

Blue puppies are born dark like a black, but are even harder to tell from a black puppy. Many Blues are born with only a single white toe nail, or have a few white hairs...but silvers can have this as well. A blue can take on a brownish black look as they age, but normally at 4 or more years old when placed next to a true black dog the same age there is a visual difference that is not as obvious as at a younger age.

In my opinion, I think that most blacks are born all black, so if you have a young puppy with a bit of white on it, or it is missing pigment on its paw pads or has white toes...there is a good chance it is going to fade to blue or silver.

I am sure someone else can explain it better than I can or can point you to a site that has tons of pictures to show the difference.


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## tangerineman (Nov 26, 2008)

Thank you so much for all this information. You've got a mere x-Black Lab owner here, where your puppy ends up, um, black:eat: Perhaps Sammy's going to be a bit more of a surprise package. 

At 10 weeks and counting, Sammy hasn't got any white on him whatsoever, just some of the denser fur, closer to his skin, is a tad silver. Perhaps he's going to be a Blue (never even HEARD of that one before, I live and learn. Fun discussion about my new toy (pun intended) and new best friend, thanks very much. (when I'm on the other computer I'll post another photo, promise)


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## ChickyChat (Sep 1, 2008)

If you understand genetics, or if you don't and want to try. The fading coats are all because of a dilute gene and Here is some great info on it. 

The Dilute gene test is available through DDC Veterinary, who is currently the only animal DNA center to offer DNA services to determine whether or not a dog's coat will fade with age or whether it will produce pups with fading coats. The following explanation from Randall Smith of DDC better explains the meaning of the various dilute gene results (i.e., DD, Dd, and dd): "A parent that is DD is going to pass on the D allele 100% of the time, therefore even when bred to a dd (affected by the dilute gene) or Dd (a dilute gene carrier) it cannot produce a (dd) offspring. Therefore, regardless of the color, there will not be the dilution of color (as the result of this specific locus) in any of the offspring." My summary, a dd dog's coat will fade and all of it's pups' coats will fade if bred to another dd dog; a Dd dog's coat will not fade, but it has a 75% chance of producing fading coats if bred to a dd dog and a 50% chance of producing fading coats if bred to another Dd dog; A DD dog's coat will never fade, and it's pups' coats will not fade, regardless of who it is bred to.

The dog I bred Paris to is tested as DD, and can not produce a fading puppy.


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## Blue Fox (Oct 22, 2008)

If he is going from black to silver you should be seeing two different shades - the clipped area on his face compared with the longer top knot fur will be quite different and easy to differentiate. 

My T dog is a blue and you can see brown shading to his longer fur, actually now it really is starting to look blue, but the colour on his clipped bits eg. f,f & t is different from his longer fur, lighter in colour but not silver.


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## Blue Fox (Oct 22, 2008)

I think it's tannerokeefe's pup who is silver and there are photos of him on here somewhere, or she might come along and post a new one **hint hint**


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