# Difference between black and blue



## Marcoislandmom (Mar 15, 2012)

What's the difference between a black and a blue standard? I try looking at pictures and cannot see it. Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Arborgale (Dec 11, 2011)

A blue is black with silver hairs mixed in throughout.


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## PammiPoodle (Jul 16, 2011)

A blue, as an adult, is has a dusty or smokey grey appearance, while a black is a deep and solid black. As puppies they both look *very* similar. The blue's puppy coat is very dark, but will certainly turn blue once he's grown! : ) (I'm not 100% sure, please correct me if I'm wrong!)


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

A blue is born appearing black, but during the first 2 years of it's life it'll go through a 'clearing' phase where the black will clear to a nice dark grey throughout. During the clearing it's not uncommon for a blue to have a brownish hue to it, and they'll sometimes also get a whiteish ring around the tip of their muzzle on their lips.

As puppies, with their faces shaved, it'll normally appear much lighter than a blacks face shaved, but not as light as a silver.


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## lavillerose (Feb 16, 2011)

It helps to see them right next to each other. From an older thread on this board...










The poodle in front is blue, the one behind is black. It's basically a very dark grey, closer to black than to silver. It's called blue because it has an almost slate, steel blue appearance.










There are varying shades of Blue as well, but they typically stay on the dark end of the gray scale between the 2-9 on this particular graphic (I just grabbed a random greyscale bar), but always lighter than true inky black. Silvers are more the 9-16 range. Some of them clear so light they're almost white with silver tips.


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## schpeckie (Jun 29, 2010)

That is quite interesting! My girls were born jet black and now, I guess they are turning blue. They are getting their haircuts on Monday, so I will take another picture to confirm and get your opinion. The picture below was taken last July - 1 year old.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

schpeckie,

They look just like my Paige does now. Paige was 1 year old in Feb and is at best guess a blue. Do or did your girls have white or light colored hair growing in between their paw pads as babies? Paige does still. I was told that was because she's blue. Also, are their noses black or dark grey? They will be dark grey or slate colored on a blue poodle and black for a black poodle. 

Post grooming pictures will be nice.  They are pretty little ladies.


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## Paragon (Feb 18, 2012)

Here is a photo of our Liza-Jane(Edencourt Silver Angel). She is a very pleasing shade of Blue. She will be bred in the next week to our Platinum boy Princie(CH Bibelot Tolka High Spirits CGN).


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

My two are blue, but when I groomed Maddy last night (she is in my avatar, but that picture is old--she's in a Miami now), her bracelets are silver! So I'm thinking she may actually turn silver. Her sister Indy is blue though I think, she's clearing to a nice dark charcoal colour.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Indiana: Post some current pictures. Would love to see her new clip.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

liljaker said:


> Indiana: Post some current pictures. Would love to see her new clip.


Wish I could liljaker! Bad combo of not too computer conversant and every photo I upload says, "Fail!"


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

i really want a blue poodle. seelie's mother is a blue.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

I thought that black with white hairs mixed in was called a "bad black" while I thought a "Blue" was actually the black hairs turning lighter color. Can somebody that has more color sense post on the actual difference.


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## lavillerose (Feb 16, 2011)

3dogs, I think you are correct, all the hairs are expected to actually change color, it isn't just a mixture of colors. I think this is why Blues go through their odd brown stage in the middle of clearing.

But at the same time I think there are also "bad" Blues, simply because Blacks, Blues and Silvers are all so often interbred in the lines that produce those colors and the dilutions are so similar. (IS the genetic coding for blue the same dilution as silver? Someone correct me if I'm wrong). I think its a mixture of both, in other words.

I've seen one really astonishing blue at a show once. The hair was uniformly slate grey, dark and with a sheen like on a sports car painted that color (lol, but true). ALL the hair, with perhaps a few scattered white hairs here and there. But most of the others I've seen and the two blues I see in my shop are very much salt and peppery looking, lots of white hairs scattered in the dark grey, with darker ears and lower legs. On the flip side, you also see silvers that have scattered black hairs all the time too, usually along the spine.


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## Jacknic (Sep 14, 2010)

I have had puppies actually born blue, it was a bit freaky for me at the time, 
they even had blue pigment and their coat looked a metalic blue when they were wet. Here is one of the boys in full blue puppy coat, he is eight months old here.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

View attachment 24909
[/QUOTE]

I tried to attach a photo of Maddy, she is clearing to be so light! My avatar (finally managed to change that) is when she was 3 months old.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

It worked! I had to cut Maddy's head out of a shot that had our living room in the background to reduce the pixels, ha,ha; bad cut and paste job. Anyway her bracelets are the colour of her face now, it's like aluminum. Gorgeous photos of your dogs on this thread, all you previous posters; love them!


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## McKay (Feb 19, 2011)

Bit of an off topic comment. My L.A. is dark brown, but his skin is blue! Anyone know why that would be??


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## schpeckie (Jun 29, 2010)

BorderKelpie said:


> schpeckie,
> 
> They look just like my Paige does now. Paige was 1 year old in Feb and is at best guess a blue. Do or did your girls have white or light colored hair growing in between their paw pads as babies? Paige does still. I was told that was because she's blue. Also, are their noses black or dark grey? They will be dark grey or slate colored on a blue poodle and black for a black poodle.
> 
> Post grooming pictures will be nice.  They are pretty little ladies.


The girls have light coloured hair between their paws and the noses are black. Thanks, they are pretty ladies when they want to... except digging in the garden!!


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

I thought Paige's nose was black, too, until I held her and Bug up together in the sunlight. Her's is a very dark slate grey color - almost black, but not the shiney bright black like Bug's. Now hat she is a year old, I'm noticing more and more little greyish hair showing up in her TK, and her face is getting a silver tinge right around her mouth. I am guessing she's going to be a very dark blue, not the clear blue that's preffered in the showring. That's ok, I love her no matter her color. I prefer dark colors anyway.  and your little girls are lovely.

I'm looking forward to seeing your girls' pictures after their spa day.


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