# I ain't black... am I?



## jeff0208 (Dec 8, 2011)

*More pictures for reference...*

Here's my latest photos please help me on my color..

Latest photos:
December 2011 (before cutting of hair few days ago)

































Taken yesterday (December 17, 2011):


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Dear April; it would appear that you are really a blue, and will probably "clear" to your true silverish blue colour by around 1 to 2 years old. Surprise! Your sisters in blue (who also were thought to be black as puppies), Indy and Maddy


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## jeff0208 (Dec 8, 2011)

*Blue? not Silver?*

I sure am hoping April would be blue or silver when time goes by.
However, I am not the much sure about those two colors.
How can I be so sure she's definitely blue not silver at her early age?
She's already 1 year 8 months to date.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

I'm with Indiana...

Some of that hair in the close-ups looks brindle. *Two or three colours on one hair'* And probably will clear to a silver.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

She's pretty!


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Well, she isn't black. Don't silvers have light muzzles? I think she is a blue. The different colors are throwing me, though. I still think she will be a blue. You'll know in a few months.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

My little girl is doing something similar. I guess we'll figure out what color they are someday.

She sure is a pretty girl.


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

Not a poodle color expert but I think she is blue. Definitely not silver as she was too dark as a puppy. I met a very pretty blue boy today at a dog show. It's a nice color!


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I vote Blue as well ! I have a blue too!


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## schpeckie (Jun 29, 2010)

Ahhh another colour change! My girls were completly black when I got them a year ago, and now they have turned silver. The mother was silver and the father was apricot colour. Your pup's colour looks like my girls colour too.


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## 2719 (Feb 8, 2011)

Is she healthy, got a good temperament...do you love her for her? Then really whatever colour she ends up...does it make that big a difference? Won't you still have a wonderful companion regardless if she is black, blue or parti?


Also I noticed in some of the pics....she desperately is in need of having her toe nails gound down.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I am also excited to see what colour my dogs end up being...Maddy (as seen in my avatar) is growing white on the muzzle and gun metal grey where the fur is growing in on her legs. Her sister Indy is only a little blue on her muzzle. So I'm betting Maddy will end up much lighter than her sister.


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## KalaMama (Nov 20, 2009)

Hmm, does not really look blue to me. Do you have a face shaved picture? The blue you see when she is shaved on the back is just the bluish color you should see on a black down to the skin. Hard to tell really. The brown just looks like from the sun. Here is a photo of a blue puppy at 9 weeks then at 6 months. However, they do change at different rates so it is possible.


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## jeff0208 (Dec 8, 2011)

truelovepoodles said:


> Is she healthy, got a good temperament...do you love her for her? Then really whatever colour she ends up...does it make that big a difference? Won't you still have a wonderful companion regardless if she is black, blue or parti?
> 
> Also I noticed in some of the pics....she desperately is in need of having her toe nails gound down.


Yes she's healthy and got a good temperament. I personally trained her on her obedience training. Slept with me and my kids bed. She's part of my family and she'll always be. Asking for her true color won't change anything about the love we have for her. I was just dumbfounded about the color change. Was asking for her color shows we don't love our dog?

About the toe nails, I must admit I am too bad about cutting her nails, I always ended up cutting too short making her bleed. But I am trying. The photo shows after grooming (hair cut) and I cleaned her ear and toe nails after the photo was taken. Whatever your point is, thank you for noticing.

About the clean muzzle, I'll try to shave it up when my new clipper arrive this week. It would be delivered by Thursday.


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## 2719 (Feb 8, 2011)

jeff0208 said:


> Was asking for her color shows we don't love our dog?
> 
> About the toe nails, I must admit I am too bad about cutting her nails, I always ended up cutting too short making her bleed. But I am trying. The photo shows after grooming (hair cut) and I cleaned her ear and toe nails after the photo was taken. Whatever your point is, thank you for noticing.


I did not mean any ill will by my post. Although I must admit I might have been a bit testy about the colour question...because to me...that is the last thing to worry about. The temperament and health of the dog are paramount.
But if you love your poodle and it is just idle curiosity about what colour she is....I have no problem with it.

I currently have a litter of standard poodles....and it burns me when the first thing people want to know is if my browns fade. You know they just might....but I guarantee their health...and I go above and beyond to socialise them...plus both parents have awesome temperaments.

What would you rather have a gorgeous dark brown poodle with a myriad of health issues and untrainable due to temperament foibles....or possibly a lighter brown....healthy and social?

I must admit it is only since being a member of this forum and undertaking breeding poodles that I have come to realise how much value people have on their poodles colour.

I have had apricots in that past and it is only as I look back now that I see they faded from when they were puppies. Colour was never a biggy for me.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

There is nothing wrong with being curious about your dogs color especially with so many variations out there silver/blue, cafe, silver, blue....brindle. There are so many questions and guess this color threads out there. Perfectly fine  

I don't know what color she is right now I don't see blue but then sometimes it can take a few years to clear a true blue. I don't see silver at all. Does she lick her fur much? Some of the color patches look like an area that a poodle licks and this changes color, just like around the eyes as you see where it's moist. Some colors more so blacks and browns will get sun kissed and change the color as well. This should be interesting to watch the changes.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Indiana said:


> I am also excited to see what colour my dogs end up being...Maddy (as seen in my avatar) is growing white on the muzzle and gun metal grey where the fur is growing in on her legs. Her sister Indy is only a little blue on her muzzle. So I'm betting Maddy will end up much lighter than her sister.


My bet is blue! She has a pretty face.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Thanks Olie! I love them both to bits but honestly I have admitted to myself, my little Maddy will never win any beauty contests. But as she grows up she's getting a little prettier!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

KalaMama said:


> Hmm, does not really look blue to me. Do you have a face shaved picture? The blue you see when she is shaved on the back is just the bluish color you should see on a black down to the skin. Hard to tell really. The brown just looks like from the sun. Here is a photo of a blue puppy at 9 weeks then at 6 months. However, they do change at different rates so it is possible.
> View attachment 22199
> 
> 
> View attachment 22200


I'm with KalaMama. She does not look blue to me. Looks like a black with sunburnt hair. Many black poodles have hair that turns a brownish hue when they are in the sun or when they lick their fur. True blue is a distinct color. This poodle is definitely not silver.


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_I can honestly say that I do not know what color your girl is. I would have been tempted to go with blue from the last two of the first set of colors. That is how my standard boy looked when he started clearing. His hair (poodles do not have fur) started to lighten as well as his muzzle. He always had a brown coloring to the end of his hair; especially noticeable in photos.

After looking at your second set of photos, I see that the light and darker hairs are in patches everywhere. The brown patches are in splotchy areas. I am thinking it is even possible that she is a bad blue. She is young and may continue to clear until she is all blue but with some much lighter hair in the coat. 

I know you love her no matter what. I think curiosity about color is something that we will always see a lot of for many reasons. For me, it is a learning process of trying to identify color correctly since we breed. This learning process is always ongoing. I don't find it to be an exact science when it comes to the questionable coloring although science can eliminate some possibilities.

You should post photos of her again when she is one and definitely when she is 2. Some are finishing their color change by then; some are starting as late bloomers._


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

Here's a somewhat blurry picture of Sisko as a pup with apricot/tan patches. They all eventually turned blue. He is a blue brindle and was born silver with dark stripes. He had all these apricot-like patches during the snowiest nasty winter so definitely not sunburn!


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

Here are 2 more multi-colored pics. I understand the fascination with colour - it doesn't matter, you love them just the way they are - but it's like wondering if your cute human baby is going to develop Grandpa's big ears or the in-laws infamous nose!


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

He's very pretty. It must be tempting to let that fur grow as long as possible so you can see more of it!


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

He's much prettier when he's short. He is 3 now and most of the brownish bits are gone. When he's shaggy it all blends in and doesn't look so interesting


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I mean hair, not fur


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## jeff0208 (Dec 8, 2011)

*New photo (face)*

We tried to clip the muzzle but she keeps on refusing.
She hates clipper on her face since I use scissors on cutting her hair at face.

Here's two new close up photo.


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

Methinks - from what I can see on a photo on a computer - Silver! It is a precious face.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Again...how are we supposed to tell anything about color with a flash reflecting off the skin? My inky black boy will look silver with a flash on his face too.

This dog is definitely not silver!


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

CharismaticMillie said:


> Again...how are we supposed to tell anything about color with a flash reflecting off the skin? *My inky black boy will look silver with a flash on his face too.*
> 
> This dog is definitely not silver!


Same here. My jet black MPOO Alex looks washed out in pictures when using a flash.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Just for fun. This light black dog - is not a blue. He is a black. A "bad" black, or faded/grizzled black, if you will. Not at all unusual of a black. He is old in this photo (10) but was this color for the last 6-7 years of his life.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

This is an inky black exposed to a camera flash.


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## jeff0208 (Dec 8, 2011)

*No flash on latest photos*

I didn't use flash on the photo.
The photo was taken outside my home, not directly under the sun and shoot it very close to the subject (about just 1 - 1 1/2 feet away).

It was really fun and exciting learning how poodles change colors overtime.
However, I April is really a bad black, how can I explain the brown colors in the chest which grows from the root? The white/greyish hair growing between paws and other part of the body?


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Well, you have yet to post a photo that shows brown hair coming from your dog at the root.  I just went back and looked at each one.


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## jeff0208 (Dec 8, 2011)

*Few more pics..*

@CharismaticMillie here's few photo's showing her hair growing with white and brown colors.

Neck









Chest

















April's hair today has lots of light colors (white/grey I guess). I am expecting more changes this year ^_^:clap::clap::clap:

(darn ashes flying all around the place T_T)


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## PoodlePowerBC (Feb 25, 2011)

truelovepoodles said:


> I currently have a litter of standard poodles....and it burns me when the first thing people want to know is if my browns fade. You know they just might....but I guarantee their health...and I go above and beyond to socialise them...plus both parents have awesome temperaments.
> 
> What would you rather have a gorgeous dark brown poodle with a myriad of health issues and untrainable due to temperament foibles....or possibly a lighter brown....healthy and social?


I respectfully disagree ... when you are looking for your dog ... and there are a LOT of reputable breeders that breed for temperament, guarantee health and socialize them , I don't think asking if your browns "tend to" fade is unreasonable. When we pay the 1200 to 1500 for a Standard Poodle (show or pet) and choose to research and buy from a hard-working, responsible breeder, confidence in the color may be important . I don't know what you charge for a pup, but if I was going to pay less than the going price, color may not be as much of an issue. Having said that, after getting him home, if some grey was to show up on my boy, "that's life!!!" I love him to death, and realize that there are no guarantees. No offence and sorry for taking over :bye:


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