Coat predictions on F1 puppies.

[Stefan]

Hello all,

I am a new member to DK and must say how hopeful this forum as been!  We recently had our littler confirmed from the breeder (F1 mini) and they are due on April 28th and will be ready for pick up end of June (perfect timing since I am a teacher and have holidays soon after).  The breeder wants to keep a female back for her breeding program to put into a guardian home and after that my partner and I have first choice of the litter (it pays off being on a wait list for months and months).  I understand coat types change as they grow older but from what I read is it true that the curlier the fur on the ears, the curlier the coat as they grow older?

I would really love to choose one that has a nice wave or crinkle in their fur as they grow older.  Once the litter is born i'll post some pictures and gather some opinions on what you experts believe what kind of coat they'll mature into.

Thanks for any help in advance,

Stefan

[F, Calla & Luca]

Welcome. I think a real wavy top of the head on a newborn pup predicts curly.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Welcome!

I would join the "from puppy to adult" group so you can see some pictures from when doodles are puppies and when they are older.  

I'd more be looking to pick a puppy with a personality that meshes well with yours, then look for the coat type as a secondary thing unless it's extremely important to you to have a certain look.  

Here is a picture of my VERY retriever-ish F1 mini doodle when she was a puppy.  You'll notice she has a lack of "fluff" (facial furnishings) around her eyes/nose and her legs are smooth.  What you want to look for is a puppy with a more fluffy face/head and some obviously wavy hair on the body.

At 5 weeks (she's the one on the right):

At 7 weeks:

As an adult she is gorgeous but not what you are looking for :)

[Wendy and Myla]

Gorgeous Luna!  Wow did she ever darken as she got older!  I never realized she was such a cream puppy!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

She did!  She was one of the darker puppies too - about half of them had cream ears, hers were apricot.

We were surprised because most doodles seem to get lighter - her dad was an apricot poodle though.

[Stefan]

Wow what a gorgeous doodle!  I totally agree on the personality suggestion we definitely want a good fit for us, looks are secondary I agree.  They are predicting a litter of 8-10 so i'm sure we'll have a few viable options before us..  Thank you for the group suggestion I will check it out ASAP.  And once they are born i'll post some pictures!  Thanks again.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Looking forward to some pics!  We do love puppy pictures around here.

Luna's litter was a big one, 10 pups... 6 girls, 4 boys.  It's so nice you have first pick!

[Stefan]

Yeah I'm very excited. I don't know what qualities the breeder is looking for in the puppy for her breeding program. At 4 weeks she told me the mom of the pups is already showing quite a bit and her previous litter was 14 puppies. Should be a tough choice if there are a lot of puppies!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Luna is a mini????

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

She is, F1 mini, but on the large side.  Her dad was a ~15-20 pound apricot mini poodle.  Mom was a smallish Golden, maybe 55-60 pounds.  She's about 38 pounds.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Thanks for the reply. LOL...she looks much larger in that last pic!(. Ssshhhhh don't tell her I said that! ;)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah it's funny because if you see her in pictures... she looks almost identical to a regular Golden so people expect a big dog :)  She's actually about knee height.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Well...I say she is beautiful! She looms very much like one of my first ever Goldens. Same color and same sweet, loving face. But of course, my gal was some 60 lbs.