What are your thoughts on this color?

[DJ]

Hi, I'm new and we have been planning on getting a doodle for a year now. I'm sure we all have in our mind what the typical doodle dog looks like. After finally finding a breeder I trusted the dog mom and dad finally had pups. It was a white doodle mom and red miniature poodle dad. I though for sure one of the pups would be that beautiful light tan color. All the pups came our medium apricot, which looks very dark to me. Also the breeder recently changed her allocations to 100% temperament testing. So she matches the puppy up with the family. So we no longer get to pick gender, coat, size. We can pick one characteristic but she said mainly we will get the puppy she says fits best with our family. So now I am having reservations about this litter. Not only it isn't the color I like but I'm paying $ 3,000 and get no say in what puppy I get. What is everyone's thoughts on this process? Thanks in advance!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I love the red Doodles, so I will be no help there. If your breeder is a great breeder, I would trust her to pick the dog that she thinks best suits your family. I would always pick for temperament over color anyways. You might want to take a look at this for help.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/notes/What_To_Look_for_In_a_Breeder

[DJ]

Thank you! Yes she seems good and does the temperament testing on all of her puppies. I do have 4 small children so temperament is very important to us. Are the red/apricot more rare than the typical cream tan ones? I don't see as many.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

These pups' color is going to fade a lot by the time they are 2 years old. I can almost promise you they will not be even close to red by then; maybe a light apricot. No way they will be red as adults or even dark apricot. And that's why you don't see many red adult doodles, lol. 

I'd also tell you that color is absolutely the least important characteristic of any dog.  

[DJ]

Thank you! That was my next question is if they would lighten or not? I've read that most do fade but sometimes if the poodle parent is the dark red color the pups can either stay apricot or even deepen darker. I hope they fade. So the ones that are cute tan as pups usually become white then? So I shouldn't switch breeders based on color of puppies now? Other than that they are the exact size we want 18-25 pounds full grown. And temperament tested. It's hard finding the smaller minis. I hear all the time mine was suppose to be a mini but now 50 pounds, lol.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

DJ, what you really need to understand about doodles of any kind is that these are mixed breed dogs, and as such, it is absolutely impossible to predict exactly what they will look like as adults. Yes, many of them do end up much bigger than the breeder predicted, or with a different type of coat, or coloring. If these physical characteristics are very important to you (and it sounds like they are), I would suggest that you get a purebred dog, such as a Poodle, where you can absolutely know what the dog will look like as an adult: the size, color and coat are guaranteed. Doodles are gamble in these respects, and that includes shedding, even with an F1B like these puppies. As we always say, doodles are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get, lol.

To predict the adult color of any pup, you need to know what colors the parents are "carrying", (genes that do not express themselves in the dog's appearance but can be passed on to offspring) and color genetics are very complicated. So it's impossible to say what color a tan puppy would end up as. But they almost always get lighter. When the parents are both the same color, the pups will usually end up that color as well, but even then, not always. To get a deep red adult dog, you usually need both parents to be that color, and to carry for black. Like i said, it's complicated. 

If the idea of ending up with a reddish or apricot dog who weighs more than 25 lbs (or less than 18) seems awful to you, you should pass on this litter.  

[DJ]

Well we ultimately chose a doodle because I wanted a smart dog that's good with kids. I sure hope that is at least true of this type? We have 4 kids so temperament is important. I lost my dog 2 years ago she lived 13 years a Maltese. But had so many bad potty habits which goes with the smaller breed dogs. That's why we chose doodles, smart and cute of course.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are no guarantees even with temperament. A lot of that depends on the parents' temperaments, which is why you ideally want to meet the parents and the way the pups are raised. And in general, the larger the Poodle, the calmer the temperament; Standards are usually better with kids than Miniatures, so standard doodles are often better with kids than mini doodles, too. With a mini F1B, you've got a lot of Miniature Poodle there. 

Doodles are generally smart dogs. But smart dogs are also often challenging dogs, lol. They can figure out how to do what they want, not necessarily what you want. They require a lot of training. 

I think it would be a good idea to join the Puppy Madness group. :) 

[DJ]

Ok, lol I'll check out that group!

[Kamela & Beckett]

I second what Karen says about smart dogs. I had a sweet, cute, not terribly bright schnauzer and we were really excited about getting our Aussiedoodle, a very smart dog. He is a LOT of work. My husband and I are essentially empty nesters, but both still work full time and I would say we sometimes struggle to keep up with all we need to do to keep our Beckett tired out and happy. Really think about whether you'll have time to do everything that a smart puppy will need from you with the demands of 4 small children. A less bright, more couch potato-ish temperament might be a better fit.

[Rose Coward]

Maybe not the least important characteristic I sometimes find myself wishing I had gone with a black doodle because they don't look as dirty as quickly as our cream.  Especially the bottom jaw.  I didn't go with a black doodle at the time because the word "golden" seemed almost like an oxymoron when the dog is black.  

[Lisa & Sunny]

I think red doodles are gorgeous but also agree that temperament is way more important than color.  Also keep in mind that in many cases these puppies grow up to have a coat lighter in color than what they started with.  My puppy is a buff/light tan color now, with hints of apricot here and there, but after seeing pictures of two dogs from the same set of parents, I suspect that she will end up much lighter, almost white, when she grows up.

[DJ]

Thank you! What was the color of your pups parents? My puppy has a white doodle mom. I was shocked that all the pups came out medium apricot. The dad has some strong genes!