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!!

[Lisa & Sunny]

My puppy's mom is an English golden retriever; she is very light, basically white.  The dad is a red poodle.  All of the puppies came out the same color, buff with hints of light apricot.

[DJ]

Your puppy is really cute! What is his estimated size full grown? I can see why you say he might end up light or even white! Cute either way!!

[Lisa & Sunny]

Thank you!  The mom is a 40 lb. English golden retriever, and the dad is a 20 lb. moyen poodle.  The breeder estimates that my puppy will be between 30 and 40 lb.when full grown.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The mom may also be carrying for red or apricot, even though she's white. 

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Karen makes a very good point about color and genetics. My breeder posts the genetic lineage for each of her dams and sires that includes what color genes they carry as well as all of their genetic/physical test results. It might be worth asking your breeder if the color is really important to you. 

For what it's worth, I had my heart set on a blonde/cream doodle, the lighter the better. My Henry? He is a chocolate and white parti-color ALD which was never on my radar at all! I had a different puppy picked from a different litter with my breeder and the week before Gotcha Day she posted Henry's litter; I took one look at Henry and went and read his parents bios (dad has the same color and markings and is gorgeous, mom is chocolate) and their genetic work up and knew he would be perfect for me. Henry is also going to be bigger than his parents who are 52-55#...it looks like he will be closer to 60-65+ which comes from his dams side. I really appreciated that my breeder provided so much information, it really helped in making my decision.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You may also want to consider getting an adult dog, where you will know what color and size the dog is, as well as the temperament. Breeders sometimes sell retired breeding dogs, and unfortunately, a good number of doodles get rehomed, often because they are not what the person expected, sadly.  

[Nancy]

 I would also keep one very important factor in mind.  Puppies and small children do not always mix well.  You said you have 4 small children.  Puppies have no manners and very sharp teeth.  They will mouth, nip, chase, and hang onto hair, clothing, etc....Even the best temperment puppies are still puppies.  Now depending on the age of your children, this could be a problem.  Just something to think about before bringing home a puppy.  I don't mean be mean but this is a reality of a puppy.  If you are very confident in your breeder, she will be able to give you true estimate of your pups size and weight when full grown.  As for color, search my recent posts of my dogs as pups and now full grown.  They were both on the red/apricot color as puppies and now Oliver is significantly lighter, I call him cream and Ivy is lighter but I would call her apricot.  Good Luck!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nancy, I'm so glad you added this about puppies and small children. So many parents think the younger and smaller the dog, the "safer" it will be to have around small children. In fact, the opposite is usually true. 

[DJ]

I agree. I had a 9 pound Maltese and didn't trust her alone with any kids.

[Lisa & Sunny]

I can vouch for this.  My kids are 7 and 10 years old; the puppy is fully engaged in land shark mode, and my 7 yr old at times has a hard time dealing with it.  We thought we were getting a mellow puppy, based on what we saw when we picked her out.  Right now she is doing everything Nancy mentions above -- mouthing, nipping, grabbing hair, biting clothes, etc.  My 10 yr old can take it in stride, but sometimes the 7 yr old gets upset.  I am glad we waited this long to introduce a puppy to our family.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I always say that any young doodle puppy who is "mellow" is sick, lol. No such thing!

[Lisa & Sunny]

Probably true!  I think she was actually tired.  We were the sixth set of people who came to see the puppies that day, so I'm sure they were a bit wiped out.