Light colored doodles are more practical.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Having had a black standard poodle I decided that light colored doodles are more practical. You can find ticks on them before they've settled in for a feast. You know when they're dirty but you can still brush them clean. You can find them easily, even at night, unless it's snowing hard. As they get older they can hide the gray. They stay cooler on hot days.

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

That's funny that you should say this because I have a cream doodle and I was thinking that although he is so beautiful he stains terribly. He usually always has a brownish pink stain near his mouth, feet and anal area as well as his elbows. (Do dogs have elbows?) Anyway, I thought if I were to get a second doodle I would want a chocolate because that would be more practical.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

I agree. My std Poodle was black and I never realized all the above until I had the lighter colored dogs. The only downside is when they are dirty, you really see the dirty. With Magic, you never could tell.

Sadly, in rescue, black dogs are less adopted.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Samantha is Chocolate - I can easily find the ticks that invaded her face! Uuggghhh!!
She hides the dirt very well - the only place she ever looks dirty is her tummy. When is dirty I know it is time for a bath.
Charli is Black. Hasn't had any ticks so I can't say if I would see them and just not feel them. Double Uuuggghhh!!
So far she always looks clean. They only schmooze I found on her is the shredded up little pieces of paper towels that stuck to her legs! HAHA
It will be interesting to see how she looks going through the fall and winter. Let you know in the spring.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned is apricot and while he shows dirt less than the creams, he just gets duller and duller and the shiny highlights disappear. He feet are strangly brownish and his beard - if dry is oddly darker than the rest of him. In other words, he shows dirt. He does NOT brush clean. Yesterday I found a live baby snail tangled at his shoulder - found it by feel. My next doodle WILL be a darker color - rich dark chocolate or black. As to finding him in the dark, nope. When I get up in the night, I still trip right over him. Teehee.

[GBK]

I have a chocolate and an apricot and each color has it's benefits! For the apricot he photographs fantastically, every picture you can see his eyes and the detail of his fur. He loves to lay in mud, and since our dirt is more clay like when he dries you can hardly tell, just a little rinse and brush out and he is good to go. Grass stains are the only thing I can think of that look a little silly on Buddy when he wrestles around with his little sis. He may be light in color, but he HATES the heat and will find any speck of shade when we are at the park etc.

The chocolate girl is great when it comes to hiding the dirt, she is a roller too. Anything that smells attractive to her she drops and rolls :) The down side is here in the desert we have hay colored dry grass most of the winter and she ends up looking like her brother with all that dead grass hanging off of her. It can be really hard to brush that stuff out of Kona's curls! It also takes imagination to get a good photo of her. There can't be anything dark behind her, it has to be bright and outside, or the sun has to be shining through the windows in the house to get a good clear shot of her. She may be dark, but does like to sun bathe, and she doesn't over heat as fast as Buddy the lighter one.

Really I would do any color except white I think, but you never know......... I never say never.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Being a natural black haired girl myself (the part that is still natural and not covered up grays - lol) I tend to agree with you. I hate looking for ticks in my hair. I virtually disappear in the dark while wearing dark clothes, I can have dirt in my hair and nobody knows, and I am always in need of a white hat in summer to keep my head from overheating and bursting into flames.

My blonde sons on the other hand...every little tick is right there for the picking, they cant deek me out in the dark, I can brush the dirt right out and no need for a hat in the sun.

[Denice Caouette]

I think that there really is no difference that I have seen. I have a Chocolate and a Black Doodle. Neither one are "rollers" but we do have a pond and a sand box for them to play in. If they remember to dig in the sand and THEN go in the pond, we are in good shape, when they do it the other way it is a problem!!! But in either case it easy to spot...they are either wet or wet and sandy and you notice it the minute they come in and leave wet paw prints on the tile!!! I have read that Black dogs are easier to photograph, but in my case I do not find that to be the case. Sabrina, my black, is much easier to photograph than Coco, my chocolate..Coco tends to just blend into anything indoors as Gina noted about Kona. I think that all colors have equal amounts of pros and cons and I would not let color make the choice for me!! Before Coco and Sabrina I had a Black German Shepherd, who passes at 16 1/2 and a Black Lab/Rottie mix who also passed at 16..I swore I would never have another black dog because of the black shedding hair EVERYWHERE...but when I found Sabrina my heart just melted, so....here I am with another black shedding dog..and, you know,,it doesn't matter because I love her to death..I just had to make really good friends with a Swiffer!!!

[Jennifer Tramell]

We have always preferred light colored dogs for the safety feature. My parents live in a semi-rural area and we noticed that there were many black dogs around & most of them limped. Lighter colored dogs are easier for cars to see. We keep our dogs in a fenced yard or under supervision but sometimes gates can be left open.

My sister has a black doodle and she has an orange safety vest she puts on him when he is going out at night. I have a chocolate doodle and he is invisible when he goes outside.

I agree that light colored doodles are more practical but I, for once, chose against practicality and got the little chocolate guy I really wanted :-)