Coat change

[Amy W]

Ruby is my mini-goldendoodle and she's going to be 1 year old on May 5!  Her coat is different than most doodles - it's very soft and wavy on her head and neck but her body and legs have a more wirey coat and it's much straighter than the hair on her head.  The strange thing is she's all of a sudden getting GREY hair already.  She's a red/apricot color and she's getting more grey hairs by the day.  

Is this normal?  Is there a reason her coat is doing this?  Maybe I should switch foods (she's currently getting organic puppy food called Organix) or get a supplement to give her?  Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Something similar happened to Tara when she was about that age. I started noticing a lot of white hair mixed in with her red/apricot. I wondered the same thing...but it seemed to resolve on its own. I didn't do anything different.  Her coat has gotten lighter over time but not grey or white and no blotches or anything. And I don't see those whitish hairs anymore either.  It seems their coats can continue to change for the first couple of years. I would just leave it alone for now and keep an eye on it! :)

[BG and Gavin]

I am no expert on this, but it seems to me that some poodles carry a "graying" gene which results in the coat lightening over time.  I think it happens with many chocolates, blacks and reds.  Check out Laurie's Fudge and Bonnie's Kona for example.

[Kimmy & Chewie]

The fur around Chewie's back and bum is rougher and has more greys too. I think it's not uncommon for doodles and not caused by food allergies. Chewie's on a raw diet.
He turned 1 in Feb he went through a coat change then but I feel like he's going through ANOTHER coat change at 15 months! I've been finding mats every few days now.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Sounds pretty normal to me.  All of my dogs were much lighter as they aged.  My ALD has a lot of dark brown wirey hairs throughout his coat.  Probably just an age issue, not diet.