My 5 Month Old Cream Labradoodle Is Changing Colors!!!

[Joanie]

Hi Everyone :)  Ok, I want some people's opinion on this.  My 5 months old Australian Labradoodle is changing colors!  She was born cream and recently on her back her hair started turning really dark.  I thought it was dirt... it's like a gigantic circle on her back.  So I had her sitting with me the other day and I was brushing her and got to really look at these this dark spot... in this one spot her cream coloring is mixed with JET BLACK HAIRS giving her more of a greyish apperance in this one spot.  On top of that, the hair is completely different from the rest of her coat.  It is not as silky and is a much tighter curl.  So what do you think?  Have you ever heard of this?  Her mother was a chocolate color and her father was jet black.

[Jill Crenshaw]

This could be a "frosting " or "Kemp".
Frosting is when there is hair growing throughout their entire main coat.  A cream can get dark hairs such as "red" or a chocolate can get "white"  or "silver" etc.  These are not the only color combinations.

Kemp can appear in a single place on the coat and is often seen as a patch.   The Kemp is coarser in texture and can appear "kinky" and can break quite easily.  Kemp is not found on a baby puppy.  Both of these color changes occur when the puppies coat changes from its puppy coat to its adult coat which usually starts at around 6 months and usually finishes around 2 years old.   The kemp is usually found in older lines of Australian Labradoodles, or those more rcently backcrossed with poodles or early cross doodles (as it comes from crossing poodles).  It does not go away.  It is usually present in the coat of one or both of the parents of the puppy.  

As an aside: for new puppy owners, who do not want kemp in your puppy's coat - it is important to see the mature coat of the parents and not just the puppy pictures that are often displayed on websites.  Most quality breeders will explain all about their dogs coats, when you talk to them or visit them.
Hope this helps.
Jill
Unkety Brook Labradoodles

[Betsy McCloskey]

My8 month old labradoodle was jet black when I got her. Now starting to turn silver with a red beard!

[deanna silver]

My Luna did the same.

[Tina]

Roger was a very light creamish blonde. He looked more like a yellow lab with big ears when we brought him home about a month and a half ago. Now his hair is getting darker and more reddish especially on his back. He wasn't the fluffiest in his litter and his brother had the straight short coat. His 2 sisters were more fluffy and shaggy. He had some coarseness to his coat but most of it was flat. Now not even 2 months later, his hair especially on his back and his legs has gotten longer, darker, curlier and more red. It's pretty funny just to see the changes every day.