Different color hair on regrowth

[Jennifer Tramell]

I was going to post this in the Chocolate Doodles group but then I wondered if perhaps this was not "chocolate specific".

My goldendoodle Tessa is an f1b chocolate.  She started as a dark mahogany chocolate and has faded to lavender, almost parchment.  Tessa is almost 2.  She had a couple "hot spots" which she licked and lost hair.  Also, a couple spots under her tail where I didn't brush well enough and the hair matted, almost felted.  I had to cut it very short so she had basically bald spots under her tail.  Here is the interesting thing, my silver/chocolate dog has dark brown hair growing in on her bald spots. 

My mom has a chocolate who was almost black as a pup.  Her dog seems to change color with every clipping.  Truffles faded to a silver/taupe, then got clipped and her hair was dark.  You can look at my mom's dog's hair, close to the skin and see what looks like brown skin.  When Truffles gets groomed, (they keep her hair pretty short), she will look dark again.   We assumed that Truffles hair is faded but Tessa's hair is the same color to the skin.

Does anyone have any explanation?  It is unique to chocolates or do reds who fade to apricot/blonds grow red spots, etc.  Do your dogs ever changed from faded to darker? 

Tessa used to have dark brown ears, tail, and beard, but I recently trimmed her and she lost what little dark brown she had :-(  Here is Tessa after her trim.

[Becka]

I don't know much about color changes (Sadie has always been rather blonde, with a darker "saddle" pattern that is more obvious after grooming) but I think Tessa's current color is just gorgeous--so unusual and pretty!

[Sherri & Marabelle (Bear)]

That is so interesting. My Marabelle had a hot spot on her hip last summer. After it has healed up it has always been a golden brown color and stands out with all her creamy white coloring. I figure I can ID her with that spot. 

I do think your pup looks really gorgeous, spectacular face coloring.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We had a similar fading issue with Tara who was a red/apricot color as a pup. She was much darker as a pup, then went through a period were she was dark at the roots with fading as it grew out. Now as an adult she is all one color which is much lighter then her puppy coloring. I'm not sure about the hot spot coloring issue but there have been other DK doodles whose hair came in a darker color in an area where they were injured. I guess it is not that uncommon but I don't know what causes it.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin's hair has always come back in the same color, how interesting. Tessa is gorgeous!

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Tessa is gorgeous,  I love her color! I really love how the chocolates change and would love any shade they become! My little chocolate girl Jilly hasn't changed much at all on her body, just some cream hairs on her head now.  Jackson is a caramel and at 3 1/2 still has his deep caramel color. No changes to speak of. I have a friend with a cream doodle who had a shaved spot that come back in an apricot color, but seems to be fading back to cream now. It seems I'm just starting a color change too with a few white ones showing up, let me know if you get this figured out! LOL!

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Tessa is so so pretty!  It fascinates me how doodles' hair can fade or change color over time. 

Eloise had a bad hot spot on her front leg a couple years ago, and it left about a 3" bald patch.  She's light cream with apricot "highlights," and the hair that grew back was dark apricot, with a really coarse/straight texture (completely different than her super soft, wavy hair).  I wondered if it was an effect of the steroid spray we had to use on the hot spot, or just how the hair grows back sometimes.  (Never knew the answer!).  Eloise's normal hair eventually filled in there - probably took a year, and now you can't tell where the patch was. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned had an 'injury' and the coat grew back darker in that spot for a while.  Eventually it faded back to his apricot.  Ned had light-red ears, eyelashes and tail.  His ears faded and his tail is mostly lighter apricot now.  His eyelashes are still red and his muzzle has gotten darker.  He has a saddle down the back with the hemp that has been both darker and lighter over the years.  Clancy came to us as almost totally cream with a bit of apricot undertones and red ears and tail.  Clancy's ears faded, his tail is still red and his 'bit of apricot undertones' have darkened so much that I think of Clancy as apricot with white.