Doodle Coats

[Ann & Reggie]

After the puppy coat is gone ( shaved/cut), does the adult coat look different as to color, texture etc? I heard they get lighter as they age. I notice an apricot stripe down his back which I did not notice when his hair was long.

[Adina P]

The adult coat is nearly always different than the puppy coat...HOW it will change is a guess, but it will change. However this is unrelated to shaving...it would change whether you shaved or not it's just that the change is more visible when the 'old' coat is gone. My labradoodle got a darker stripe down his back that extends to his tail...I think it is fairly common in labs.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I've noticed GD's have the darker stripe down the back too. Mine has it.

[cheryl & oliver]

Wow Linda, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I am starting to see a stripe down my GD back also. He is 3 mos old, and he looks all gangley, or all legs at this point with this great face and smaller body with big paws...My husband says he reminds him of a teenager going thru that gawky stage, all legs and arms, lol
His coat is changing, but I still can't tell what it will be yet...But whatever, he is a cutie, lol....

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Both mine were red's, Honey a deeper red, Hannah got really light, Honey her body is not as dark as it was....I don't really see any stripe with the red's so far on their backs...

[F, Calla & Luca]

Both my labradoodles have stripes. Luca, my 16 month labradoodle, started as a wavy, caramel fleece who is now much lighter, at least with his shorter haircut. He has a caramel stripe on his back, caramel on the back of his legs and ears. His coat is now a soft spiral fleece. Calla, who is 6 months old, has a lab-like coat, but it is longer and she doesn't shed. She is cream colored but she has a light tan stripe on her back and tail and her ears are just slightly darker than the rest of her. who knows how she'll end up? I hope the pictures show this. The first 2 are Luca and the 3rd Calla.

[Ginny Nightingale]

My red mini LD got darker and lost all her blonde highlights, but my apricot ALD got lighter with an apricot area down her back. Its so hard to predict what will happen! That's the FUN of it!

[20xlhzzaoccks]

Steve definitely got lighter and curlier and had a pink stripe down his back for a long time. He still has pink patches around his ears and his tail.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The shorter fur shows the color difference more dramatically. We keep our lab mix shaved and his stripe always shows but more with his eight-week cut. Ned is apricot and has a darker stripe too.

[Holly St Pierre]

My Gunner goes against all "typical" doodles. He is almost 11 months, his coat has not changed, not really lightened & he sheds big time. We love him to death, but really not what we expected. He really has no curl at all. He takes all parts of the Golden Retriever, with little to no poodle side. We do keep his hair long when groomed, so I know that has alot to do with it as well. Other doodles that I know, their coat has changed quite a bit, so I think that its pretty typical for it to change.