Murphy, my ever-changing doodle! What color are you anyway??

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

I just received Adina's email with the theme for the upcoming slide show; Apricot & Blond doodles. I thought great, I have some great shots of my Apricot/Cream doodle. One shot in particular I thought about was one of him in the boat looking back over his shoulder as if he were modeling with his beautiful apricot back and ears. I found the photo and uploaded it. Then bent down to give him a nice pat on the back and realized that my apricot/cream doodle has almost no trace of apricot left at all. As I looked back through his photos starting at only one week old the color changes have been extremely dramatic. He was born cream but his ears turned apricot before we brought him home and soon after his back and tail started turning apricot. His legs, face and chest have always stayed a cream color. By the time he was a year old the apricot color on his back and ears was getting a deeper shade of apricot. Last April, at 18 months old, Murphy got a hair cut where they shaved his back but left his ears and tail long so I didn't really notice the color change but today his hair is about 3 inches long on his back, and about six inches on his tail and ears and there is almost no trace of apricot on his ears, tail or back. Today he looks white/cream. I am posting photos below of the different color coats;

The photo above was taken this morning at 23 months old.

The photo above was taken at one year.

The photo above was taken on Christmas at 10 weeks old. At this time I was very unsure what color he would be. It seemed like he was turning apricot very quickly.

The photo above was taken at 2 weeks. When I first saw this photo I thought I was getting a white/cream doodle boy. But, today at almost 2 years old I'm not really sure what color to say he is.

[Adina P]

Hmmmm...yeah...he has morphed from color to color =) Gorgeous no matter the shade, but hard to say.

I'd say apricot should be obviously tinged with red without being a deep red. And blond would best be described as a 'yellow' doodle. We'll have a future slide show of creams and whites and I think Murphy will definitely qualify for that category =)

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

I don't know, today I would call him a cream even though he has a light sprinkle of red hairs. Although, he doesn't seem to be a true cream either. I described him as a cream/apricot frost on his page which seemed to be the most accurate at the time. His mother was a black and white parti poodle. His father was a cream/white English Golden Retriever.

The color and fur transition has been very interesting.

[Margaret Becker]

We were just debating about Snickers' color too. Blond, or cream? A little apricot, especially when he was younger. The first photo was at 4yrs, the second is how he looks now.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Snickers is ....uh.... well.... glad you have to figure it out and not me! He is beautiful whatever you decide.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Snickers is just like Jackdoodle! I had a similar discussion about Jack's color here awhile back:
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/please-tell-me-what-color-...
After much interesting information & speculation, I think we decided that he is strawberry blonde with platinum highlights. So I formed the "Blonde Doodles Group"! Come join us!
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/blondedoodles

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I am right here with you Meg. Maybe some day we can have a slide show of ever changing colored doodles??? I'm right with you, I have no idea what color my dog will be next month.

Spud was white with wispy tips of apricot the day we brought him home. At four months his face, tail, back, and paws were mostly apricot. By six months he was cream. Today he is pure as snow white, except his chin. I often can't tell if he has a dirty chin or he has more of an apricot chin that day!

The seasons don't change as much as these dogs.

This can be great though. Variety.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I've seen pictures and read a few stories of Murphy and his kitty several times. I wish, I wish.
My Spud LOVES our kitties too much. He just wants to play, but he wants to play doggie style. It always ends when he lays a giant paw on their noses. :( Amazingly, the kitties are so gentle to him. He could very well get a bat right back on his nose, but they never do harm him.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Doodles go through such dramatic coat color, texture, curl changes!!!

[Tamara & Giada]

What ever color he ends up, he is absolutly gorgeous!!!