Did your Dood Change colors from when it was a puppy???

[Julie Mison]

Hi Everyone
Just curious....how many of you started with one color Doodle and then he/she changed colors as they were older? Can you tell at any specific point?

Thanks!

[Ginny Nightingale]

My Mattie had blonde straight hairs as a pup and is now deep red with no blonde at all. Lyric was apricot and is now cream with apricot ears--you probably can tell by 10 months to one year when the puppy coat comes out and the adult hair starts to settle in.

[Sessa]

Our doodle puppy arrived like this: black with blue and brown undertones, long wavy fleece coat...only in the sun could you see that her coat was not actually black...

It did change slowly over time...first her ears, then the base of her tail...and the color change moved up from her paws on her legs...her sides took the longest....her spine, neck, and top of the head remain the darkest...her hair also went from long looser waves to closer spirals if not curls next to the body--again, with her neck and chest being the curliest but her sides and legs still looser...and, it took every bit of 3 years for her to finish the color change and texture change--then again, I'm still watching! LOL!..She has developed into a beautiful gunmetal grey, which is all the more obvious when she is cut short for the summer!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Google Tallai Australian Labradoodles for an interesting and knowledgeable discussion of doodle color genetics.
It has some links to other color genetics sources also. Color in doodles is determined by four genes B= Black dominant, b= brown recessive, E= no yellow dominant and e= yellow recessive. Fairly straight forward, but then it gets interesting. There are also Rr (intensifying or darkening) and Vv ("fading" or "silvering". No one seems to be certain exactly how these genes work, but they are inherited from the parents and at three years of age the color of the dog is then stable except for graying with age. Experienced breeders can give a really good guess of which puppies will fade or intensify, but not necessarily how much.

Other dogs besides doodles ( and some horses) also change color with maturity.

[fergie11]

Fergie changed from a dark apricot to very light - this happened this summer (about a year and a half) when she really lightened, but when I got her she was pretty red with a light undercoat and I figured this would happen. Lucy is from the same mom and dad and she didn't have that light undercoat. She seems to be staying darker - actually that why I picked her. So far so good but I know that could change - I suppose next summer will tell. But like my breeder told me - by that time they could turn green and you'd still love them. How true is that.

[Jodie]

Our Doodle was more cream/apricot when he was a pup. I was hoping that the apricot colors would darken, but it's been the reverse. He's still a cream color, but overall he's different from when he was a pup. I doubt you would know it's the same dog!

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

We are in the process of finding out. Harlow is now 8 months old and dark chocolate when she came home in May. Over the last couple of weeks I have begun to see a lot of scattered silver curls when we in the sunlight.

[Kathy]

My dogs are full sibs one litter (8 months) apart.  Both were dark red as puppies, and Casey started fading when she was about a year old.  Look at them now - dogs of a different color!  Their dad stayed a deep deep red and Roxie (15 mos) hasn't really faded yet so she might not.

[Sue]

I would have to say that Chip has stayed a dark chocolate, and Kramer has stayed pretty much the same shade of red.

 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Fudge was a darker chocolate color when we brought her home, and now is much lighter. She is almost a silvery chocolate now.