Solid Colors
Solid Colors these are the most common colors and are the ones you may see at the Westminster.
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Black - pure inky black. Black noses and eye rims, dark brown eyes. As puppies their faces even shaved will be the same color as their coat.
Blue - born black but at about 15 to 18 months they will start to fade. It may take only a few month or years but their end color will be some shade of gray ranging from dark pewter to nearly black. As younger dogs their "black" may have an odd brown tinge. As puppies they have nearly black faces even when shaved but they may appear off black or just a touch lighter then their coat. Black noses and eye rims, dark brown eyes.
Silver - born black, they fade quickly to some shade of gray ranging from dark pewter to platinum silver. When you see these as puppies their pale shaved faces stand out from their black bodies. Black noses and eye rims, dark brown eyes. A Silver will never have brown noses and eye rims!
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Brown - In other breeds this would be called Chocolate. They should be a rich deep brown. They have brown noses and eye rims. Browns have amber eyes when grown but young puppies may have greenish looking eyes. This is not special as some people will try to convince you. All brown puppies go through a phase were their baby blue eyes turns green before they settle into their adult shade of amber. In browns the darker the amber color of the eyes, the better.
Cafe' au lait - this is the brown version of a blue. Born brown they may take up to 5 years to turn their finial coffee with cream color. Like Browns they will always have brown noses and eye rims and amber eyes.
Silver Beige - this is the brown version of a silver. Born brown they will quickly turn silver but with brown overtones that never leave. Like Browns they will always have brown noses and eye rims and amber eyes. A Silver Beige will NEVER have a black nose or eye rims. No matter how brownish the dog looks if the nose and eye rims are black it is a silver.
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Grey - in other breeds this would be called blue. They are born grey and have grey noses and eye rims, the eyes are brown. This color is VERY rare in poodles. They tend to suffer from a condition called Color Dilution Alopecia which leads to chronic skin problems so no responsible breeder will breed for them and all that they do produce are placed as pets.
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This set of colors is different from those listed above. They should not have any black, brown or blue hairs in their coat. They normally have darker shading on the ears and sometimes along the spine. This shading is considered normal and is acceptable in the show ring.
For show they should all have dark brown eyes and black noses and eye rims. Some are born with brown pigment which is undesirable in show dogs but has no effect on their health or suitability as pets.
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White - Most whites are actually very pale creams and will always have a creamy tint to their color. The rare ice whites are pure white with no cream cast.
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Cream - Just as the name says these dogs are some shade of cream. They are darker then the creamy whites. They do not have any sign of orange tint no matter how dark they are.
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Apricot - Warm orange color ranging from very pale nearly white to deep rich apricot these are one of my favorite colors.
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Red - Reds can be one of the harder colors to get right. They are often paler then the breeders desire. But a good deep rich red is stunning. While rarely as dark as an Irish Setter that is the color the breeders are working towards.
