I strongly believe that poodles are one of the most attractive dog breeds out there right now. The thing is over a period of time your adult poodle may start to look different from when you just brought him home. He tend to change colors or as many people would say, he’s faded in color. You have lots who people who actually wonder if this happens across the entire breed or just with a few colors.
So, do all poodles fade in color? Yes, over a period of time most poodles actually fade into a different color as they grow older. The final color and how long they take to achieve it tends to varies base on the color of your dog and their overall heritage.
In this article we will be taking a look at the various types of poodles and what actually causes their fur to fade as they grow older.
Poodle Color Fading
It’s best to keep in mind that at some point as your poodle grow older, you can expect to see a change in color. Poodle breeds are known to be one of the most diverse when compared to other dog breeds out there.
A lot of people seems to like these dogs especially since they’re known to be smart and friendly which helps to bond with the family that they are apart of. Most people seems to have teo or more poodles in their home and this is because poodle seem to spice up the excitement in the house when they have a friend to play with.
The thing with poodle is that what you see is not what you always get. Puppies born with a dark coat will eventually fade to a lighter coat over a period of time. But it can also go the other way around. If it’s a case where the poodle puppy is tan or light brown they might fade to an apricot shade, a black poodle might fade to silver or blue and if you have a dark brown poodle, they might fade to a milk chocolate color.
Poodles Color Transformation Process
It’s best to keep in mind that after two year each poodles tend to change color which is known as the transformation process. In some cases with some color there is another phase that your poodle will go through, this usually happens begin the age of two and three.
In those cases, you can expect the dog’s color to fade from its puppy color to a lighter one and then it begins to stabilize. But after that, you will notice the second phase of fading which normally takes place over the course of a year or sometimes even less, at this point the dog is said to achieve its final color.
Poodle – Holding
At times you’ll notice that the color fading process may happen a lot sooner or even take much longer. There are even times when poodle actually maintain their original color in certain places while the hair lightens elsewhere. This is refer as “holding.”
What happen is that the dog holds its color in certain places. At times hair around the ears or the poodle guard hair tend to resist fading from happening. It may not happen as quick as the other hair on the body, and in very rare cases, it never does.
How Poodle Fading Affects Their Final Color
Poodle whose color is solid is way higher than two-tone versions, and usually poodles with two toners are normally ones whose fading process is still taking place or otherwise incomplete. Here are some of the most common colors of poodles:
- Apricot
- Black
- Brown
- Red
- Grey
- Blue
- Cream
- White
- Silver
- Silver beige
- Cafe Au lair
Some shades can some be in-between, but most poodles will actually fall into one of the above colors. We have list a few colors and how fading actually each colors over a period of time:
- Blue – The thing is blue isn’t actually blue, but a transformated shade of black. It is said that poodles with blue hair usually have dark hair at the end but duo-toned exactly near the root. You may notice a second phase of fading right around the middle age that transforms the color to a yet lighter shade.
- Apricot – This color is known to be a wide range of shades with some of these shades close to tan to shades that are close to cream. Not only that, but apricot poodles tend to have small black spots on their feet.
- Brown – These poodles are usually dark to medium brown. They tend to fade from a rich brown color to a lighter shade, but you’ll not really notice a huge difference after the change.
- Silver Beige – These poodles are born with a medium to light brown coat, but what happen is that these dogs fades very quickly, as early as two months in most cases. It usually start with the face which spread right across the rest of the body over the next two years.
- Silver – You can expect this black to fade. With the next two years or even longer, the black begins to fade to a handsome silver color that is often not uniform. You will notice a darker frame around the face and on the ears.
- Red – One thing for sure is that newborn puppies are has a very bright red color, which keeps people talking. Over time they fade to a more subdued, lighter color. Some of these poodles might even become dark again as they enter their senior years.
- Cream – These puppies are normally born with a light to medium brown and fade over time to cream, which is very similar to Cafe Au lait and silver beige. The only thing that shows the difference is the black points and black nose.
- Gray – There are a handful of poodle puppies that are born gray and the color doesn’t really change much even as they grow older. The thing is that some are born with charcoal gray or black and change to medium gray over time, between three to five years.
- White – You will not notice much of a change in this color. Some puppies are born pure-white, with flecks of tan that disappears as time goes by. Some imperfections in the genes may actually lead to a slightly dirt color as the dog becomes older.
- Black – Some poodles are black and you don’t have to worry about this color fading because black will always be black.
- Cafe Au lait – This is said to be a shiny light tan color and some people even confused this with silver beige. It is not uncommon for the pup to be born brown and clear to this unique color. A poodle with Cafe Au lait should have some form of liver points and dark amber eyes.
Conclusion
As your poodle becomes older you may notice a huge change in their color. It’s best to keep in mind that your poodle skin color might change as well and this is usually cause by exposure to the sunlight and this commonly happens to the belly.