About Doodle Color
Labs come in 3 basic colors. Black, Chocolate, and Yellow. Though, Yellow may vary from White, to a very dark Fox Red color.
We have 4 Chocolate Female Labs, and 3 Yellow Labs, the yellows who do vary in shade to some degree.
The Black Lab in the first picture is our neutered Lab, Astro.
Golden Retrievers do not have much of a color variation. They are all basically a "gold" color. Though, the shade may vary from White, to a very deep Red shade. Our Goldens vary from Cream colored, to Red, with some the in-between Golden shade.
Poodles come in a larger range of colors and patterns. Poodles may be solid colors such as white, black, chocolate, red, apricot, or cream.
Poodles may have Phantom markings, which is the tan marked eyebrows, on their legs, chest, sides of their cheeks, and under their tail.
Poodles may also come in Parti, or spotted patterns. We are proud to own our Miniature Poodle, Marti, who is both, a Phantom & a Parti!
Poodles may also come in dilution colors. Such as Silver. Silver is a dilution on Black. Or Cafe' La Tait. Which is a "coffee with cream" color, caused by the Silver Dilution on Chocolate. Like our Miniature Poodle, Bo.
NOTE: Chocolate or Black Silvers are not born Silvered. They are born a solid black, or solid chocolate color. They "silver" as they age, usually completing the change by the time they are a year old. The color change usually begins with what apears as goggles around their eyes. Such as the Mini Labradoodle puppy, Luke, is doing at 11 weeks old.
Usually you can tell if a newborn puppy will Silver by looking between the pads of their feet. If the hair is white or silver, that puppy will usually Silver. If not, the puppy will likely stay the color that it is born. Silver may vary from dog to dog on what degree that they silver.
Poodles may come in other colors also, such as Sable.
Since Labradoodles and Goldendoodles are crossed with Poodles, our Doodles may also come on a variety of colors!
Nose Color
All black dogs have black noses. All chocolate dogs have brown noses. However, with yellow, cream, & red dogs, the nose color may be black or brown. This includes the color around their eyes. If a cream, yellow, or red dog has a brown nose, the dog is "chocolate factored". Meaning that it carries the chocolate gene. The color may vary from a dark brown, to pink. Usually depending on the coat shade of the dog. (Darker, darker nose, lighter, lighter nose.)
About Merle
Merle is a color described as a Marble coloration within the solid, or dark color of the dog. A Merle dog may be a solid color, or a Parti. The white on a Melre remains pure white. Merle is most often seen on breeds such as Australian Shepherds & Shetland Sheepdogs. Though, it is also found in other breeds such as American Cocker Spaniels, and even Great Danes.
Merle differs from roan in that the Merle gene effects the solid color, where Roan effect the white, leaving the solid color solid..
Merle is obvious at birth. Only Chocolate, Black, and Sable dogs may be Merle. Though, sometimes the Sable coloring will take over, and cover up the Merle color. To the right is a Sable Merle puppy at birth, showing the Merle pattern.
Buff, Cream, and Red colors cover up Merle. Therefore, a dog may be a Hidden Merle. Twinkie, on the right, is a Buff, hidden Merle. He can throw Merle puppies, even though the Merle color is not obvious on him. Twinkie has a Merle sire. He is a half brother to our Merle male, Barq's.
A Merle should never be bred to another Merle. Not even to a hidden Merle. A Merle to Merle breeding may result is many problems! Puppies born dead at birth, or dying shortly after birth. Puppies born blind, deaf, or even born without any eyes at all! If a double dilute Merle would live, it would likely be pure white, deaf or blind, or both.
Merle is the only color in Cocker Spaniels that may have blue eyes. Some have brown eyes, or a blue & a brown eye, or even a partial blue eye! Sometimes even a buff Cocker will have blue eyes. This puppy is a hidden Merle.
Beings that Merle Cockers are still quite rare, they are usually registered as Roans, and sometimes even mistaken as Roans when people do not understand the difference. Though, the registry states "Roan and the variations of roan". Which puts Merle into that catagory.
