Standard Poodle Coat

Royal Standard Poodle Coat - A Coat of Many Characteristics

Updated 7/6/16

Most of this page shares of various Royal Standard Poodle Coat Texture & Characteristics of the Brown Standard Poodles found from my research and have links available to other web pages explaining far better then I know on Red and Black coat colors.

Red pups: an excellent web page put together by Bijou Poodles in Canada to get one started in understanding the beginning of the holding red color - Red Standard Poodle history

Black, blue and silver pups; here is a great web page by Arpeggio Poodles to get one started in understanding these colorshttp://arpeggiopoodles.tripod.com/poodlecoatcolorsblueandblack.html

It is important to love your pup no matter what color or size they become :-)) 

The "professionals" will give you specific gene data to explain the coats below, yet I just want to make this fun :-) So, I like to use the "candy bar" in describing the Chocolate Standard Poodles coat colors, hopefully you'll grab a piece of chocolate and enjoy :-)

Coat density:

• Thinner; not a heavy coat density, easy to comb out
• Medium; a general coat density, combing isn't hard, yet plan on a few more tugs in getting a comb through it. I like my curved rake to work through their hair.
• Thick; very thick coat densitiy, HARD to get a comb through. Plan on using the rake most of the time and then the slicker brush to fluff.

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1. Mismark/Abstract

On occassion, a puppy is born with a white chest mark called Mismark/Abstract. This is a unique white color mark Mother Nature decided to grant them usually on the chest...it can occur on a chin or on the paws as well.

Mismarks can be found on browns, reds, blacks, any color, and vary in size.

It does nothing to change their personality :-) They will grow into gorgeous Royal or Standard Poodles.

This little girl was a dark chocolate with a very soft poodle coat

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2. Phantom poodle coat

• Phantoms have markings like that found on German Shepherds or Dobermans.  They can be cream, red, or white found on brown and black poodle.
• They are rarer and considered a recessive gene...back to the days the canine evolved from the wolf.

Below is a phantom born in one littler, I had 3 in that litter, none since! They grew into Royal and Standard Poodles. More prevalent in line breeding or in-breeding.

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3. Regular "Chocolates" poodle coat

• "Chocolates" have mostly been VERY THICK coats, yet come in all three characteristics.
• One has this extreme tendency to want to constantly get down on the floor and lay next to them and cuddle, snuggle--as we do with Kodi :0)
• "Chocolates" MAY lighten or gray up faster than a "Dark chocolate."  But because you love them, and we all generally get gray hair--it just doesn't matter :0)

Kodi in this first shot shows his brown color in his first several years, the next picture will show how he has faded over the years.  He is among the Royal Standard Poodles.

A chocolate may start to lighten or gray before one year of age. Kodi, above, didn't start graying until into 3 yrs of age. Such THICK hair he has!

As you can see in the pictures below, Juno, has started to gray after 2 years.....but it just makes us love them all the more!! :0)  

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4. "Dark Chocolates" can come in a light, medium, or thick coat density being VERY soft, or being stiffer/wiry. Groomers have told me they like the wiry coat for clipping better. I would have to agree! 

• Odu's hair (the adult female below) is the softest I have ever felt in most poodles. It was a medium density.
• "Dark Chocolate" coats stay browner a lot longer than the regular "Chocolate" poodle coat color.  She became a Royal Standard Poodles service dog. Look at that gorgeous structure ;o)

Our retired dam Zain below, is a Dark Chocolate with a stiff/wiry poodle coat. The first picture she is 4 years old and the second picture she is 7 years old, grayed a bit yet definite brown.

...quite the hunter too :-)))

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5. The "Dark Chocolate Ugly Duckling" pups (above :o) always grow into that beautiful swan - ahem - standard poodle with light to medium coat density :o) I believe you can see his thin coat compared to the same age pups with longer thicker coats.

After years of watching, the picture above and below are of our "Dark Chocolate Ugly ducklings". Their coats start out normal, as other pups, and by 6 weeks of age the coat can't keep up with their growth spurt. Here is a phenomenon in an occasional pup to have straight, course, thinner hair as they grow so fast the hair doesn’t keep up with the fast pace of maturity. The “Ugly Duckling” reference in the swan world is oh so true in this poodle phenomenon as the result of a full body of hair does catch up once their growth balances out, thus they have a great coat by 6 to 8 months.This guy I called "Go Tee" and had absolutely the greatest of personalities (just look at the shots he wanted taken). "Bear" was my first and is a loved "Ugly duckling". Please look through his pictures to see how his coat filled out to become that handsome Royal.

Their hair tends to be wiry (stiffer), yet his personality stood out to be calm, sure, and very friendly with people.

The wiry thin coat is a gene characteristic observed among some of the "dark chocolates". I have never observed it in a chocolate poodle.

There seems to be one--every so many litters--during the years we have been breeding.

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6. The Cream, Apricot, or Red colored poodle coat.

These colors have ranged from thin to THICK full coats.

Now, who is to say what the color designation truly is!?!?!?

That has to be up to me.

If I have pups born that lean in color to a light red, I will be listing them as an apricot.

I can easily see if my pups are creams, and will call them out as such.The picture below shows the thick soft coat of an apricot at 7 weeks old.

Daniel at 10 weeks old has black points and has a very red poodle coat at this time. During the winter his nose turns brown. This is called a winter nose. I have learned from various breeders, and internet research, the cold snowy states will cause the noses to lighten do to the lack of sun in the areas, their pigment isn't needed to be so black as in the hot sunny states, thus during winter months in cold states they will lighten. This throws in the confusion by some, that they don't have black points. True, some do stay black year round.

After one year of age, Daniel's coat has stayed a beautiful red. His dad actually got darker red as he aged to 11 yrs of age when I saw his picture.

There are many websites that share the history of the current dark reds we now see around. It is wonderful to be able to see this gorgeous rich color and will need continual work between breeders to help keep this around for the future.

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7. A Black, Blue and Silver poodle coat...Besides the first paragraph's link above to a great explanation of these colors, here is my discernment of my Standard Poodle coats with the breeding parents I currently have/have had. I've learned a lot!

Jupiter was my first male black and from the link data, he appears to be a nice "black".

Cleopatra appeared to be a Black but now I can see she is a definite Blue at 2 years of age with her brown eyes, and gray hairs throughout her coat now. It is VERY easy to mis-label an AKC registered poodle as black as one wants to get them registered right away before they know in several years if it will be a blue.

Ike in the picture below is a holding Black at 7 years of age with black eyes and rarely a white hair on his back! His muzzle is getting grays.

Silver: I tried to work with silver one year and became too frustrating for me and customers in not being able to know if a black pup was going to turn silver by 8 wks of age, thus I do not breed for silvers at all any more.

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When buying one of our Royal Standard Poodles, yes you have your idea of "A Perfect Pup" yet don't forget to look at who they will become with your love and family :-)

Breeders and other notes:

"Breeding" pups will be solid color only for solid color programs. Parti colored breeding programs can use mismark/abstracts.

"PET ONLY" pups may be solid brown color, red, apricot, cream, black, blue, silver and/or have the white chest mismark/abstract, or a rare phantom may be born

Size; largest pup verses smallest (never a guarantee on size) I state here, MY small standard poodles are only small to me compared to the Royal size I breed on average. The small spoo to me is around the largest size standard in a show ring 55-65#.

If they are 1 pound at birth, these kids 100% of the time grow to Royals. A down-payment early on allows your choice of this Royal pup/s.

Temperament; alpha of litter verses a follower...watch Cesar Millan the Dog Whisperer dvds to learn to be the Pack Leader :o)

Down-payments place you in line for a pup in the sequence you have sent your down payment according to another...1, 2, 3... Breeders will ALWAYS become #1 on a list in order to choose the best structure possible at 7.5 wks old using Pat Hastings research on structure analysis. This is for the healthy future of all standard poodles to come from A Perfect World line. We DO NOT sell any Bruno offspring for breeding rights!

Royal Standard Poodle coats will vary with Puppies for Sale 

see customer picture links above!

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