Marley.... blue!

[Lucky Me]

A million years ago on this forum, we got into a disscussion on the brownish/black coat...I called it "licorice" color.
Somewhere in researching it, I found that this is a color shade prior to turning "Blue".
I took Marley's coat down a couple days ago...I did it quick so it's not really finished ....but, I just wanted to show you the color.
This is the haircut that did it...I officcially call him "Blue"!

Marley....pre-haircut...you can see the blue color hinding underneath.


Marley after....at 16 months old.



Here he is with Tuesday. To look at her by herself, she looks gloss black. When I met Jac at the Labradoodle romp. she confirmed what I suspected....she is accutually a blue....her skin is blue, her under coat is blue, but her outer coats looks black if you do not know better..

This is the weirdest color.....so, if your doodle is a brownish-black color, they may be on their way to turning blue!

by the way...I have been feeding Natural balance. Tuesday has the thickest, softest, shiniest coat on this stuff!!!
I think it looks even better than when I was feeding the "old" Canidae food.

[lmtoth2]

Well I'm no color expert But that appears to be blue to me.

by the way...I have been feeding Natural balance. Tuesday has the thickest, softest, shiniest coat on this stuff!!!
I think it looks even better than when I was feeding the "old" Canidae food.

We feed NB too. Ours also have very shiny coats...especially Dexter. I think his coat would show it more than Kirby's anyway because he is more fleece and is white. I can't remember what they were like pre-NB though...

[sarahann]

That first color is the exact color of Manchie. He is 20 mos now and has been that color since shortly after his first haircut when I got rid of his puppy coat. It will be interesting to see if he turns blue. Thanks for sharing, love the pics!!

[anny51]

What a great colour! I've been wondering what colour Charlie will end up as he was milk chocolate fleece at 8wks, and now at nearly 7 mths he is half chocolate fleece and half a hair coat that is a liquorice colour...so I have just been scrabbling thro this new coat looking at his skin...the skin looks white to me, not blue, but funnily enough, the dark black/brown hair actually looks lighter the nearer it gets to the roots....don't think he's going to be a beautiful blue, but goodness knows what he will end up

[Jac]

Judi...beautiful! Gosh, so shiny!!!

Ann...I'd love to see pictures of Charlie's full coat...you make it almost sound like a phantom...???

[anny51]

Originally Posted by Jac

Ann...I'd love to see pictures of Charlie's full coat...you make it almost sound like a phantom...???

Mmmm....probably not, Jac. I'd like to think so, but it's definitely a change of fleece/hair texture along with the colour....it's spreading from along his back, starting now down his flanks and up his neck...I think he will be completely very dark and 'hairy' eventually....but he presumably still has to blow his puppy coat and I'm wondering if that will be different again in both texture and colour. Didn't have a camera when I first got him, but he was milk choc fluffy fleece all over...these pics are about 2 wks ago.




As you can see, his 'highlights' are really a plentiful sprinkling of kemp! H elooks so untidy at the moment I'm thinking of taking him to the groomers and having his fleecy bits trimmed to the same length as the hair....will be sad to see the fleece go cos he was sooo soft, but it's going to go whatever I do!

Never quite understood the colouring of 'parti'...would say, an Airedale be a parti, even tho there is no white? Is there a rule of thumb for calling a dog parti?

[OLIVER DOODLE]

Marley's color is wonderful. What a nice shade of Blue.

[MaxandMe]

Marley is gorgeous!!

[Jac]

Thank, Ann!
I don't want to hyjack this thread, so I'll send a PM to you...But since you asked and others might wonder...parti is more white than color, but with color patches, sort of like a white cow with black patches. I love it in the dogs...and it is very much in demand!

[tuffystar]

I love the blue! Whatever color our doodles are though we love them! I do love the blue though!

[Lucky Me]

Wow...that is an interesting color on Charlie. It almost looks like Tabby cat stripes! I like it1

Blue was never a color that I would have picked, but BOY! Look what I ended up with...basically 2 blues!
It has been a color that I have learned to appreciate. I had figured when I kept Marley, that he was a black.
Blue is a color that changes over a 2-3 year period.
I was told that the reason it can be such a surprise is that most people register their purebred dogs by one year old. Then the dog turns blue....
The color doesn't get changed on their pedigree, and it ends up being a surprise color for many.

[m&t]

I think our Sadie might be going that way too. She started out black, now has some brown and some gray in her. (Most noticeable when she is with black dogs) On her back there are now some white hairs that are randomly spaced.

You said that Marley's skin is blue? Like blue blue? In my mind I'm picturing toilet bowl blue skin under that hair and I'm sure that isn't exactly what you mean. (although makes for a good chuckle).

[tuffystar]

Tia has gotten more and more white hair on her. Her skin is light Grey or maybe a odd shade of off white I am not sure. Tia has brownish hair on her beard and her eyebrows are turning white. I don't know what this means but it is interesting to watch.

[lindamarie]

WOW! What a gorgeous color!!

[Jac]

Originally Posted by m&t

I think our Sadie might be going that way too. She started out black, now has some brown and some gray in her. (Most noticeable when she is with black dogs) On her back there are now some white hairs that are randomly spaced.

You said that Marley's skin is blue? Like blue blue? In my mind I'm picturing toilet bowl blue skin under that hair and I'm sure that isn't exactly what you mean. (although makes for a good chuckle).

Hi Mark, just call it a Tidy-Bowl Blue! hahaha
Sadie could very well be blue. The coloring generally starts out at a very dark black and the skin underneath takes on a bluish tint...it is very white and almost looks white-blue, rather than pink.
The black coat often becomes more of a gun-metal grey or in the sunlight takes on other shades. In our case, they have a red tint in the sun, very pretty...and you can tell when they are standing next to a black that they are not the same color (as they mature).
With Poodles you don't usually see brown muzzles, at least not that I am aware of...Poodle blue is dark black, bluish skin, silvering in the face and other areas of the body. However, when the entire body turns silver...it is a silver dog, not blue. (Are you getting confused yet???)
With Doodles, it is common for dogs to start out black, their muzzle begins to lighten then takes on tones of brown. They get silver in areas of their coat...this is a typical blue for Doodles.
The silvering is not the same as the white kemp hairs. I am posting a picture of Lexie, my F1 Labradoodle. She is probably one of the best blue colored Doodles I have seen.

Here is Lexie as a young adult. Blue dogs generally silver a lot in the face, as Lexie has, but remain black in most of their body.



These next two pics are of Lexie as a pup, you can see her silvering nose early on.





Both pups in this next picture (siblings), Lexie on left and Bayley on right, are blue. Bayley didn't start truning blue as early as Lexie, but she is almost exactly the same color now.



Again, Lexie as an adult, followed by Bayley as an adult. Both are good examples of Blue dogs.