All the reds were born with pink feetsies... I went back and looked at your pups pads Jac, they were pink too. If you look at them a few days later....the color was coming in just like mine. However.....you have like 3 toes dark & one toe light on the one's pad. Mine are all filled in , no odd toes.
No freckles on the belly or roof of mouth though....
I will call the breeder about the dark pads vs. brownish pads as that is her line & she would know more about it. I do know that this line has chocolate in it.
Dad was a nice dark red and faded over time. His nose is somewhat brownish.
His brother from the same litter sired this group of Goldendoodles at 1 yr. old... (these are 5 out of 10 of the litter, that have made it to the second round of service dog training for Canine Angels) As you can see.. some will hold their red color, some fade to apricot. I am begining to think the dark nosed one will stay dark & the brownish ones fade..
this line also carries the rufus gene, that deepens chocolates & reds over time.....sure wish they had a handle on that gene so it could be tested for!
Here is a pic of the dads mom as a pup...
And as an adult...on the left..
and here are 2 of the dads siblings as adults
I just really want to get a handle on this dark "rufus" gene. There are some beauties out there, mostly the Australians LD's, that I can tell.
Most importantly I want the healthy lines, with the service dogs lines... but if I can get that dark Red color in there too, I would be ecstatic!!
When I bred and showed English Budgie, my high moment was when I produced a dark Violet one that did excellent when I showed him. The breeder got the bird from couldn't even produce it. I was nice and gave it to her when I stopped breeding....
I so LOVE genetics!! They are so fascinating & frustrating at the same time! Breeding these earlier generation dogs makes it so challenging.