Color. It can be a contentious issue in any breed among fanciers of that breed, so a caveat. As we honor and explore the marvelous Standard Poodle for the next two days, our goal is to educate about what is, not what shouldn’t be. For that reason, it’s probably best to leave deeper discussions about colors and patterns for Standard Poodle-specific pages. Eventually, we do have a question for our Poodle friends, but for everyone else, a primer:
The AKC standard indicates that the Standard Poodle coat is an even and solid color at the skin: Blues, grays, silvers, browns, cafe-aulaits, apricots and creams (and the coat may show varying shades of the same color. Parti-colored dogs shall be disqualified since the coat of a parti-colored dog isn’t a solid even color at the skin but is of two or more colors;
The UKC standard for the Standard Poodle: Acceptable colors are apricot, black, blue, cream, gray, silver, white, red, silver beige and all shades of brown, including café-au-lait. Coat color is solid and even. Clear colors are preferred but natural variations in the shading of the coat are not to be considered a fault;
UKC standard for the Multi-Colored Poodle (with a note: For Conformation exhibition purposes only, the solid-colored dogs and multi-colored dogs are shown separately. They are not actually separate breeds): Coat colors in Multi-Colored Poodles include the following: Apricot, black, blue, cream, gray, silver, white, red, silver beige and all shades of brown, including café-au-lait. Also acceptable is a fine streaked or striped effect or pattern of black or tan hairs in combination with these colors.
Dogs whose coats include the brown shades may have dark amber eyes; liver noses, eye rims and lips; and dark nails. Dogs with apricot coat color may have this combination of eye, pigment and nail color as well but it is not desirable. All others must have very dark eyes; black noses, eye rims and lips; and black or self-colored nails.
These colors (and combinations of colors) must appear in one of the following patterns:
● Parti-colored: At least fifty percent white, with spots or patches of any other acceptable solid color. The head can be of a solid color but white muzzle, blaze, or white muzzle/blaze combination (preferably symmetrical) is equally acceptable. Full or partial saddles are acceptable, as long as they do not exceed the color proportion, but are not preferred. Ticking in the white of the coat is acceptable but not preferred.
● Phantom: Solid base color with sharply defined markings of a second color appearing above each eye, on the sides of the muzzle, on the throat and forechest, or in a chin and forechest bowtie pattern as well as on all four legs and feet, and below the tail. A phantom without clearly defined face markings or one that presents with its whole face colored in the second color is acceptable, as long as it maintains all the other specified body markings. Any combination of acceptable colors is allowed.
● Abstract: Less than fifty percent white, with the remaining percent any other acceptable solid color.
● Sable: A coat represented by black-tipped hairs on a background of any solid color, with no particular pattern/location designated for such hairs.
● Multi-patterned: A dog that clearly exhibits more than one of the acceptable color patterns, such as; a Parti with full or incomplete phantom markings (facial markings with or without presentation of the diamond under the tail), or a Phantom with additional abstract markings, etc.
Canadian Kennel Club: Color: The coat may be any solid colour;
FCI standard: Solid colour: black, white, brown, grey, fawn. Brown should be deep, rather dark, uniform and warm. Beige and its paler derivatives are not admitted. Grey must be uniform, deep, neither blackish nor whitish. Fawn must be uniform. Can go from
pale fawn to red fawn or even be orange fawn (apricot).
All that said, our question is if there are differences in temperament, disposition, energy, etc between the different colors found in the Standard Poodle?
“Moulon Rouge” by Judith Stein
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