# Coat colour question - what colour is Hope?



## NellyBean

Right ok... I may be going bonkers  and appologise if it is just normal apricot, however when grooming Hope today I noticed at the base of the hair shafts in sections on her back very, very dark red coloured hair appears to be coming through (don't think the photos really show up how red or dark the base is, sorry, and it isn't dirt!!  )...

I am assuming at a distance she would be described as dark apricot? however from my previous observations I thought apricots tend to go lighter as they get older?

on her head the all the hair is the same pale coloured apricot from tip to shaft, but on her back each hair in areas have three different colours per strand:
base of shaft the very dark reddy colour
middle of strand very pale creamy colour
end/tip of strand pinky/dark apricot colour

Has anyone had experience of this colour of coat before?? Is it likely to grow all the way out resulting in her going darker over her back?? Is it possibly a red/apricot roan (if there is such a thing?????) or am I stupid and she is plain old apricot :laugh:

ooo the excitement of how cockapoo's coats change and grow... I am intrigued!!

top of her head - pale colour










back - base very red/dark (appologies as best picture I could get!)



















Thanks xx


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## JoJo

Hi Helen .. first of all Hope is gorgeous  

Have a peep in the changing coat feature on My Dogs Life ... she is very young and you are correct the Apricot coats can change and develop over time, various shades too ... she would be a great cockapoo to follow and I would love it if you are willing to let her join the changing coat feature


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## NellyBean

Hi Jo-Jo,

Thanks for the reply.. me and Hope would be very proud for her to be included in the changing coat feature thank you  Like you I find the coat colours and variations soo fascinating!! 

xxx


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## Janev1000

That's really interesting Helen.

I'd love an apricot roan if there is such a thing? I'm sure JD may have had some?

Biscuit is an apricot parti and the patches on his face and top of head are fading a bit but the patches on his body seem to be staying put. The texture of the hair on his head is very silky but very fleecy on his body.

You may find the hair darker at the roots but then it may fade as it grows out? 

It will be interesting to see what happens!


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## wilfiboy

Cockers come in an orange roan, although unless my memeory fails me I dont think I've seen an orange roan cockapoo, I don't mean that there wont be such a thing just dont think I've seen them. When I was searching for a blue roan I was told by a breeder they did nt exist... I knew they did , subsequently he is now breeding them !!! The American sites may have pictures. Sylmls have a lot of lemon roan so I could imagine they may have orange x


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## Janev1000

I did see a breeders advert that said she had a stunning male apricot roan left but that maybe to the breeder's discretion as to whether he was truly a roan. On the JD website, under testimonials, there is a stunning apricot dog called Dizzee. He has a real scattering of cream apricot all over and I wondered if he was a roan? I think it should be possible if bred from an orange roan cocker?


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## Ali79

Beau's fur grows the same as Hope but Beau is much paler. I have included photos below to show how her fur grows 




























She has quite dark apricot tips to her fur, then pale, buff, dark etc


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## mandym

Hope is beautiful!! she is definately not roan because roans are born looking like partis.Many apricot and red pups change,miley my red cockapoo went from being red,to a blond/red to red with a blond head.it could be that she is actually going to get darker with age as many do xxx


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## NellyBean

Ali79 said:


> Beau's fur grows the same as Hope but Beau is much paler. I have included photos below to show how her fur grows
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> She has quite dark apricot tips to her fur, then pale, buff, dark etc



Thanks Ali, Beau is beatiful... The changes in the coat is so fascinating!! Looking at the close up photos of Beau's fur though it looks to me the same as Julie from jukees put description and photos on a previous post of one of her choccy roans... She described the roans as being like the Pattern on a tree, then showed a photo of the dryer blowing the hair apart to show it clearly... 

I am new to all this, but following that theory then could Beau be roan??


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## NellyBean

mandym said:


> Hope is beautiful!! she is definately not roan because roans are born looking like partis.Many apricot and red pups change,miley my red cockapoo went from being red,to a blond/red to red with a blond head.it could be that she is actually going to get darker with age as many do xxx


Thank you Mandy... However you have made me sulk as I thought she may have been roan . How can you tell parti's when the white, cream, apricot and reds are such similar colours, so not as obvious as white with brown/black parti??

We still love her no matter what, but I would have loved it if she had been a rare coloured roan  As I mentioned above I thought roan was if there were different layers of colour on each strand of hair, thus causing the effect of the roan like on mandys photos of beau... Could it not be orange/red roaning (by any chance??)

Thanks xx


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## Ali79

NellyBean said:


> Thanks Ali, Beau is beatiful... The changes in the coat is so fascinating!! Looking at the close up photos of Beau's fur though it looks to me the same as Julie from jukees put description and photos on a previous post of one of her choccy roans... She described the roans as being like the Pattern on a tree, then showed a photo of the dryer blowing the hair apart to show it clearly...
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> I am new to all this, but following that theory then could Beau be roan??


Thanks Helen  Love the description that Julia has given though not sure what Beau is though the amount of stripes perhaps she is the dog version of a zebra


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## NellyBean

Ali79 said:


> Thanks Helen  Love the description that Julia has given though not sure what Beau is though the amount of stripes perhaps she is the dog version of a zebra


Haha I love the idea of that... Leave the dream of the roan colourations behind as you have a NEW coat colouration 'zebricot'  x


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## mandym

Here are pics i found of orange roan cocker pup,newborn then a few weeks old


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## NellyBean

mandym said:


> Here are pics i found of orange roan cocker pup,newborn then a few weeks old


Ahhhhhhh I cant stop saying ahhhhhh.. They are absolutely beautiful! Sorry if I sound really stupid, but basically you are saying to be roan they always have to be 'white' with either parti orange/red/blue/choc at birth?? Thanks x


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## mandym

yes.blue and choc roans look like partis at birth too xxx


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## Ali79

NellyBean said:


> Haha I love the idea of that... Leave the dream of the roan colourations behind as you have a NEW coat colouration 'zebricot'  x


I am loving the fact that I have a Zebricot and when asked in future what colour she is I am going to say "a Zebricot of course"  x


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## NellyBean

mandym said:


> yes.blue and choc roans look like partis at birth too xxx


Thanks Mandy... As I said previously we love her no matter what, I will have to now dream of her becoming a 'zebricot' like Beau now our Roan dreams have dissapeared :laugh:


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## JoJo

Ahh that cocker is very cute .... don't think I have seen an orange roan cockapoo though  have you seen one Mandy?


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## NellyBean

Ali79 said:


> I am loving the fact that I have a Zebricot and when asked in future what colour she is I am going to say "a Zebricot of course"  x


I think you should ask jojo to add 'zebricot' into her coat colour catalogue :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## JoJo

Hope and Beau are just developing Apricots   beautiful girls ... Apricot beauties in my opinion


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## JoJo

NellyBean said:


> I think you should ask jojo to add 'zebricot' into her coat colour catalogue :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


ok I am giggling .... not sure if the zebricot colouring comes from the Cocker or Poodle in the mix ha ha ha ... stick with Apricot beauties, much nicer colouring lol


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## Ali79

Oh JoJo you have just killed our ambitions of being the owners of Zebricots  x


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## JoJo

Oh sorry Ali :S .. I can make it up for you if it makes you happy ... 

Can you imagine the comments I would get on My Dogs Life if I added a Zebricot section ha ha ha .. it may be fun actually .. or Rainbow coat colouring lol ... sorry silly head on


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## Ali79

That is so funny JoJo - I can see they will think you have changed your normal tipple to something with alcohol in it  I will stick to the apricot/blonde beauties on here and Zebricot with people who don't know Poos or me


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## JoJo

I think both Hope and Beau would make great additions to the Change Coat feature on the blog .... 

http://www.mydogslife.co.uk/the-changing-coats-of-cockapoos/

Have a look and if you would be willing please email the info with a selection of photos with age included, to show the developing coat colour and texture from birth to date ... (I hope Madeleine will love picking photos for this feature, she is so good at picking fab pics of Beau)

Lets show off these Zebricots .. sorry Apricot beauties


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## Ali79

JoJo said:


> I think both Hope and Beau would make great additions to the Change Coat feature on the blog ....
> 
> http://www.mydogslife.co.uk/the-changing-coats-of-cockapoos/
> 
> Have a look and if you would be willing please email the info with a selection of photos with age included, to show the developing coat colour and texture from birth to date ... (I hope Madeleine will love picking photos for this feature, she is so good at picking fab pics of Beau)
> 
> Lets show off these Zebricots .. sorry Apricot beauties



That would be good and I will get Madeleine to sort through her photos tomorrow as she is currently doing photo edits for her final pieces for her A Level Photography


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## JoJo

Brill .. I will look forward to that email arriving  thanks to Madeleine ... thank you Beau for being willing to join in the changing coat feature


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## M&M's mummy

Regarding Hope's colour as she is a mix of both poodle and cocker than the variation of her coat colour will be affected by which of the genes she inherited from her parents and which were the most dominant. Mixing of certain colours together will produce certain colours in their litters.

Let's take Apricot poodles to illustrate her colouring.

Apricot in poodles is a dilution colour and one most likely to fade. Apricots often have a variation in their colour and can have darker main coats than in the saddle.

Apricots are often born a dark shade that lightens by the age of 2.

Apricot poodles can have a third set of genes which can cause the pigment to change to paler shades of cream this is called chamois.

Black can also be a foundation colour in apricots genetic make-up and therefore when mated with other colours can produce their own particular colour.

Hope this info helps


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## S.Claire

Ohh this is interesting. I wish I had taken some closeups of Nacho's coat when he was a baby. He is apricot but was much LIGHTER when he was a pup. He has definitely got darker over the months. I don't think pictures quite show the difference but i'll give it a go. Nacho's mum is an orange roan cocker and his dad is a miniature red poodle. Could this be the red colouring coming out in his genes?



















NOW


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## Janev1000

It depends what colours are in the poodle lines. There is a very detailed (very!) explanation of poodle colours if you google poodle coat colours and click on arpeggio poodles. Also, apricots can be strongly affected by sunlight and will lighten over the summer but then deepen again over the winter. I used to think Biscuit was white but on reading about these colours, he is definitely cream as there is a yellow tone to his colour, which is a dilute of brown. He has quite a lot of choc and black in the lines of his cockapoo mum who was bred from a choc poodle.


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## mandym

I think if the poodle is a true deep red that comes from a long line of deep reds(then pup tends to keep the darker red colour,if the poodle used is a deeper shade of apricot but comes from apricots of various shades( this can range from almost cream through to red) then the colour can deepen or get paler.mileys dad is a deep red and miley has stayed quite red( but gts a blonde head in the summer lol) xxx


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## JoJo

Colour genes are so interesting .. but do get very confusing and bring on a subtle headache too lol


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## Sezra

I find there are a few things in life that bring on a subtle headache!  lol xx


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## NellyBean

Thanks folks that info is really informative  i would describe Hopes mum (cocker) as very deep red and her dad (poodle) was quite a dark apricot colour... 

So I suppose she may go darker apricot/red in colour, her face especially even just this week has changed to the most amazing dark rich red colour! Oooo sooo exciting! I do understand she is extremely young and no doubt her colour will change many times before her adult coat and colour comes in, no matter what; I think she is beautiful anyway!  xx


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## JoJo

Ok found it ... Here is the *Zebricot* thread that reminded me of Dawn's Dudley


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