[Tania Libkind]

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Статья Терри Фарлей о цветном разведении для Poodle Review

Breeding red and apricot standard poodles is one of the most challenging and rewarding endeavors any breeder can set forth to accomplish. There are so many factors that must be taken into consideration when trying to breed any poodle, but with the red and apricot standards there are so few choices we have available when breeding.

One of the first, and most important, considerations that must be addressed is the gene pool it self. There are truly very few directions a breeder has to choice from. There are very few standard poodles that possess both deep color and quality. Therefore, the breeder must decide if the breeding is for color or if the breeding is for quality. There are few people that are willing to undertake this challenge of breeding for color and for quality.


If a breeder is breeding for color alone the choice is much easier. Breed the deepest red or apricot dog to the deepest red or apricot bitch. The offspring will have color. Look at a stud dog or a brood bitch after they reach the age of two or three to see if their color has held, if the color is even, and if the color is rich. This is an ideal color for color sake breeding. But will the offspring be competitive in the show ring?

Next, the breeder must decide if the breeding is for quality. Breeding like to like will produce like. Some breeders will choice to cross breed into the other colors, usually black. Where is the quality in standard poodles, for the most part black and white? Color is beautiful, but in order to win in the ring, a poodle must have good conformation, a beautiful head, eye, expression, carriage, reach, drive, proper temperament, health, and attitude. In other words the puppy must have the “It” factor, everything combined in one stunning show prospect of a specimen. Is this too much to ask for?

When mixing a black stud dog with a red or apricot bitch, (or vise a versa) the breeder should try to determine if the black is carrying the recessive gene for cream, white, apricot and red. If the stud has been used prior to this breeding and has produced a cream or white puppy, there is a strong possibility that this dog will produce apricot when bred to an apricot or red bitch. If the stud dog has not been bred in the past there is a DNA test that will verify if he is capable of producing the cream, white, red or apricot gene. This is not a guarantee that the breeding will produce apricot; there is still the chance of an all black litter. This all depends on the combination of genes from the black dog with the red or apricot. To my knowledge, science has not been able to accurately determine the subtleties in the DNA that determine cream, white, apricot or red the light color puppies could be cream rather than apricot.

Another consideration when combining colors is the fading factor. Will this combination produce puppies that fade? It is very hard to tell prior to an actual test breeding. Look at light puppies that have been produced in the past, were white puppies born deep cream and then faded into white, or did the cream puppies hold a cream color? If the cream puppies fade (clear) then most likely and apricot or red puppy will fade. If a cream puppy held cream, then an apricot puppy will most likely hold color. It is also possible that some puppies in the litter will hold color while others fade.

Most people when mixing colors, mix apricot with black, a few will breed into the white lines. People tend to feel that there is a greater chance of picking up a fading gene when breeding to whites. For this reason silver breeders like to breed to white while many apricot breeders avoid this cross.

Mixing brown with apricot and red creates an entirely different problem. The genes that are involved with brown may dilute the nose pigmentation as well as create a lighter eye. Although according to the poodle standard an apricot or red may have a self colored nose, a black nose is truly desired. The mixing of these genes can also produce black as well as brown or apricot puppies.

Silver is another mix that is normally avoided. By nature a silver puppy is born black and fades into beautiful silver, a trait that the silver breeder is depending upon, but apricot and red breeders want to avoid this fading trait as much as possible. Once the fading factor is introduced in a line it is very difficult to breed out. Blue on the other hand has been known to mix well with apricot and red. Both long time, experienced breeders, Becky Mason of Bel Tor Poodles and Harriett Laws of Mayfield apricot standards advised breeding true blue to apricot when mixing colors. They both claimed that this breeding would produce beautiful apricot color.

Temperament among the apricot and red poodles have long had a poor reputation. Over and over it is said how far the temperament have come on these colors. Temperaments among these colors are similar to that of the other colors. Individual lines of all persuasions have similar family traits and personalities and exhibit the temper, good or bad, of that line. Several apricot and red breeders have donated puppies to service groups all over the United States. Reds and apricots have done will in the obedience, agility and rally rings. Early socialization, training and exposure develop a well rounded pet, conformation, or working poodle in all colors.


Hair and coat texture has been an ongoing challenge in these colors. A typical apricot or red coat usually is not as dense or thick shafted as black or white coats. They tend to be softer and slower growing, some even break more easily. There is always the exception to the rule where the coat is wonderful and lush. Some lines do tend to have better coats than other lines. Another consideration when looking at red and apricot coat is color itself. The longer a coat is the deeper and richer the color. Much of the richness of the color is in the guard hairs. It is amazing when a show dog is cut down how much lighter they can appear. All in all the coats of the serious breeders of color are improving with selective, well thought out, breeding.


Variation in color with age is a true struggle. Some lines or individual dogs fade, others hold color and yet there are even a few that deepen in color. It seems that all mammals fade hair color with time, look how lucrative the hair color industry is and how many beauticians are color specialists! In dogs we see some black lines grizzle at a very young age, while some keep a nice deep black for a good portion of their lives. Although whites do not seem to go gray, they will eventually lose the luster of youth. Silvers depend on lightening, while browns, apricot and red dread it. Breeders would love to have a crystal ball to foretell the future when it comes to the fading of color. In some apricot and red standards lines there seems to be a deepening factor. Puppies have been born medium apricot and darkened into red while some apricots have been born a very light cream and deepened into a medium golden color. These puppies seem to be born with an odd tone to their color, sort of a silverish gray cast, kind of resembling a Weimaraners cast to the coat. These puppies have a tendency of darkening and usually holding this color for a good portion of their lives. My last contact with the company that does DNA coat color testing has not yet been able to determine which factors or attachments to the DNA code plays into the holding or fading of color.

Breeding reds and apricots has been a challenge over the years. Most ethical breeders health test their breeding dogs, have CHIC numbers, often temperament test puppies at forty nine days old research pedigrees, research pedigrees, and research pedigrees again! Red and apricot breeders are showing in conformation, obedience, agility, rally, or one of the many other sporting events offered by the AKC. Breeders are involved in PCA, affiliated poodle clubs, The Apricot Red Poodle Club, all breed clubs, and rescue organizations. In short apricot and red breeders do it all! It has been a slow uphill battle constructing strong friendships and alliances while gaining respect from peers. Is it over, No, not by a long shot? Breeders must continue to improve on the successes accomplished, try harder, and breed selectively, while challenging themselves as well as each other to breed the best poodle within their power. The challenge now lies in the experienced breeder to become mentors to the newer younger potential exhibitors and breeders that show genuine interest in the color. "One must first build their house before they can paint it!"


Terence R Farley
Farleys D Standard