goldendoodlecoatcolorsindex

Everyone has always assumed that a Goldendoodle would only be "Gold", hence the name "Golden Doodle". However, Goldendoodles come in a variety of colors and markings. Below we will show you a few of our Past Goldendoodles created here in our Goldendoodle World. Not only do Goldendoodles come in an assortment of colors and markings, they can also sport eyes that are blue, amber, brown, green or have multi-colored eyes. The Goldendoodle is a fantastic dog and their popularity has soared at a very fast rate since we began in 1999. Over the years, we have worked hard at refining the colors of the coat; coat type, eye coloration and disposition so that we could achieve consistency as close as possible 90% of the time. Because a Goldendoodle is a hybrid dog, the only thing that eludes the creator is consistency in size within any given litter and per puppy regardless of the size of the parents, which is why a hybrid creator will never see 100%.

We'll work our way backwards in time. One of the most fantastic things about a hybrid is not knowing exactly what colors and markings will come about when mixing a Poodle of Color to a Golden Retriever or a Goldendoodle of color (with unique colored eyes) to a Poodle that is not closely related. From a breeder's standpoint, I personally get excited when I see something other than Cream and apricot where colors are concerned. From 1999 to 2005, we had strived hard at creating Goldendoodles that had unique markings and colors. It wasn't until Amber and Star Burst came along that we were able to achieve this goal. Amber and Star Burst were unique all the way and I knew both were the special doodles I had waited for years, to come along. Star Burst is an light apricot Goldendoodle with extremely beautiful brilliant blue eyes and Amber, her brother, started out as a Chocolate phantom with white markings and green eyes. For awhile, his coat color wavered from chocolate to red to chocolate to red. Now at nearly 2 years of age, he has remained a Red phantom with white markings, liver nose and beautiful "amber" eyes. Star Burst was born a light apricot with brilliant blue eyes and she has remained the same at nearly 2 years of age. Both dogs are very shaggy with lots of waves about their coat and of course, both sport the usual full facial beard.

Until Star Burst and Amber came along, it was difficult to achieve more than 4 doodles a year with green eyes unless the doodle was chocolate and larger doodles of multi-colors. When Suri (Our first tri-color doodle) was born, we had a difficult time creating very small Goldendoodles of multi-color. From a genetic standpoint, now that we had Goldendoodles with brilliant blue and lovely green/amber eyes (not to mention being a PHANTOM in coat color) and unique coloration, we knew the trait would come out more often for further doodles down the road. Amber has proven himself to be quite the fertile sire. In late 2006 we matched Amber with our apricot standard Poodle, Mystee. We saw an assortment of colors and markings in their litter to include pups with either a pair of blue eye and green eyes as well as multi-colored eyes. We also had paired Amber up with Ellie who created gorgeous Goldendoodles with multi-colors and eyes of color other than brown, as well. Any time a breeder integrates unusual colors to include doodles with light colored eyes, into their breeding program, they will have more success at achieving a higher rate of light colored eyed doodles and doodles with multiple coat colors and markings.

We had used Amber as a sire with Mystee's litter and were awe struck with her litter of Goldendoodle puppies who had colored eyes and were cream and apricot in color. Some had white markings. As with this puppy to the right. We were not aware of the blue eyes until the puppies had opened their eyes on the 14th day after being born. The brilliant blue was then obvious. However, it was not until the puppies turned nearly 6 weeks of age that we had noticed several of the pups who had a pair of blue eyes now had one blue eye and one brown or hazel green eye. We had learned from experience that the eye color can sometimes change by the age of six or eight weeks. In the past, we knew that if a doodle had a liver colored nose, they were likely to have green eyes. Now, we experience BLUE eyed doodles with both a liver nose AND a black nose. Through experience, we also discovered that the doodles were shaggy and not all were with curls in the coat.

We had discovered that by using a doodle of "color" to a Poodle that was not closely related, we could achieve consistency in the coat texture...ie...Shaggy/wavy (Something we generally see in our Goldendoodles when one parent is the Poodle and one parent is the Golden Retriever). We had also discovered that by using a doodle of "color" and that had light colored eyes, to a "colored" Poodle that was not closely related, we could not only still achieve consistency in coat texture.....but we now could achieve a higher incidence of multi colored doodles with light colored eyes. This included phantoms, Parti colors and Tri-colors. Any time a unique parent dog is added to a breeding program, it will allow the breeder a higher incidence of Goldendoodle puppies born with unique qualities. The puppy to the left is a Silver Tri-color even though the photo makes him appear to be a black/tan Phantom. The facial/chest and leg colors are actually white and tan blended and although his body coat appears to be black, by 3 months of age, we saw the strands of hair changing to silver. Had this puppy been sold at 6 or 8 weeks of age, we would have assumed he was a black tri-color (Black/tan/white). From our past experience of knowing for a fact that some of our black Goldendoodles turned into either a silver phantom or just silver in general, we knew the possibility was strong that this puppy was not going to stay black. New or inexperienced breeders don't have past experience to know what the doodle's coat will do. The longer a "creator" of Goldendoodles remains a "creator" with a goal...the more fascinated by the Goldendoodle hybrid they will become and the more experienced they become at knowing all the things we have come to know about this terrific hybrid.

From 1999 until 2005, we had rarely seen the color "RED" come out for Goldendoodles. I believe the color red only occurred approx. 3 or 4 times in all those years. Our general colors were cream and apricot (both dark and light). On occasion, we saw a couple of our black Goldendoodles turn into a silver phantom or a silver frost. On Thanksgiving day of 2006, we had a litter of puppies born that were of color and with light colored eyes.

In Ellie's litter (An apricot small Standard Poodle), we had achieved 2 apricots with black tips (identical in color as the doodle to the right). Something we had only seen twice in 2 separate litters in the past. Suri...our small Tri-color Goldendoodle who weighs 13 pounds had 1 puppy that was apricot w/black tips. We had seen Suri's sister also turn out to be an apricot with black tips (see to the right). We had bred Suri to a Toy Poodle who is a black/tan phantom. We had only seen this color (Which is a rare color for Toy Poodles and I was once told by a Poodle breeder that many show breeders bred "out" this color because it was not desired for "show purposes".) To see it come out for a third time and now with 2 puppies in the same litter that would be at least 45 pounds as an adult was completely amazing. In order to achieve more RED Goldendoodles...a Red Poodle must be bred to a Dark Golden, Golden Retriever.

The puppy up above (right) is a four month old female that is apricot with black tips. The Goldendoodle to the above left is a 9 month old female apricot with black tips. The doodle above left was exactly the same color as the doodle puppy above right. The apricot with black tips continues to lighten to a near cream but with black in each strand of hair. (See professional photograph at the end of this page for this color.)

What we had discovered in the very beginning (1999) was that Goldendoodle coat colors are reverse from Golden Retrievers. Where as a Golden Retriever will start out light and darken as it ages, the Goldendoodle is the opposite and will lighten at least one shade, by the time it is one year of age. It was not at all unusual that we would see our red Goldendoodles turn into a dark apricot; Our cream get lighter (nearly white); our Light apricots turn cream and our dark apricots turn into light apricots. On occasion we saw our black Goldendoodles turn into a silver phantom or silver frost and some doodles that were black, stayed black. Some Goldendoodles who were chocolate turn into a deep red and some Chocolate phantoms turned into a red phantom while some chocolates stayed dark chocolate. This amazing change occurs with all Poodle hybrids. We also see it happen with Poodles. It is quite impossible to know exactly what the color and coat will do until its complete at the age of one year. I have seen some breeders' photos of Goldendoodles that are adults and who look like a purebred Golden Retriever. Something went wrong if this occurs.

Since creating Goldendoodles I've NEVER experienced a Goldendoodle who started out looking like a Golden Retriever at birth, remain looking like a Golden Retriever as an adult. Some may have a bit thicker coat than others, but ALL OF THEM have some sort of a shaggy and wavy coat and NEVER have a face without a facial beard!!! The most popular color in a Goldendoodle remains to be apricot and cream as well as white. The lighter colors always sell much faster than the darker colors and I'm not sure why. I have gone to dog shows and watched dogs that look nearly identical to each other parade around the ring. What's so unique about that? Absolutely nothing. I actually enjoy seeing a Goldendoodle that looks unique. I love Goldendoodles with light colored eyes and I love Goldendoodles that have unusual markings or colors. I love all of them, my my favorites always tend to be those that are a bit different in coat and eye color.

It is very difficult to get unusual colors to come out if one parent is the Poodle and one parent is the Golden Retriever. This is why we decided to integrate a Goldendoodle of color and light colored eyes to a Poodle of ours that was not directly related to the Poodle within the Goldendoodle. This should be the ONLY reason a breeder would consider a Goldendoodle as a parent dog.

Since 1999, we've only experienced two coat types with our Goldendoodles. Some turn out to be shaggy/wavy and some turn out to be shaggy/wavy with loose curls. Every Goldendoodle has a soft single coat even if it has curls in the coat. A Goldendoodle created correctly will never have tight curls in the coat like a Poodle. The curls, if present in the coat, are relaxed curls. As a young puppy, the doodle has a face that appears to be narrow. This is because their facial beard has not grown out yet and the dog has not matured. As an adult, every Goldendoodle sports a facial beard and those that had loose curls in their coat will have plenty of waves all over their body, to include their face and ears. Some people assume this occurs because a Goldendoodle has twice the poodle. Not so. We personally have 2 purebred Golden Retrievers that when bred to our Poodle sires, will have one or two puppies in their litter that have the loose curls in the coat. To date (Jan '07) we have never seen any of our Goldendoodles sport loose curls in the coat just because they have twice the Poodle in their DNA. Instead, their coat stays shaggy/wavy like we see when one parent is the Poodle and one parent is the Golden Retriever. This occurs because we do not in-breed or back-breed or as some call it "back-cross" (incorrect terminology). Our Poodles are not closely related in the Goldendoodle or Poodle that are bred together. A doodle creator who back-breeds or inbreeds to create a Goldendoodle will more than likely create a curly Goldendoodle that has curls like the Poodle. We have yet to see this happen when the Poodles were unrelated or not closely related.

Some Goldendoodle creators will advertise their doodles as being "rare" or "with rare markings" or even go so far as to claim their "black" Goldendoodles are "rare black".

Believe me, there is nothing rare about the color black or any Goldendoodle that has white markings, phantom markings or any markings anywhere on its body. We created black Goldendoodles simply by breeding our Golden Retriever to our solid black Standard Poodle. We've even seen black doodles if the Poodle parent was chocolate. We also saw some of our black doodles turn into a silver phantom or silver frost. Had we kept the Goldendoodle (right) that was silver Frost or silver phantom and bred her to a solid white Poodle, we more than likely would have created more of the same color or even saw some that were diluted in color or some that had white markings in the coat. When a Goldendoodle is born black...they are JET black! There is no way to tell whether that doodle will turn silver or silver phantom until they become closer to 4 months of age. By the age of four months, the color (if it is going to turn silver) will have a BLUE hue to it. Light strands of hair will begin to appear in the coat. By 7 months of age, if the doodle is going to turn into a silver phantom, you will continue to see the legs, cheeks and chest become lighter than the body hair, like "Roxy", to the right. Many of our Goldendoodles that are silver phantom will have GOLD hues in their coat and sometimes we'll see our BLACK Goldendoodles have silver strands in their coat and yet, never actually turn silver. Below we will add more photos of doodle coat colors.

Our cream Goldendoodles, such as "Ivy" to the left, will look WHITE when in the sun. It's easy, however, to see they are cream because of the golden hues about the ears and the face. Our cream Goldendoodles will always be born solid white. Not until they are nearly 14 days of age can we tell if they will stay white or turn cream. Because we have never bred a solid white Poodle to a solid white Golden Retriever, we have never created a solid white Goldendoodle. In order for the color WHITE to be pure, a doodle would have to come from two solid white parents who also have solid white ancestors. One can always hope for a solid white and that's not to say it couldn't happen. We've seen some strange things occur where colors and markings are concerned. I believe it was in 2004 that we actually saw a "strawberry blonde" born. Parti-color and Tri-color is extremely difficult to create if one is only using a Golden Retriever and a Poodle for the parents. There has to be strong Parti colors within the Poodle parents lineage in order to get ONE possible Parti colored puppy. Breeders are now actually able to do a DNA coat color profile so they know what colors will be in their unborn litters.

When Suri was born, she was born a Tri-color. She was the ONLY surviving Tri-color in her litter. Her sister was an apricot with black tips (basically the dark color you see upon Suri's head to the right), her two brothers were cream and her still-born brother was a Tri-color. Suri was created in 2005. She has since lightened tremendously. Her mother is a dark Golden Retriever and her father is an Apricot Toy Poodle with black tips who has extensive Parti colors in his lineage. We did not see any further doodles created with multiple colors until we used Amber (a red phantom Goldendoodle) as a sire. It was by using HIM as a sire, that we began to see multi colors coming out. Not to mention, more green eyes and even pups with brilliant blue eyes and a combination of green/blue or blue/brown eyes.

To the left you will see what our cream colored Goldendoodle puppies look like. Below are further photos of a variety of colors and markings that we have produced/created in our Goldendoodles. While Goldendoodles are certainly fantastic regardless of their color or markings, there is nothing rare where color and markings are concerned. In reality, even light colored or multi colored eyed doodles are not a rarity either. It is simply achieved by integrating a Poodle or doodle with light colored eyes. This allows a higher incidence of light colored eyed doodles and adds the gene to the dogs' genetic structure. If you hear of a Goldendoodle creator/breeder tell you that they are offering "rare" colored ore marked Goldendoodles...come on back to this page so we can refresh your memory.

The apricot female up above is shaggy/wavy despite the fact she has twice the Poodle genetic DNA. We have dispelled the myth that a Goldendoodle with twice the Poodle will be curly. Providing the Poodle is NOT related closely to the Poodle in the Goldendoodle, the offspring will NOT sport a curly coat. This apricot lovely girl has brilliant blue eyes that will stay this color as an adult. She now resides in Michigan and her sister resides in North Carolina.

<<< To the left you will see one of our 4 week old Goldendoodle pups. Notice the curls have developed upon the ears and the facial beard begins to take shape. There is also some fluff beginning about the coat. This is the usual process of first generation Goldendoodles who have equal DNA of the Poodle and the Golden Retriever but we also see this process with some doodles who have twice the Poodle DNA.

To the right, you will see the sibling to the doodle up above. He too is 4 weeks old but notice the difference in the coat. This doodle has the same parents (Poodle and Golden Retriever) and yet, he has not yet begun to get any fluff about his coat. His facial beard is taking shape but not as quickly as his sibling above. This doodle has more Golden Retriever DNA and his coat will take a bit longer to become shaggy but he will definitely still have a shaggy coat and sport the usual facial beard. >>>

To the right, is a six month old Light apricot Goldendoodle who has one parent a Poodle and one parent a Golden Retriever. This is the usual style coat we see in the majority of our Goldendoodles at this age. The majority of our Goldendoodles, by age six months sports the facial beard....very long hanging ears...the almond shaped eyes and a nice fluffy and shaggy coat. This doodle just got a bath so more of the apricot can be seen in the facial beard because she isn't fully dry. This doodle, when outside, will appear to be white...but in fact is light apricot in color. >>>>>>>>>>>

<<<<<<To the left is a Goldendoodle that has more Golden Retriever DNA. On few occasions, we will have a Goldendoodle out of a litter who has one parent the Poodle and one parent the Golden Retriever, but yet has more Golden Retriever DNA and sport more of a Golden Retriever look as a young pup. This particular pup is 4 months old in the photo. However, take notice that there are hairs sprouting about the snout (indicating he is still going to have the usual facial beard) and he does have some curls about his ears. Notice the little strands of hair sprouting about his head. His coat will be shaggy as an adult, but when Goldendoodles have more Golden Retriever DNA, their "shag" is a short shag. The snout appears to be long at this age because the puppy is still growing into his facial features. The tail and feet, at this age does not have many "shaggy" hairs. This will come by the time this puppy is one year of age.

To the left and below is a color that we normally see on Toy Poodles. It is apricot with black tips. We have seen this color on Suri's sister and 1 of Suri's puppies that she herself had in her litter of Goldendoodle pups. The pup to the right and to the left are out of Ellie's litter. The pup to the right is shaggy/wavy with loose curls and has a fuzzy face. Her sister, to the left is shaggy and wavy and does not have curls in the coat. She's just shaggy and wavey. The father to both girls is a Goldendoodle and their mother is a Poodle. The Poodle in the father doodle is not closely related to the mother Poodle.

Again, the reason we are able to achieve consistency in the coat types of our Goldendoodles is because we DO NOT back-breed, in-breed or line-breed our breeding dogs. Many Goldendoodle breeders call back-breeding "back crossing" and perhaps they mean they have "back bred" the Goldendoodle to a RELATED Poodle or they have "back crossed" the Goldendoodle to an unrelated Poodle.....whatever it is they mean, we can't speak for other breeders when it comes to terminology used upon their websites and their advertisements or why they use inappropriate terms or make inappropriate claims. We notice alot of "piggy backing" with breeders and this comes from inexperienced breeders "piggy backing" upon a breeder who is using incorrect terminology or inaccurate information with regards to a hybrid or specific breed. Unfortunately the more "piggy backing" that is found on the Internet, the more people come to believe the information because they repeatedly stumble upon websites with inaccurate information. We are not claiming that OUR information is the "God" of Goldendoodle information....but I will tell you that our information is based on facts and actual research from "DOING" and "SEEING" and of taking thousands of photographs of various growing stages and changes of our Goldendoodles and of documenting the changes and between the photographs and documentation, it becomes a FACT. It isn't just something we just decide to write one day. If we happen upon websites that has canine information that we DO agree with, we will pass the information along. It is the hope that some day better uniformity can occur with Goldendoodle breeders but until that day happens, many people will be left out in the dark by believing the inaccurate information with regards to the Goldendoodle hybrid. Want to see how the Goldendoodle's coat changes and know what the phases are? CLICK HERE.