Expert: Kim Wingate - 10/13/2009

Question
hi kim i own a new puppy brown standard is it true that all brown poodles loose their color to a dingy grey

Answer
Hello Frank,
No, not necessarily.  It will depend on your dogs breeding and background as to how much your dog will fade over time.  If your dog is quite dark now, then he might fade to a milk chocolate color.  If he is a lighter shade of brown, he might fade to more of a Cafe A` Latte, or more of a color of Coffee with Cream.  It is true that a Brown is a fading gene and that brown dogs will fade throughout their life, but it will depend on what they have in their background (such as Brown all the way back) and what his parents were bred with.  If you have a Brown father, and you put him with another fading color such as Apricot or Silver, you will get a light colored dog that will have alot of fading because he has 2 fading genes (his brown father and other fading colored dog).  On the other hand, if your dog has a Black or other Dominate color in his background, he may fade slower and not as light.  

If your dog is registered, you can go online and find out about his parents and their backgrounds so that you will have a better idea of what is behind your puppy.  
If your dog is registered with the AKC you can find their website at http://www.akc.org

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim