Types of Labradoodle

Types of Labradoodle

Type of Coat	Description of Coat	Grooming Requirements	Shedding
Wool / Curly	Feels like the wool coat of a Poodle. Tight curls all over the body, on head and leg rather similar to a poodle.	Needs a trim or a clip about twice a year. When the coat is long it requires a lot of grooming.	No
Fleece Coat	Loose loopy curls all over the entire body, head and legs. Has a fleecy very soft feel, but not like wool. There should be no parts of the coat that feel like hair.	Low maintenance until the adult coat comes through bewtten 8 and 12 months of age. High maintenance during this phase until the puppy coat has all been strpped out to make way for the adult coat.	No
Hair Coat / Straight or Wavy	Varies in thickness and length from very short & straight to a combination coat of short body, with short waves along the backline & with wispy hairs around ears, eyes and on legs and tail. Some have 'breeching' & feathering on backs of legs and on tail.	Very low maintenance. Breeders can learn with practice & experience to tell as early as at birth. which puppies in a litter will develop these coats & the degree of shedding	Yes

Colours

Black

Jet Black all over. If 'carrying' Silver (ancestors Silver) Blacks can develop a sprinkling of silver white hairs throughout their coats, usually over the backline.

If 'carrying' Brown, brown can develop around the face, insides of legs, and tail.

Silver

Photograph used with Born Black. Some Silvers can be born with silver between their foot pads and an experienced breeder will spot this when the puppies are quite young. Others may not develop any silver until around 8 or 9 wks old, in the form of 'spectacles' around their eyes.

The Silvers go through stages of brown, through to charcoal, with the silver coming up their legs, spreading to their hocks and tails and eventually their whole body. Good Silvers will go through a blue/ish stage and end up pure platinum.

Chocolate/Café

Photograph used with All browns are born Chocolate. Cafes develop golden coat around their muzzles at between 6 and 12 weeks of age. Most Chocolates end up Cafe, although some true Chocolates can appear to be Cafe due to sunburning which produces beautiful golden highlights through their coats.

If the coat is parted, the true Chocolate color can still be seen at the roots, whereas the Cafe will pale in color right through to the roots.

Cream/s

Creams vary from pale milky cream right through to rich Apricot Creams who are cream on body but have dark apricot ears. Some will have reddish tinges through the coat as well. Some pale with age, and others deepen . First signs of deepening occur along the backline of the dog, on the muzzle and on the hocks and top of tail.

Gold or Golden Cream

This color is highly prized and is a rich golden color. It may either pale, or deepen over time. It is not possible to predict early on which way any particular puppy may develop in color.

Apricot

The true Apricot should be the color of a ripe apricot on the inside when the fruit is sliced open. Some breeders mistake Golds for Apricot. But the color should not be pale, although it can fade over time.

Red

Highly prized, Reds are not easy to breed and are still comparatively rare (even in the Poodle). Some breeders will mistake Apricots for Red, but the true Red is the color of an Irish Red Setter. Extremely beautiful, difficult to breed, and highly sought after. Most Reds will fade to some extent over time, so should be a very rich color when young.

Caramel

Caramel is often mistaken for true Apricot. It too is a rare color, and is rather like a true Apricot with a more caramel toning to it. The color should go right to the skin, and not be shaded along the hairs of the coat.

Chalk

Chalk is a milky chalky white. But when the dog is placed beside a truly white dog of a different breed, it will be seen to be not really white at all, hence the name of 'Chalk'.