[akbirdy]

I was looking at a breeders page and on her testimonial page an owner wrote..

"He appears so dark brown and has that harsher/wirey hair that my poodles in the past have not had (judges want that)"

So I was wondering... does the color of a poodles coat affect texture?

Just curious... I haven't been around a lot of different colored poodles and was interested if one color was softer or a different color harsher? Why would a judge prefer a wirey coat over a soft one? Because the hair wouldn't move as much?

 

[Purple Poodle]

Per kennel club standard a harsh, dense textured coat is desirable.

I do not think color effects texture, its more of a line thing. Some lines of Poodles have the correct texture and some have a softer coat. It just depends really.

 

[wishpoo]

I agree with Purple !!!

Poodle hair is really HAIR - nor a fur like in most dogs. That is why it does not shed (or it sheds as much as ours does). So, as with people - hair can vary even in a single "pack of kids". There are many genes that are involved in the color and texture of the hair and thus it does "run" in the family or not. (family = line).

Poodle needs to have very dense hair and it is very easy to observe by a touch, even with very, very short hair ! Soft and silky is desirable in Maltese for example - but never in a poodle ! It should be dense, curly and coarse.

Do not forget that poodle was a hunting water dog - so that kind of hair made great insulation and buoyancy at the same time : ) !

 

[*heather*]

interesting to see this thread today...
I was just on the phone with my groomer yesterday and she made a comment about Reds and Apricots typically having thinner coats then other colors! True?

 

[Dogsinstyle]

I can't speak for reds/apricots, but can for other colors. I have 2 cream littermates, one with a softer coat, and one with a very harsh wirey coat.
I have browns with very thick coats, and have had them with softer coats.
I have a little black with a brillo pad coat, can kill 3 blades in one sitting.
These all descend from the same girl (Ali).
Carole

 

[cbrand]

While I have seen White/Creams with good coat and Browns/Blacks with poor coat, it is generally true that Whites/Creams have softer, more difficult to care for coats.

Apricots and Reds have notoriously soft coats, but again, it is that breeding for color thing. Make color the #1 priority and other things go out the door.

 

[roxy25]

When we where looking for red and apricot poodles many breeders told us that reds/Apricots have softer coats as puppies and adults ( some breeders we talked to where not red breeders I might add) . When we saw Enzos parents His dad's coat look thick and harsh. Enzo's coat is thick and starting to become harsh where his mane is.

We get lots of complements on how good his coat is for a red, so I am assuming like cbrand stated that most of the red breeders breeding just for color or money have bad coats.

 

[Purple Poodle]

What about multi-colored poodles? My Parti girl has a very dense harsh coat, my moms Mini is an Apricot and he has a mixture of soft and harsh. My white Toy has very curly but thin coat (not sure if this is due to her stomach issues but I think its has an impact on it).

 

[Dogsinstyle]

My Project Runway's coat is average, not super harsh, but not floppy soft.
Carole

 

[taxtell]

Huh.
Are puppy coats softer than adult coats?

 

[Poodlepal]

Yes puppy coats are softer. The adult hair begins to show up around age 9 months through 18 months. Black poodles, in general, have harsher coats than the lighter colors. There are some Creams out there with harsher coats, but in general, they tend to be cottony soft and prone to matting.

 

[Alicia]

My Red Standard's coat is much softer than the White and Black Poodles that I have seen. Even though it is softer, I don't seem to have a hard time brushing her out. The mats are easy to get through. This being my first poodle, I have to say, I like the softer coat, however....I like the fluffy/cottony look of the white ones when newly groomed.

 

[KPoos]

I think so. My black has a bit more coarse hair. The cream has fluffy (even though he's a puppy as a puppy the black wasn't as fluffy) cottony hair type. I hear that whites/creams mat easier than the other colors as well.

 

[bigpoodleperson]

I would have to agree. Of all the poodles ive seen, the blacks seems to have the harsher coat. Apricot/creams seem to have very thin, whispy hair. Whites/creams are not as thick as blacks and softer. Depends on the breeding though. Riley is a cream and has a Very thick, harsh, correctly textured coat. Perfect for scissoring!

 

[Keithsomething]

I was wondering my chocolate female seems to have an almost "crimped" hair
and by no means is it curly.
is that something she might grow out of or is it bad grooming on my part?

 

[bigpoodleperson]

Young poodles do not usually have a curly coat. The curly coat and harsh texture come in with the adult coat. I have seen one poodle though that as an adult had almost a perment perm. Instead of having the normal poodle coat, she had tiny corkscrews all over. Hard coat, but odd feeling. Not sure i liked it, but it was different then any other coat ive felt.

 

[flyingduster]

yup, puppy coat can be crimped looking, the full curls don't usually come in properly until the adult coat does at 9-18 months.
Paris has a gorgeous harsh coat along her topline, and it gets softer the furthur down her sides you go. *sigh* Though it does mean her neck hair is holding itself together quite nicely, even though it's grown out to 5 inches long; when her leg hair gets long, it flops everywhere. lol

 

[Keithsomething]

I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something I was neglecting

 

[Savannah]

I think so. My black has a bit more coarse hair. The cream has fluffy (even though he's a puppy as a puppy the black wasn't as fluffy) cottony hair type. I hear that whites/creams mat easier than the other colors as well.

I know MY cream mats easily!! I swear I had to brush him twice a day when his coat was changing, lol. Now that his adult coat is in he's at a much more manageable twice weekly schedule. I wouldn't dream of letting him go more than a week without a good brushing, though-- it'd take forever to brush out all those miniscule mats!

He also has a very soft, tightly curled coat. It dries in a billion tiny spirals if I don't fluff it, and it never does fluff perfectly. It takes twice as long to fluff dry him and he still looks like an amateur job when I'm done. Sigh. His half sister has a lovely wiry black coat that fluffs to perfection in 30 minutes or less. I usually spend an hour on Flash.

He feels wonderful (the first thing EVERYONE says when they pet him: "he's so soft!!") but next time I'll find a puppy with a more correct coat.

 

[bigredpoodle]

Huh.
Are puppy coats softer than adult coats?

Yes they are !