What Is The Most Popular Goldendoodle Color?
You may have looked into acquiring a Goldendoodle, and you may have been told that one particular color is going to be more expensive than another.
This is common among breeders as some potential pet parents are more than happy to pay a little extra for a popular color, especially if that color is considered rare.
What Is The Most Popular Goldendoodle Color?
The most popular Goldendoodle color at the moment is apricot. It’s both highly desirable and more common than the second most popular: cream, and the third most popular: red. Sable is becoming more popular lately too.
What Goldendoodle Colors Are Acceptable?
- Apricot
- Cream
- Red
- Chocolate or brown
- Champagne
- White
- Black
- Tan
- Gray
- Silver beige
- Black and white
- Silver
- Blue
Now, although these are the most common and chief accepted colors of the Goldendoodle, there are several patterns which the Goldendoodle may inherit.
What Goldendoodle Patterns Are Acceptable?
Sable is considered to be a pattern rather than a color, and we’ll look at that momentarily.
Other patterns that are accepted for the Goldendoodle include the following:
- Brindle
- Abstract
- Parti
- Merle
- Tuxedo
- Phantom
What’s The Deal With Sable Goldendoodles?
Sable isn’t a solid color, for one thing. It has to do with the way the color is patterned on the hair.
Sable Goldendoodles have black-tipped hairs, no matter the base color of the dog’s coat.
The base coat can be one of ANY of the thirteen colors listed above. This is what makes the sable coat more of a pattern than a color.
What Do All These Goldendoodle Colors Mean?
One of the most common colors is brown, or a “chocolate” Goldendoodle.
These darlings have a rich brown color that is reminiscent of a milk chocolate candy bar.
This color is typically derived from the Poodle parent, as Golden Retrievers are typically either a dark or light golden color, a cream color, or a golden color.
Apricot is the most popular Goldendoodle color, and one reason for this is the Goldendoodle with apricot coloring often looks like a large teddy bear.
Again, this is a trait that comes from the Poodle parent.
Red Goldendoodles may be mistaken for apricot in color, but their hair will be a deeper, mahogany red.
It is also one of the brighter colors.
Ironically, this bold color tends to fade as the red colored Goldendoodle matures.
Cream is another popular Goldendoodle color.
It is a variant of the red and apricot Goldendoodle color; often, the cream Goldendoodle is mislabeled as a white Goldendoodle.
It is difficult to accurately describe a cream Goldendoodle because they have so many variations yet still fall under the label of “cream colored.”
The champagne colored Goldendoodle is a rare one, possessing a red gene that is recessive.
This gene is then diluted which then creates a pale yellow or cream tone.
It is difficult to tell the difference between cream and champagne in some instances.
The black Goldendoodle receives its all-over body coloring due to the genetics of the Poodle parent.
As they age, their jet black color may become “silver.”
Like the black Goldendoodle, the black and white Goldendoodle will likely get its coloring from the Poodle parent.
In some black and white pups, the black coloring is more dominant while the white color is more dominant in others.
These dogs should not automatically be labeled as having the tuxedo pattern.
A gray Goldendoodle will often be born a dark color which will begin to show some gray after the puppy turns six weeks of age.
At the age of two, their coloring will lighten to a “rustic silver.”
Blue Goldendoodles are often confused with grays, but there is a difference in the gray shading.
Plus, this color is very rare, and it often takes multiple generations of breeding in order to achieve a truly gray Goldendoodle.
The silver Goldendoodle is born with a dark coat that lightens so that it is often described as the salt and pepper gray hair of an older human.
Silver coloring typically shows between six and ten weeks of age.
The silver beige Goldendoodle will be born with a chocolate coat, and it will start silvering before they grow into their adult coat.
They will NOT possess black-tipped hairs such as a sable.
A tan Goldendoole has a red gene that is diluted in pheomelanin, and their color is a more subtle reddish color.
The white Goldendoodle will likely have some cream colored hair across its body, and it is believed the white color is also inherited from the Poodle parent since Goldens are never truly white.
What About Their Patterns?
The abstract Goldendoodle has white around the paws, face, and chest area.
The phantom coat pattern is rare; one coat is the true base color with the lighter points making up the second coat color.
Typically, this pattern offers lighter color around the eyes and nose and possibly the legs.
A parti-colored Goldendoodle has two coat colors that are fifty percent equally distributed.
No two parti-coated pups look exactly alike.
The Tuxedo Goldendoodle has white markings that are ONLY on their chest and legs as if the dog was wearing a tuxedo.
There are two merle patterns for Goldendoodles.
First, the classic merle has some blue or chocolate patchwork (sometimes called “ticking”).
The watercolor merle has some tickings in the coat; it is difficult to discern when they are young as this pattern tends to be more distinct as the dog ages.
A brindle Goldendoodle will have what looks like tiger stripes across their coat.
Why Are Goldendoodles Such Different Colors?
In the last three decades, “designer” dogs have become increasingly popular.
A dog is considered a “designer” when two purebred dogs are paired to bring about a new, “hybrid” breed.
What used to be considered an accident, and often a detriment to the breeder, has actually become a boon to breeders looking to improve upon their current dogs.
Today, breeders who have a certain trait in two established breeds are now pairing their breeding stock in order to achieve the “designer” dog.
The Goldendoodle is one such “designer” breed.
The Goldendoodle is a hybrid breed, with its canine parents being a Golden Retriever and a Poodle.
They are extremely popular designer dogs, and that’s because they offer the best of both popular purebred parents.
Does Color Affect Personality?
Nope!
The Golden Retriever was developed many years ago to work in tandem with a human handler.
The “Retriever” in the breed’s name describes the breed’s job.
The dog typically would stay very close to a human hunting companion, watching their handler for cues to assist in the process of gathering game from a hunt.
As a result, the breed became highly dependent upon interaction with its human.
They are incredibly loyal, and many Golden Retrievers today work as service dogs because they “read” humans so well.
The Poodle is highly intelligent, just as the Golden Retriever.
The Poodle’s original purpose was a retriever, accompanying human companions as they hunted for waterfowl.
The classic haircut of the Poodle came into fashion as the hunter wanted the coat to be short in some places and longer in others (this was to protect the body of the Poodle; the tuft of hair on the top of the Poodle’s head was intended to help hunters be better able to see their canines).
The chief reason that breeders are willing to cross a Poodle with another breed is due to what is perceived as the hypoallergenic nature of the Poodle.
We can say it is perceived because no dog is truly hypoallergenic.
However, the Poodle has hair rather than fur, and, when the dog loses hair, if the dog is properly and timely groomed, there is very little shed hair on clothing, furniture, and in other common places.
So, not only do we humans feel the Poodle doesn’t shed, but the lack of fur in the Poodle’s coat promotes fewer allergic reactions in human pet parents.
So, chiefly, breeders are looking to produce a highly intelligent dog that sheds very little and is a loyal companion. All these characteristics are typically present in the Goldendoodle, and this makes the designer breed very popular.