color of standard poodle

Question
I have 2 standard poodles. One( the female is brown with a silver tone to her) she was a reddish brown as a pup and so was her parents. Then I have a male that WAS red but has changed to a LIGHT apricot. ( his parents was red)  anyway I bred them and kept one of their babies.  He is black and it seem to have a little bit of brown I guess you would call it tent in his hair. There is not brown spots just tents..I just had his face and feet shaved  again today. When I went to pick him up his face seem to be a lighter color. The lady told me that it seems he may be a silver or a blue from what she knows. It is not  silver it is just a light color of black. ( maybe blue?)   can you tell me how I can tell if it is going to be a blue or silver? or just a black I can send pics  if that would help.
Thank you so much for your time!!

Answer
Hello Christina,
Sounds to me like this puppy is going to be a light Blue color.  Anytime you have a Black (from birth to about 4-5 months) or a dark Silver (from about 6 months on) colored dog with Brown highlights, you are looking at the good chance of having a Blue Poodle when the dog matures out.  
There is a saying that goes "Brown in the hair, Blue is There." that means that if you have a dog with brown highlights, its probably going to be a Blue.  The highlights tend to go away with the first shaving and don't come back.  

Colors such as White, Silver, Blue, Apricot, Red, Cream and Brown contain a fading gene that causes the colors to gradually fade as the dog ages.  This is why your Red is now an Apricot.  When Apricot is bred with another Apricot, Cream or White, it doubles up on the fading gene, causing the dog to fade more quickly than if they just had one fading gene.  
I also have a Red boy who is 10 yrs old and that just like yours is now a Red/Apricot.  His father was a bright Red dog and his mother was a Cream with Apricot ears.  Even though "Cajun" was dark Red at birth, he has faded because he had 2 genes for fading. (one from the Apricot and oen from the Red).   

I also have a Blue at home (and his Silver father and Silver Brother) that started out as a Smokey Grey color on the front half of him and Brown tint on the back half of him.  He turned into a Blue with Silver ears and legs.  Blue can be any color on a scale from almost Silver to almost Black.  The brown highlights are a giveaway that your dog will be Blue instead of Silver or Black.

Do feel free to send pictures, I would love to see him.  I will also send pictures of my "Riot" (yes and he lives up to his name every day) so you can see his Brown rear end and pictures of my Red boy, Cajun as well.  
You can send it to MsTopkdog@yahoo.com

Thanks for using AllExperts.com and if you have other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim