poodle puppy

Question
Could you please tell me when the eye rims of a poodle puppy should turn black?  I am looking at a 5 week old puppy and the breeder told me the eye rims would be black by 12 weeks.  The nose is black and you can see the pigment in its face but not in eyes yet.  Both parents are champions. Father, black, Mother,white and the puppy is white.  Thanks

Answer
Hello Lynn,
I have to tell you that I have been all over the internet and haven't found anything that says when a dogs nose will turn its true color.  I have had expirence with my own puppies and their noses turned by the time they were 9-10 weeks or so, give or take a few days.  I also have had expirence with other breeders who have expirenced the same thing.  I say give it a few weeks more (you shouldn't be able to pick the puppy up until at least 8 weeks anyway), and see what has happened by then.  If you still don't see any signs of the eye rims turing black, you might want to consider another puppy.  
The chances of your poodle having any other colored nose, eye rims and lips than black is most likely rare, but it will depend on what is in your puppies background.  
Genetics are a tricky thing to follow, but as long as your puppies parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had black eye rims, noses, and lips, your puppy should also have his black points.  Both True White and True Black Poodles (those that are line bred pure color to pure color) are to have black points, and since your puppies parents (and probably grandparents also) are champions, they most likely had the properly colored points; meaning that your puppy will most likely have the proper colored points as well.

I hope this has helped you some.  If you have other questions or comments for me, please feel free to ask me.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim