It this fur thing normal?

Question
Hi Kim,
I'm a native Texas living in China...I'm new to the poodle world and new to the dog world too...Last week, we got an 11-wk. old. mini poodle from a reputable pet store in our city.  I think that Kobe would be considered somewhere between apricot and cafe au lait colored, though of course (in Chinese) they didn't specify his color.  His isn't AKC registered, of course...he's just really cute and will be a companion pet.  

However, this morning I was looking closely at his fur after I bathed him, and at the base of his fur, the roots are almost white (about 1/8in - 1/4in. of very pale color fur)...and his skin is very light.  Also around his muzzle and eyes is lighter colored fur.  I know this is dumb, but could my puppy have been DYED brown?!! Could I have duped and bought a white dog dyed brown?  I think this would be near impossible to do, and to do well and not have it look fake...but this is China...and they can fake things pretty well.  

Or is this very normal to have lighter roots?  It is such a marked difference in the fur that there is a definite line between the brown and the light (almost white) color--like when a woman's roots are growing out and you see the definite dye line.  I was so happy to have gotten a brown pup...could he change white on me?  Please tell me he not painted! : ) Thanks for your help!

Answer
Hello Hillary,
First off, Welcome to the Wide World of Poodles, and congradulations on Kobe.  
I can tell you for almost certain that your dog wasn't dyed, but that this is his natural color.  Poodles can start out one color and end up a totally different color due to the fading gene that is present in some colors.  Silver, Apricot, Cafe Au Lait (a light brown color), Champagne, and Blue are a few of the colors that have the fading gene.  These colored dogs tend to be a dark solid color at birth, then gradually fade as they age.   

Kobe sounds to me like a Champagne (which is a fading color of Apricot) or Cafe Au Lait (the fading color of Brown).  Here is a site that goes over descriptions of each color and shows pictures.  http://www.le-poodles-guide.com/poodle-colors.html

You can also e-mail a picture of your puppy to me at MsTopkdog@yahoo.com  I will have a better idea of what color your puppy will turn out to be.

I hope this helps you some.  If you have any other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim