formerpups

Cockapoo puppies of the past.

Spicy red and deeper red with white
markings.

Sable tuxedo.

Red/Apricot parti

What color is that cockapoo puppy? Confused about color? We have had lots of different colors in our puppies over the years. We try
to use the technical term for color, so we have labeled our pics on this page with the colors of the puppies.
Colors of cockapoos are commonly black or buff, however there are many more interesting colors that a cockapoo can be!     Parti
means that the puppy has a base color of pure white which is broken by spots of a color such as black, chocolate or apricot to name a
few. Some have a third color as in tri colored puppies! There have been studies on temperament that found that black cockers, and
parti colored cockers usually have the best temperament of any other color. One cool thing about a parti color is that they are like snow
flakes, no two are alike! If a puppy only has white on the muzzle, chest and paws we call it tuxedo. Sometimes tuxedo puppies have
one band of white going around the body at the neck, or even on the back.   Even more rarely we have roan puppies that are parti
colored, but the white gradually fills up with a lacy pattern of the color mixed in with the white. This is different from ticking which is
where tiny dots appear like freckles in the white areas of a parti. Merle is a color pattern that is sometimes mislabeled as roan. This is
where the areas of solid color is broken up by a random pattern of varying degrees of diluted pigment. Merles can sometimes also
have blue eyes, or partially blue eyes. Sable and brindle are also rare colors that we sometimes have. The puppies' hair is often black
at birth, but when it grows out, you may see chocolate, red, or tan undercoat. With brindle, the puppy's color is a wild card. It may stay
brindle striped, turn to steel blue, or even a rusty auburn.     Sometimes the true color is not discovered until the puppy is full grown, but
usually can be detected by around 6 wks. or earlier. Some of the more rare colors that are hard to find are generally priced higher, but
color really does not make a huge difference in personality and 'lovability' of the babies! Personality and vitality are most important.
Our second concern is coat quality and structure of the puppy. Then color is considered further down the line.

Brindle tuxedo roan

1 cream, 2 black & 1 apricot and white.

1 apricot sable 1 brindle & 1 black.

1 black parti 1 chocolate, 1black with
white markings & 1 black/tan

1 chocolate/tan w/ white markings 1 chocolate with
white markings & 1 chocolate merle. The merle
puppy would be solid chocolate, or choc/tan with a
white blaze like the other two puppies if it were not
for the merle gene.

Black parti with some ticking. This is
Mayberry as a pup.

Blue Brindle w/ white markings. Almost
a tuxedo. This is Gigi as a pup.

Apricot. This is Hoosier as a pup.

Buff piebald. This is Betsy as a pup.

Black with white markings.

Black tri.

Chocolate tri with ticking. Please note
that ticking is not the same as roaning
like the puppies above. Ticking can
become heavy as the dog ages, but the
dog will not pass on a roan gene (if it is
bred) like a roan will. A roan will
produce about half of the litter with roan
and half without. If there is a solid puppy
in the litter it can be very hard to know if
that puppy would have been roan if it
had some white areas. (Merle and roan
are many times misslabled. A good
breeder should learn the facts!)

Black roan puppy at 1 wk. and again at 8 wks. Notice the white area is now
roaned. (A roan will be speckled on all white areas by the time they are 8 wks. If
not, then they are not a roan!. There is a lot of missinformation on this rare color.)