Sable from puppy to adult

Sable is a pattern which can give anything from a dog that looks solid red to one that is heavily shaded. A sable puppy is born darker than it will be as an adult. They can be surprisingly dark in colour, often a dull grey-brown almost all over, with some darker shading. As they grow older, the coat with clear. In the adult, it can turn out to be a clear red with no trace of shading. This page will show a sable poodle, from puppy to adult, illustrating how the coat can change gradually.
All photos on this page belong to Silver Wind II.

This is Rhiannon. In this photo (taken in February 08) she was 8 weeks old. Sabling is visible over most of her body, though she has already begun to lighten a bit around her face.

By march 08 and about 3 months old, Rhiannon's coat had already begun to lighten visible, though some tipping still remained

May 2008 - While the tipping on the ears and to a lesser extent the tailtip remains, most of the shading of the body is gone.

All grown up - by october 08, all the sabling on the body has gone away. The only dark colour that remains is on the ears and tailtip. Compare with the first photo, and you'll see the difference!