Black is the basic, dominant color in Poodles. When a dominant black is mated with any of the other colors, all the puppies will be black. And as a rule this pure dominant also carries the greatest perfection of type.

A black Poodle's coat should be absolutely dense and inky jet black. The skin should have a distinct bluish cast. To keep it this way, or to clear it if it is shaded, is relatively simple. The magic formula is simply to breed jet blacks to jet blacks and never allow the admixture of any other color. But outside of European countries, where it is obligatory, this is very seldom done consistently. Yet, without question it is the only way to get and keep inky black, practically unfading coats. A true black has no graying ( or dilution) factor which causes the black to fade with age.

Only one cross is safe-that of black's own dilution, brown-which, if sparingly used, will not affect the purity of color. But, of course, such brown crosses must be used very sparingly and not too close together. Some breeders believe that although this cross does not affect the coat color, it may lighten the color of the eyes. The fact that brown does not affect the purity of black coats is a recognized fact, and even in countries where the mixing of colors is banned, such a mixture is permitted.

Many black strains, black-bred for many generations, carry a brown gene which causes browns to appear every now and then in an otherwise black litter . Such browns usually carry very dark eyes and pigmentation.

Blue, gray and silver crosses in a black strain are fatal for soundness of color and most difficult to breed out. They leave a most unpleasant grayish shading in the coat and are crosses that never should be used.

It is not definitely known whether eye color is part of the same gene for color, or whether it follows a pattern of its own. In countries where black must be bred only to black, the eyes are very dark, almost black. But nothing has been proven scientifically. Be that as it may, eye color, like any other point, can be fixed by selection. There is no doubt that light eyes have need of correction in many of our American blacks as well as in many English imports. A dark, velvety, oval eye plays an important part in the beautiful Poodle expression we all desire in our dogs. It is too valuable an asset to overlook or to lose carelessly. And in no other color does a light eye stand out as unpleasantly as in a black Poodle.

Standard and Miniature breeders are still finding it difficult to create pure non-fading jet black lines, due to the fading factor which appears in almost all American bred lines. The gray import Ch. Griseley Labory of Piperscroft was a major culprit in Standards as was the gray Ch. Misty Isles Algie of Piperscroft in Miniature lines. Since the graying gene is a recessive, it is particularly difficult to cope with in breeding. Two apparently good blacks may harbor the graying gene and when bred together will produce a proportion of blacks who will gray as they age.

Breeders have a better chance of stabilizing and enhancing a good black by using an older male who has held his color until nine or ten years of age. Breeding to an excellent colored young dog who grays in later years is another problem. Even worse is discovering you have used a beautiful colored jet black who has been dyed!

A male's true color may best be observed at home in his later years rather than in his glamorous show ring days. Unfortunately, almost all blacks fade to some degree and a true jet black at ten years is still a rarity. It has been observed that some of the best lasting blacks only gray around the muzzle rather than a gradual and steady all over graying with age.

BLACK By Mackey J. Irick Jr “The New Poodle”

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BLACK    By Mrs Hoyt - The Book of the Poodle 1982

A deep intense glowing black that in the sun gives off an almost metallic blue-black tone. Eyes very dark, not necessarily as black as those of a white, but so dark as to be described as a "black brown," not just brown. Eyerims, lips, nose, and toenails black.

Common Faults: Such dogs may have a few silvery or white hairs throughout the coat. Pro- vided that they are not so numerous as to cause streaks or spots this is no fault.

Such dogs may have a white spot on the chest. This is a show fault, provided it is noticeable, but no breeding fault.

Such dogs may have a brownish or rusty tinge on the top of the coat. This is a show fault, and the breeder must look into the animal's background. Is this tinge caused by weather, or an unhealthy coat, or is the color always like this? In other words, a poor black? This fault can be eliminated in the offspring by proper breeding.

Such dogs may have a grayish tinge about the muzzle or ears. This can be old age. It is a show fault but need not worry the breeder. If the dog has gray blotches or the coat is rust-colored down to the skin, it is a bad black and should not be used.

Such dogs may have a truly brown eye rather than the very dark brown. This is a minor fault, not much penalized in the ring, but the breeder may wonder how much mixed color is behind such a dog.

Question: Will breeding blacks to browns hurt the black?

Answer: The black will not be hurt if only one brown cross is made. If, however, a second brown cross is made into the black line, light eyes may be the result.

Question: Will breeding black to white im- prove the black coat?

Answer: It may, but why not breed to a good- coated black from a line of good-coated blacks? Most blacks are more refined in type than the whites. Why risk hurting your type when there ARE good-coated blacks, not to mention mixing up the color heritage.

Question: Will breeding to a gray improve an open black coat?

Answer: It may. It is better breeding than to a white or a brown. It would be best to select a gray related to your bitch on the gray's black side. Here is an example: Champion Blakeen Roulette of Misty Isles was a black Standard female with excellent type, good temperament, good quality coat, but a decided tinge of brown. Roulette's sire, Nymphaea Pice, was a black of only fair type with a large white splash on his chest. He could not be shown. Pice came from a mixed heritage of brown, black, and white. His dam, Ranee, was a brown of better type than Pice, but had a very poor temperament, timid, high-strung, etc. Roulette's dam, Anita v Lut- terspring, was a black of excellent type and temperament, German bred. Roulette bred to Champion Harpendale Monty, an English black of fair type, and produced an all-black litter, no brown tinge, fair type, and excellent tempera- ment. Monty had a most aggressive tempera- ment, which was inherited. Roulette bred to Eric Labory, who went back to German breeding as did Anita and was a black of excellent type and coat but had a very poor, timid temperament, produced all-black puppies with excellent coat and type. Two became champions. They were not as timid as Eric, but not perfect in tempera- ment. Roulette bred to Champion Griseley Labory of Piperscroft of Blakeen, C.D., (an im- ported Swiss gray nephew of Eric on his sire's side) produced coal-black puppies. These pup- pies were even blacker than the Eric puppies and had excellent coats and perfect temperaments. The one I kept (I did not keep any from her other litters) became a well-known winner and stud, champion Blakeen Mirandello. He won Best Brace in Show with his kennel mate Cham- pion Blakeen Michael Mont at Westminster one year. He never sired a brown or a gray, and his black offspring were very black.

This last had been the right mating for Roulette. If Griseley had been a black, it might have been even better. When Roulette was bred to brown she produced some browns. Bred to Duc (white Tri-International Champion Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace of Blakeen) she produced an excellent brown bitch with a white chest. This bitch bred to blacks produced blacks and often one or two browns.

Question: Is black a popular color in the show ring and with the public?

Answer: In the show ring, next to white, it is the most popular. It is difficult, however, for a good black to defeat an equally good white, as good whites are very appealing and glamorous. With the public it is the most popular color of all. Black puppies are the easiest to sell. Black is therefore the easiest color to breed successfully as to money as well as type. A clue to black breeding: remember the most glamorous thing about a black, besides good type and tempera- ment, is blackness.

BLACK      By Mrs Hoyt - The Book of the Poodle 1982

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