NO she's not an afghan.... Shes a poodle! Phantom pattern in the standard poodle

Yup- I've been asked all the above and many many more.  I remember when Bella was a youngster and we were at a dog show with the Aussies.  Everytime I pulled her out and had her on the table I'd notice the handlers in the corner sorta pointing staring, and whispering.  Now some people would think this was bad right? Nope at the end of the weekend one finally came up "What IS she?" because you see no one here had SEEN a standard poodle with the phantom coloring.  Bella was the first to my knowledge in this province.  The first. the only.  And actually may still be. Usually the second sentence uttered is "WOW I LOVE IT!"

The phantom coloring is unique.  When I saw it I fell in love with it  It became my dream poodle.  However at the time (2008) there were not many breeders around  And I was not willing to get a dog with out the personality and conformation that would give me a life long friend. I had in fact given up on getting a phantom at the time until I heard through friends of Bella's litter. Here I had friends who let me know it was a breeder I trusted, the dogs had great personalities and it was going to be a Phantom litter.  My dream poodle- not just personality, but color was a possibility!

Phantom is a color pattern. The lighter 'points' is a pattern seen in many many breeds.  When you breed Phantom to Phantom theory is (no genetic test yet for it) that you get 100% phantom babies. However reality is they don't always LOOK the same. Why? Other colors, dilutions and patterns come into play. There is always a 'solid'. These are usually cream.  Knowing genetics and that Phantom is dominant these are actually Cream on Cream phantoms.  You just cant see the pattern.  If bred to another phantom they will produce phantom pups.  If the parti pattern is carried you can get Tri colored pups. That is parti colored puppies (Ie spotted poodles, or pinto colored poodles) with the phantom markings over top.  So they have 3 colors.  If brindle is carried, it can also be expressed.  Dilution genes such as those who create Blue and silver poodles also can be present.
A great site that goes through this is here: http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/

I look forward to seeing what this litter brings us.  And how their colors develop over time. I'm putting here pictures of Bella from birth to current age. One noticeable thing is that her points lighten in color.  This is common for any apricot color in poodles.  Her base color has maintained a solid black.  Phonsey is a blue standard- born black his color has lightened to a steel grey almost black color. This litter should have both blues and black puppies.  We will not be able to tell which will be blue or black as the phantom markings cover up the hints to future color.

Bella- center- just before flying to our house.  Photo courtesy Silken Poodles

Bella 8 weeks. Points still apricot

Bella 4 months. Points now a dark cream

Bella age 2- her points are now a cream

 Color genetics is a topic you can loose yourself in for hours! But learning how it works helps produce puppies more towards the end goal of fabulous quality dogs with this fabulous color pattern.