Hi, I find colour genetics both fascinating and exciting! (you don't need to tell me I've been told before :) Anyhow these are my findings so far and what I believe at this point in my research. Also attached are many links below to the experts pages, if you too get dragged in and need to know more. I believe that I have got the basics right, after so many questions from other new breeders felt maybe I could find somewhere between the "Bbee's" and "Vv's" and our English language! So here goes colour genetics lesson for the beginner !
Web Links visit Vet Gen once you have a "????" for your dogs and see what puppies you will expect in your next litter/s. Other Web info Sites! Site One, Site Two, Site Three,

Basic Solid Colour & Working it our for Yourself :)
There are 4 Main Solid Colours in the Australian Labradoodle BLACK, CHOCOLATE, CARAMEL & GOLD These are the only Solid colours! All the other colours are made possible with two other Genes "V" which lightens and "R" which Darkens :)

Important info! Every dog has 4 colour Places/Units in total.  Half given to them from Mum and Half from Dad. So 2 units from each "?? ??"  (Not always in that order).

That   Black in the info below = Black, Blue & Silver.    Brown = Chocolate, Cafe, Lavender & Parchment and Yellow = Red, Gold, Cream & Chalk, & Caramel = Red to Chalk with a rose nose.
There are only 4 combinations possible for Black Dogs, 2 combinations for Brown & Yellow dogs and one for our Caramel the rose nosed Yellow  "bbee"  If you have one you now know its colour makeup :) Each Colour has one letter to make life easier writing things down!   as such "B b e e"  Four letters = four units. Capitals are written before little letters.

"B" Capital B stands for all shades of Black

"b" Baby b stands for all shades of brown

"E"  this one is No Yellow ! Masking Yellow, A Blank  (It went Fishing :)

"e " Stands for all shades of Yellow 
Most of the colour units are hidden from view (don't ask me where :) for puppies to access when they are choosing their colours! This is why pups aren't always the same as each other or mum/dad they would of chosen from the hidden/carried colours.  Easy!

Tricks of the Trade & What Units does My dog have?
Working out some or all of the letters by yourself, REMEMBER "Pups choosing their colours is like flipping a coin, you have a 50/50 chance of getting heads/tails Tails might come up 2-99 times before heads does :) so if their is a 50/50% chance of Black or Yellow you might only get 4 pups in the same colour!"

So Your pup has one from the Bb's group and one from the Ee's Group from each parent.  If the parent has two the same i.e. "bb" you know every pup from that parent will get a "b" from them no chance of "B" as it is just not possible. If they have mixed letters ie "Bb" Puppy/Litter will have a choice so a few different combinations will be possible.
Example 1: A Brown Bitch carrying a No yellow "bbEE" and a Caramel Stud "bbee" would have a litter with pups all the same as there is no other choice for them "b" from Mum a "b" from dad as well as a "E" from mum and a "e" from Dad making the whole litter "bbEe"  Which would be Brown carrying Yellow !
Example 2: A Brown Bitch carrying yellow "bbEe" and a Black stud carrying brown and yellow "BbEe" could have any of the following combinations "BbEE" "BbEe" Bbee" "bbEe" "bbee" "bbEE". (see Vet-Gen chart link above for more combinations)

What is your Dogs Colour?

Filling in the Blanks!
This is all we can do with out help from Mum & Dad! Go find out what colours they were :)

Yellow!  We have "B?ee" Now what ! There are 2 possibilities left for Black nose yellows! "BBee" no brown carried only another black  "or Bbee" brown carried ? The Question is!  Is one of the dogs parents Brown or Caramel ? If yes the parent has to be "bb"(only a "b" to choose from) so "Bbee" is your Code! A yellow dog carrying black and brown! If you said No I'm sorry this is as far as you can go without testing or if the dog has had/or having puppies there is still a way read on below "Finding colour with puppies!"

Brown! We have "bbE?" Now what ! There are 2 possibilities! "bbEE" no yellow carried "or bbEe" yellow carried?  The Question is!  IS one of the dogs parents yellow or caramel?  If yes the parent has to be "ee" only a "e" to choose, so "bbEe" is your Code! A Brown dog carrying yellow!   If you answered No I am sorry this is as far as you can go without testing or if the dog has had/or having  puppies there is still a way read on below "Finding colour with puppies!".

Black!  We have "B?E?" Now what ! There are 4 possibilities! "BBEE" no brown or yellow carried only Black! or "BbEE" only brown carried. or "BBEe" only yellow carried. or "BbEe" brown & yellow carried. The Question is!  IS one of the dogs parents yellow or caramel?  If yes the parent has to be "ee" only a "e" for them to choose, so "B?Ee". Question 2!  IS one of the dogs parents brown or caramel?  if yes the parent has to be "bb" only a "b" for them to choose, so "BbE?. Some of you will of filled in some blanks and some will still be missing!    This is as far as we can go with help from Mum & Dad :)

Finding Colour With Puppies!
If you have had puppies from your dog that still has ? in its code you could find the answer yet!

The Question is! has your dog had Brown or Yellow Puppies! 
If so one of the two units needed for those colours to show HAD to be given to them by your dog :) Meaning your dog MUST carry the colour produced! (Black only needs one unit to show!) Same applies for all the missing ?'s  If the colour did not show you can't confidently say they don't carry it :( as pups choosing their colours is like flipping a coin although you have a 50/50 chance of getting heads/tails  Tails might come up 2-99 times before heads does :) So now you have it Or Most of it!  If you want to know more and can't wait for a puppy to show up with the answer :) you can part with some $ and contact one of the colour testing groups like Vet-Gen.      If you get stuck on any thing above you are more than welcome to email me and I will try and help : )

The Lightening Factor "Silvering" "V"
Why Do Yellow, Black, Brown & Caramel come in different Shades?

I feel it is caused by the Silvering Factor which comes from the Poodles in our lines, Link to Info on Silvering. (As I write this in Dec 2005 their is No DNA test but they are working on it :) Dogs that have other NON Silvering Breed lines close up like Labrador (Link to Variations in the Yellow Lab's one reason our Gold can vary in early lines also) Irish Water Spaniel and so on might not behave as per the info below & Warning! A Cream looking dog to your eye may be a pale gold genetically therefore gold as per the chart! Please try to decide with the help of parents/past puppies Colours. You will be more accurate when deciding what will happen in future litters. Cream, Blue and Cafe has the largest range in dark/lightless in coat colour as they are literally half and half.

Shades Chart

So what does the Chart mean ? 
Well once you know what V's your dog has! You can them to work out which Shades you will likely get in your litters! Every dog has two units one from each parent. Remember the B's and E's of the Solid colours will be the base colour then work out the Shades. (Photo Right is of Mickey VV & Minka vv they have Cafe Parents both Vv. They also have some Cafe siblings)

Different Shades Breeding Chart

Some example of many different combinations! A Black dog "BBEE" ("VV") to a Silver "BBEE" ("vv") dog will have Blue Puppies "BBEE" ("Vv") Example 2: A Bitch "bbEe"  ("Vv")  Cafe Carrying Yellow (Cream) To a "BbEe" ("VV") A Black Dog Carrying Yellow (Gold) will have "vv" Black, Chocolate & Gold  with some pups "Vv" Being Cafe, Blue & Cream! and so on..........

Photo examples of the Chart Above

Black	Blue	Silver
Chocolate	Cafe/Lavender	Parchment
Gold (apricot)	Cream	Chalk
Caramel	Creme Caramel (rose nose)

The Darkening Factor    "Rufus" "R"
I am still researching "Rufus" and its effects. There is not much written on "R", but will put down what I believe so far and update it as time goes by Please email me if you have any interesting "R" info :)

Genetically a Red Dog is actually a Gold Dog! with a added darkening gene referred to here as "R" ("R" can also stand for roan so some people use "f" to symbolise it) The beautiful Red dogs (right) "Maestro" & "Cheri" are from Springville Labradoodles in the USA (Thanks Dixie :)
Two Dark Gold dogs will not have Red pups only dark gold you must have a "R" present for it to show,  It seems that only one parent needs the "R" for Red to show.
Red pups are born very dark a real Brickie/Earthy Red.  "R" can also attach to the other 3 main solid colours Chocolate, Black & Caramel. "R" on Chocolate can Darken it to a Richer colour "R" on Black does Not Show any difference but Black can carry "R" and pass it on.
What is very interesting is it seems it will also attach to half Silvered Colours as in Cream see below :) so one would assume "R" could attach to Creme Caramel's Vv, Blue and Cafe as well ?
If anyone has an example of "R"  Through/With Black, Chocolate Or the Half Silver Cafe, Blue or Cream, I would love to know/see the results  :)

"R" Can influence other Colours too!
These Beautiful pups from Cloudcatcher are very very interesting (I have seen this happen three time now with different Red/Chalk litters :) They Prove that "R" Can attach to the Cream colour as well as Gold!  Genetically (RED) Daddy is Gold carrying the "R" gene and Mum Chalk "vv". This litter would be "Vv" normal Cream without the "R" influence. Because Dad has "R" they all carry it somehow.  Making a darker richer cream! But not a true Brick Red (one could easily confuse these for dark Gold pups which is why you must always look at parents colours and not just decide with your eyes!!!) (I wonder if Chalk can carry "R" as well or if it has only attached the the Capital "V" in them ?) So the Question here is how did it work.......  What do you think?

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