Puppy buyers need to be educated

I was just glancing at a local newspaper and in the classified section there was an ad for AKC Toy Poodle pups. The ad started off real nice mentioning they had their shots and worming then added something interesting. The colors they had were black and black & tan. Since I have never heard of a black & tan Poodle before I thought I would check and see what the American Kennel Club had to say on their website for the breed standard. Here is what it says about color for the Poodle breed:

“Color
The coat is an even and solid color at the skin. In blues, grays, silvers, browns, cafe-au-laits, apricots and creams the coat may show varying shades of the same color. This is frequently present in the somewhat darker feathering of the ears and in the tipping of the ruff. While clear colors are definitely preferred, such natural variation in the shading of the coat is not to be considered a fault. Brown and cafe-au-lait Poodles have liver-colored noses, eye-rims and lips, dark toenails and dark amber eyes. Black, blue, gray, silver, cream and white Poodles have black noses, eye-rims and lips, black or self colored toenails and very dark eyes. In the apricots while the foregoing coloring is preferred, liver-colored noses, eye-rims and lips, and amber eyes are permitted but are not desirable. Major fault: color of nose, lips and eye-rims incomplete, or of wrong color for color of dog.

Parti-colored dogs shall be disqualified. The coat of a parti-colored dog is not an even solid color at the skin but is of two or more colors.”

That last part about the parti-colored dog seems to apply to the ad for the puppies. Here is a word of warning to those that are puppy shopping, know the breed standards of the dogs you are looking at if they claim to be registered. The ad for the Poodle puppies might be a mixed breed with forged registry papers.