Silver/grey color info
Color in the breeding standard
Europe and many other countrys (not USA, Canada and GB) are following the rules made by FCI, Federal Cynologic Internationale.
FCI says that France is the orgin country for poodles so the Frenche Poodleclub is doing the Poodles Breeding Standard and other poodleclubs are just allowed to translate that standard.
The translation for the poodlestandard is, since 2008, that silver in not the name of the color any more, the color is namned grey.
The translation on the color is “ Grey: must be uniform, deep, neither blackish nor whiteish.
So, in my opinion all the shades in grey are allowed and that include the “dark silvers” that we often call “blue”.
Also, I did read that the human eye can see 16 kind of grey nuances and then I do wonder how that affect they way to judge the color of the coat, both personal opinion and when the dog is being judgeing.
The silver/grey colors development on standardspoodles
Silvers are always born black. They do have a deluted gene that makes the pup lighter and lighter and that works from all the “ends” to the middle/over the shoulders.The black hair is always black, the silvercolor is growing from the bottom. The hair grows approx 1 cm every month so its do take some time before the dog is silver on the whole body. The color on a silver standardpoodle is ready when the dog is something between 2 and 4 years old, of course also depending on how long coat the dog have.
The neck and shoulders are the last place that grow the silver hair and its silver in the bottom when the dog is approx one year old. If the dog have a showcoat the coat is rather black over the neck/shoulders a long time, approx to the dog is 3-4 years. If you imagen that the coat is starting to be silver in the bottom at one year of age and the coat is 20-30 cm long in the neck, and the coat grow approx one cm a month, you can easy make the conclusion why the dog have the dark coat over the shoulder when its in showcoat.