Orange
Many Pom lovers are surprised to learn there is great variety even just among oranges! They vary in shade from very pale orange, to burnt umber. Orange Poms must have black points (eye rims, nose, lips, and pads).
An orange colored coat varies from a light orange to a deep rich orange and can look almost reddish. Newborn puppy appearance will reflect this genetic difference. They are often born looking “brown” and duskier in color than they are as adults. As a result some people mistakenly think their orange puppies are sable, but the coat will become progressively more orange as the dog matures. They will typically retain some black hairs on their tail tips and have black whiskers.
Clear orange poms have the E (extension) Locus. The recessive e gene is responsible. This gene extends the amount of yellow pigment in each hair to the point that NO black pigment can be created in the hair at all. As a result these puppies will be clear orange or cream at birth, with no black/grey hair, and they will have clear/straw colored whiskers (NOT black), unlike the Agouti type orange. Pom breeders are usually startled by the birth of a “cream” puppy in a litter of typical oranges. They stand out. They can almost look like the color of butterscotch which can remain through adult although the color darkens.
As adults they can vary in shade from almost cream (in fact many creams are probably ee) to a brighter deeper orange. As adults many clear oranges are almost indistinguishable from their agouti (orange) counterparts, with the whiskers and a total lack of stray black hairs being the only “tell”. Some do remain paler and sometimes the pigment on their noses fades with age more so than the agouti type oranges.
Eye rims, nose, lips and pads must be black.
