I have a Standard Poodle that was registered as a Chocolate, at 18 months he started getting A LOT of grey coming through his coat, he is a very dark chocolate and the silver just keeps coming through, it is really silver on his back end, it looks like he is wearing mens briefs. What color should he be classified as? If you have an answer please e-mail me at  mikconwaycrrs@valleytel.net

Hi Guest, I have seen this in other breeds. It sounds to me that your dog is Chocolate(as you put it) it is just plain Brown in the UK. Your spelling of the word color, leads me to believe you are in the US.The silver or white hair is probably a genetic fluke, thrown by an ancestor. If used at stud he could perpetuate this problem. It is not something you should want to encourage.
Dawn R.

I thought brown poodles were known as chocolate in the UK ?  or maybe thats cos a girl I often used to show alongside in junior handling had a brown poodle called chocolate

I'm not in Poodles so I checked the breed standard before I jumped in, although I did think I knew it was brown, but I checked to be sure.
Dawn R.

Wheres Jesse...I have heard of Cafe Au Lait
Debbie

I must admit I always thought that they called it chocolate in the UK.  I have Spanish Water Dogs which are related to the Poodle and a lot of the browns (as we're not posh and only call them brown!!) get quite a lot of grey hair and from an early age too.  They also seem to go a lot lighter as they get older.

In the UK they are called Brown. However, it could be you have a Silver Beige which is basically a brown silver! These clear just like the silvers do although as the clearing started so late then it may not. Check your dogs pedigree to see if there is silver inthe background. Browns are notorious for fading and it is the objective of the breeders to produce browns that retain their colour right up to old age. Browns that fade usually do end up being called Cafe au Lait but all the breed standard requires is that the colour is clear so if your poodle retains the same colour throughout once the fading is complete it can still be shown!

Jesse