Blacks when younger have a lush deep black coat. A black puppy should always have black/ very dark pigment from the time of sale through their lives. As this puppy coat dies it tends to turn a grey colour, at this time the adult coat will be coming through as dark as before but a split coat. The longer guard hairs will tend to start to be visible through the puppy coat at around 9 months to 18 months pending the maturity of the puppy in question. An adult coat may have some silver shadings on the tail and the rear of the dog. If a black that is out of a red (parent) is left in the sun for prolonged periods they may start to go a rusty colour which isn’t desirable when exhibiting.