Need Poodle Info

[parrothead365]

My DW has found a toy Poodle(female) she is very interested in. I have very limited knowledge about the breed. We have three other dogs, a GSD(male), a Lab(female), and an Austrailian cattle dog(female) all have been spayed/nuetured. These three get along fine and are inside /outside type dogs. This poodle would spend a majority of the time inside with a cat for company. The dog comes from a local breeder and the parents are on site for inspection and appear to be in good heath per DW. Do y'all think the poodle will fit in okay? What are the ups/downs of this breed in the toy size. I will go look at her tomorrow afternoon so I need answers fast. Thanks

 

[Cindy B]

I don't have a toy poodle, but a minituare poodle. My poodle is a male, and she lives with a senior Female Lab. The Lab was at the previous owners first pet, and my poodle came into the environment as a puppy.

That being said, my poodle really wants to be the alpha dog in the pack. The lab towers over him in size and she was around first. Occasionally the poodle will take the Lab's food, or bit her legs and such to start some territorial things.

They've only growled at each other once or twice in the three years I have had them. Just two days ago the poodle growled at the Lab over some noodles. The Lab is aging (she's 15), so she just stated "heck with it " with her body posture and walked away.

Be prepared for grooming cost. My poodles haircuts cost more than my own. However, I do a short cut about 3x-4x a year, and it takes him a few months to grow it again. My poodle barks at anything-- a falling leaf, a person walking by, I swear he barks at air! The poodle is very protective of the house and his territory.

He is very very smart. He understood walk and ride at a very young age. We started spelling it and he figured it out. The poodle also uses the Lab to his advantage. I've seen the poodle sort of conferring with the Lab, and together the two of them get into the trash, or looking out the front door. For example, the two will confer so to speak, and the lab will stand by the trash can, and the poodle will sort of use the Lab as a stepstool so he can get into the trash.

My poodle also doesn't really like other dogs besides his Lab sister. He used to work himself up into a sort of asthma attack type thing and freak out with other dogs. Now, he will just bark loudly. He's really improved in this in the almost three years we have had him.

The poodle is extremely loyal to my son. He adores my son. The poodle doesn't really like my daughter too much, he sort of tolerates her.

 

[parrothead365]

Thanks Cindy B good info.

 

[2Poodles]

I have two black Standard Poodles so I can't help you on the Toy Poodle.
I know there is someone on the Dis who has either five Miniature Poodles or five Toy Poodles. She posts alot. I forgot her name.

My two Standard Poodles are males. The youngest one respects the older alpha. Grooming costs alot for a Standard Poodle (the larger the dog the more the grooming costs). Poodles are extremely smart and willing to learn.
You can teach them very easily. They were very easy to house break. My boys are barkers too. They are very protective of their house and property.

Good luck.


Mary & the 2Poodles
(Sebastian & Winslow)

 

[Shugardrawers]

Petey is a toy poodle. I wouldn't trade him for any other dog in the world. Here's my list of pros and cons:

Pro:
Great little watchdogs
Extremely intelligent
Fast learner
fabulous companion
needs just moderate exercise

Con:
Requires quite a bit of grooming
Nervous around strangers
Doesn't play well with other animals until they are well aquainted
very territorial

Poodles tend to bond to one person very closely and will protect them at all costs. If you train the puppy right from the beginning they will recognize you as the alpha but will try to establish a sort of Beta position for themselves. They are not followers, they are leaders and guardians. My personal opinion is that they are better suited for households without children and with just one or two other small animals. That doesn't mean your poodle won't adapt if he has a more docile personality. Petey is a little Hitler lol. Meanlaurene would be a good source to give you info. I believe she has 3 toys. Anyway, I say aw: aw: aw: aw: paws up out of a possible 5.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

2Poodles may be talking about me and DW MeanLaureen. We have 4 dogs, three of them are miniature poodles. Here's Lauri's signature clipart with pictures of our little furballs --

Wonderful dogs, very intelligent and loyal, energetic and lots of personality. Reilly, the smallest of them, is the alpha dog, the apricot one in the picture. He has no fear of big dogs. When we got him as a puppy, we also had a 95 lb Irish Wolfhound. Reilly, 3-4 lbs at the time, was about the same color as Murphy, the wolfhound, and I called them Dr Evil and Mini-Me. After tugging on Murphy's tail and, um, trying to get romantic with her, I should say (now THAT was a sight!!!), big dogs don't bother him.

Grooming has already been mentioned. When still a puppy, I would recommend getting a collar with a bell so you'll know when she's underfoot.

Lauri's already gone to bed, but I'm sure she'll post something in the AM.

If you get her, be sure to post a picture.

 

[parrothead365]

Thanks to all for the good info! Please keep it coming... I've got about 15 more hours until I'm confronted with the furry li'l beasts..

One more question...since this poodle will be coming into the house as a baby...just 8 wks old...and will grow up with the big dogs having already established the pecking order, do you think that she'll be more accepting of the other dogs, since she is coming in so young?

DW wants a puppy, but she could probably be swayed into a male vice female if it would be a better fit for our herd. Opinions?

 

[Shugardrawers]

Thanks to all for the good info! Please keep it coming... I've got about 15 more hours until I'm confronted with the furry li'l beasts..

One more question...since this poodle will be coming into the house as a baby...just 8 wks old...and will grow up with the big dogs having already established the pecking order, do you think that she'll be more accepting of the other dogs, since she is coming in so young?

DW wants a puppy, but she could probably be swayed into a male vice female if it would be a better fit for our herd. Opinions?

Being raised as a puppy with the other dogs will help a great deal. Suprisingly, females tend to be more dominant than males in many breeds, including poodles. Try to let the puppy choose you and follow your heart as to which puppy is best for you.
ETA: I see you already have 2 females. I'd really consider getting a male if you are concerned about domination issues.

 

[parrothead365]

bump

 

[parrothead365]

This is Parrothead724...(sorry DH, it's early and I can't remember my Disboard pwd!!) Hoping for more poodle info! Thanks everybody!

 

[parrothead724]

Hiya, honey! After a delicious breakfast of pecan waffles and eggs over easy, and leisurly time spent with the morning paper (pet section, of course...)...I did, in fact, remember my disboard password! Oh, sorry... you're at work, aren't you?? XOXOX

6 hours until poodle pups! Help us out, folks!!!!

 

[MeanLaureen]

Poodle puppy?? I want to see!!!!!!

I've had Poodles all my life, from Teacups to Minatures and hopefully someday a standard.

I wouldn't trade them for anything. I have also had a Samoyed, an Irish Wolfhound and a Tibetan Spaniel and it's amazing how different a Poodle actually is. Don't get me wrong, I love all dogs, but there is just something about a Poodle. I think it's the high intelligence and the fact that they don't have the typical doggie downsides like shedding and that doggie smell.

I know some people here have said that Poodles can be "alpha" type dogs, and that is true. They are not the wimpy circus dogs that the media has made them out to be. They are very athletic dogs. In fact (time for your fact of the day ) Poodles are actually not French dogs, they were made popular by the French. They are actually German dogs. The name Poodle comes from the German word pudel - meaning "to splash in water. They were very popular hunting dogs - water retrievers just like Labs. You'll notice that Poodles have webbed feet and most of them love the chance to go swimming. The show coat that most people think is a prissy circus "do" is actually part of their hunting background. They would retrieve in icy cold water. The hunters would shave as much of the fur off as possible but leave pompoms of fur around the joints to protect them in the icy waters. The hair on the top of the dogs head would be tied with a colored ribbon to signify who's dog it was. So Poodles have a background that most people are unaware of. They just think of the tiny toy's that they see doing tricks in circuses and never realize that under all that fur is the heart of an athlete and hunter

Anyway.. back to the subject. In my experience, Poodles that are initially raised as the "only dog" to have another dog brought in tend to have difficulty adapting. Poodles that are brought in as a puppy into a house that already has adult dogs do just fine.

Be warned that I have yet to see a Minature or Toy Poodle that had any clue to their size and jump right in there to wrestle with big dogs. (like my husband mentioned earlier with Reilly as a 3 pound pup with Murphy, my Irish Wolfhound) Most big dogs are very gentle with small dogs and very patient, but just be sure that your dogs are that way before you leave the puppy unsupervised with them since she will be teeny tiny!

 

[MeanLaureen]

Oh, and some people have mentioned the cost of the grooming as a downside. Look at it this way, you pay $40 every 3-4 months to get a hair cut (or 6 if you like them long haired like I do.. ) and in return, you have at least one dog not adding to the doghair tumbleweeds. And after having a Sammy, I learned that was a definate plus!

Or if you don't want to go for the grooming there is always the corded style of poodle "do" - an accepted hair style though not very popular (And I think you can see why!) I call that "do" Rasta Poodles

 

[Julia Roberts]

I don't know much about dogs, but take a look at my sig and DON'T do that to him!

 

[MeanLaureen]

I don't know much about dogs, but take a look at my sig and DON'T do that to him!

Oh yeah.. that's just all shades of wrong! LOL

 

[parrothead365]

Thanks for the info folks. I have read that they bark alot. I have also read that you can train them not to. Anybody ever heard of this? And how you would go about it? Thanks again for all the help. Keep it coming.

 

[parrothead365]

bumping

 

[laurie31]

Another poodle person here

I've had a poodle since I was 7. When I was a child, my poodle did fine with me, but hated my friends. She didn't tolerate my friends until they got in college. Then they were suddenly acceptable

Our poodle now is a toy. He does fine with our kids and also our other dogs and cats. We have a German Shephed mix, a St. Bernard mix, 2 beagles, and just last week we aquired a pit bull mix (that I SWORE we were not going to keep) that someone dumped in our neighborhood, and it took up with our dogs. Not to go off on a tangent, but the new pit bull is just a puppy and it's so sweet. We think the people dumped it because it wasn't mean We found a metal collar with spikes on it thrown in our trash Anyway the poodle is dominant over ALL of these much bigger dogs.

He is my 4th poodle, and none of them have been "yippie" overly barking dogs. They do bark profusely when something alarms them, though, which I consider a good thing. I have read that a small barking dog who will wake the family is a better guard than the typical large dog people think of as "guard dogs." Our Shepherd is so sweet, she just walks up to anyone wagging her tail. Paulie Poodle barks his brains out if someone walks past our house. We live in a nice neighborhood, but it's still nice to have our litlte "distant early warning system" Paulie is also very protective of the girls, more so than any of our other dogs. Possibly because he considers them part of his "pack" and he sess himself as alpha.

Poodles are very intelligent dogs and are wonderful to share your life with. You will enjoy adding a poodle to your household

Laurie

PS - I'm dying to put a pic of Paulie here, but the DIS gallery is down, so I can't upload it I'll try again later.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I can't help you with mini poodles as a breed other than to say I've known some nice ones. When you look at dog intelligence standard poodles are often listed as among the smartest. At any rate, just wanted to say good luck and hope you find one that will work out for your family. aw:

Ranks 1 to 10
Brightest Dogs


Understanding of New Commands: Less than 5 repetitions.

Obey First Command: 95% of the time or better.

Rank Breed
1 Border Collie
2 Poodle
3 German Shepherd
4 Golden Retriever
5 Doberman Pinscher
6 Shetland Sheepdog
7 Labrador Retriever
8 Papillon
9 Rottweiler
10 Australian Cattle Dog

 

[MeanLaureen]

I don't think that my poodles bark any more than any of the other breeds of dogs I have had. My Tibbie barks just as much..lol And like a machine gun! I'm sure you can train the dog to stop barking on command but you would never want to go to the extreme that you would want it not to bark at all. That is you best line of defense for home security. It's not the size of the dog making the bark - it's the fact that there is barking to begin with alerting the homeowners that someone is breaking in.