The children were nestled all snug in their beds.... .....  All our good wishes for a Merry Christmas  & a Happy, HEALTHY New Year!!! These wishes are brought to you from my friend Jeanne Haight, her Poodles Katie and Morgen and... Himself!!  Himself is the Santa behind the scene who supports all these lovely girls. Thanks Jeanne, for best wishes to all readers of the Poodle Blog! ps to Himself....these girls are expecting a BIG bag of toys this year!

Doesn't my friend's dog Morgen have an elegant, almost regal expression in this photo? But the story behind this photograph is something entirely different. Morgen's Mom, Jeanne Haight, shares with us: There is a story behind this picture Mellie. It is my favorite photo of Morgen but I laugh when everyone who sees it mentions how elegant and ladylike she looks. To get this photo, I had to lay on my belly in the grass. Now, for a 75 year old lady, that is no mean feat! It is not the laying down that gets you, it is the getting back UP! Morgen was only about a year old in this picture but she had already graduated from Basic and Advanced Obedience classes. Morgen even earned her Canine Good Citizens certificate, so she was well versed in knowing what I meant when I was saying "Morgen, watch me...watch me Morgen...Morgen...Morgen!" She was totally ignoring me and that regal look was actually Morgen's "I don't feel like watching you" expre...

Most Poodle people just love to take photos of their dogs! I wanted you to know about a unique new way to showcase your favorite photos that I recently discovered, so I am sharing with you an interview with Amy Meissner, co-owner of www.K9Collage.com Amy, what is the primary product offered by K9 Collage and how is it different from just taking a few photos and putting them together in a frame and calling it a collage? K9 Collage offers a unique way to display a large amount of pictures in one setting. What we create is called a photo mosaic, and is a collection of photos arranged in a way that when viewed from a distance they resemble an overall picture. It differs from the traditional collage of where you might only have a few photos arranged on a page. Our photo mosiacs look like one photo from a distance, yet as you approach it you see that it is made up of hundreds of photos. Could you explain to our readers a bit more? Yes, a photo mosaic focuses on one main picture...

These three are obviously busy keeping up with the landscaping in the Trebert's yard!  Seriously, Poodles excel at all types of dog sports, including but not limited to obedience, rally, tracking, agility and hunting. Keep in mind that they were originally developed to be water retrievers, so a Poodle jumping into the water to retrieve a duck is actually work they were bred to do.  Many Standard Poodles love to do any kind of work their owner wants them to do...including posing for photos like this one, or even acting in the movies.  Some of the most amazing work I've ever seen  Poodles do involves being trained for behaviors that are put together for Poodle movies. You can read about this, see movie star Poodles owned by Charlene and Glenn Dunlap and read about their film work, even see clips of them performing, on Charlene's website at www.caninehorizons.com .   Many thanks to Donna Trebert for sharing this wonderfu...

Many thanks to my friend Charlene Dunlap for this article about her movie work with Poodles! My Standard Poodles are veteran movie actors having starred in numerous movies that my husband and I produce. We recently finished videoing Act 1 (of a three-act story) of Jyah and Sydney’s first mystery.   At Jyah’s detective agency on his office desk, there is a Newton’s Cradle. I trained Sydney (who plays a Dr. Watson type to Jyah’s mysterious “J.D.” character) to use the device.   Newton’s Cradle Multi-Ball Pendulum (named for Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is a classic desktop executive toy that demonstrates Newton’s principal: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The device consists of a series of identically sized metal balls suspended in a metal frame so that they are just touching each other at rest.   Each ball is attached to the frame by two wires of equal length angled away from each other.   This restricts the pendulum’s movements at the sa...

     If your dog does not come when called, you don’t have a dog...                                                                                  Author Unknown. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to chase a dog that plays “keep away” when you are calling it to come to you.   Here are a few tips on improving your dog’s response to the come command (also commonly called a “recall”.) Real World Versus Show Ring Show Ring type of Recall, dog comes "front".   In the show ring, the dogs sit quietly, totally intent on watching their owner, then fly t...

What is this Poodle thinking about?  Maybe he is looking up and thanking his Creator for all his many blessings....during this Thanksgiving season, let's do the same! Wishing you and yours special moments this week with your friends and family.

Yikes!  Amazing is rotating Poodle items automatically for me, but they seem stuck on costumes (and I don't even like Halloween)! However on my Knowing Dogs Amazon store , there are many hand selected Poodle items that you will love!  Maybe not anything as fun as Poodles in canoes, but close! Thanks to Chris L'Abbe for this photo.  More of Chris' photos can be found on my dog training blog, http://www.knowingdogsblog.com/ .

This is Cephira, owned by Bruce Swift.  Isn't she gorgeous?  Bruce says even though she is the youngest of his Poodle crew, she is the most fearless, never meets a stranger, loves to play fetch, and is outgoing and stunning in the show ring. Bruce mentioned that Cephira has recently been put in the Continental trim for her adult show career--hopefully he will keep us updated on Cephira and will share more photos in the future!  I recently met Bruce and Cephira on Sherri Regalbuto's The Standard Poodle Facebook site. It is a great place to meet other Poodle people.  Hope to see you there!

Isn't this a lovely trio?  These are three dogs that have been owned and loved by Donna Trebert (Teddy, Tyler and Mickey). I became acquainted with Donna through a Poodle e-mail list, and have gotten to know her better because she has been incredibly kind to share photos of her gorgeous Poodles for my Poodle blog site. Donna has, unfortunately, experienced first-hand many of the health problems we have in Standard Poodles. I have asked her to share some of her experiences for our readers. We can talk all day about health issues in our breed, but  personally experiencing life threatening illnesses with your own beloved dogs is what makes one realize how critical it is that Poodle breeders get serious about health clearances, and working together to outcross to produce healthier dogs. Many people who have loved a Poodle and experienced the health issues will never choose to have another Poodle. Donna is not one of these people...she is very dedicated to this breed and th...

Years ago, when I first started training dogs, food treats were absolutely forbidden in obedience classes. Many of us used treats at home while working with our dog on certain exercises, but we were not allowed to use them at class. I admit though, some of us had treats in our pockets , a little bit of cheating in class to keep our dog’s attention! The tide changed, and in the 1980s, “positive reinforcement” became the buzzword, and the motivator of choice became food treats. This had both good and bad consequences. Good in that dogs who love treats became very easy to motivate with cookies, but bad in that many dogs ended up working only for cookies. In this article, I’d like to give you some hints on how to use training treats effectively, as well as when to choose not to give your dog a food reward. These tips apply to training companion dogs and many competition dogs, but please note that food is used differently to “bait” a conformation show dog in the ring and may also be us...

Easy Steps to Well Socialized Pups - The Rules of Seven                                                                                author unknown Here are the Rules of Seven: By the Time a Puppy is Seven Weeks old he or she should have:   Walked on 7 different types of surfaces: carpet, concrete, wood, vinyl, grass, dirt, gravel, wood chips, plastic tarps, etc. Played with 7 different types of objects: big balls, small balls, soft fabric toys, fuzzy toys, squeaky toys, paper or cardboard items, metal items, sticks or hose pieces Been in 7 different home-based locations: fron...

It is rare to find Poodle puppies coming into rescue organizations or animal shelters, so most likely if you have your heart set on a puppy, you will be purchasing a dog from a breeder. A link at the bottom of this post contains a list of Poodle breeders for your reference.  We do not know these breeders personally, so it is very important to ask the right questions when you make contact with the breeder. An ethical breeder will have a lot of questions for you as well, because they want their dogs placed only into homes with purchasers that are well-matched for them.                                            If you are considering becoming a breeder, please make  that the breeder breeds  only dogs that have had all genetic  health clearances  recommended for that variety of Poodles (Toy, Miniature of Standard) by the Poodle Club of America. ...

Parti-colored Poodles have been around since the very beginning of the breed.  The most complete information we have found on the history of the parti-colored Poodle has been compiled by Poodle trainer and film maker Charlene Dunlap: http://caninehorizons.com/_Parti_Color_Poodles.html For many years, it was almost impossible to find a quality parti-colored Poodle. For whatever reason, the Poodle Club of America, in putting together the AKC Standard, decided against allowing anything other than solid colors to be shown in the conformation ring (towards AKC championship titles). Parti-colored Poodles have always been registerable by AKC and could be shown in performance events, such as agility, obedience and rally, but could not be shown towards conformation championships.

C Jumping up is one of the most common problems people have with their dogs. Dog trainers see this misbehavior in all dogs, even the Poodle! It is actually rooted in social behavior, in the way our dogs relate to people. The start of the problem goes all the way back to our habit of carrying puppies around, instead of putting them on leash as soon as possible and making them keep all four feet on the floor. Hence they get used to the feeling of being up close to our face, and still long for that type of contact even when they are older. Jumping on favorite people is very common in all types of dogs. Jumping up to greet visitors is more common in highly social breeds, such as retrievers. A more aloof type of dog, such as an Akita or a Chow, is usually not tempted to jump up on strangers.

Standard Poodles...not really dogs, but people in a curly body? I confess. I love Standard Poodles. I mean I really, really adore them. When people ask me what type of dog might be best for their family, I almost always start with mentioning Standard Poodles. 9 times out of 10, they confess that they are "not Poodle people". That's okay. Crazy, totally unbelievable, but okay. And why do I think it is crazy not to love Standard Poodles? Because they can be anything you want in a dog. Get them groomed by the best groomer in town and they will look like an elegant aristocrat. Buzz them down and they are happy to masquerade as a "real dog". A Standard Poodle from working lines can even impress you with what the breed was originally bred to do--be a water retriever. A Standard Poodle is capable of learning all types of tricks to entertain your friends, as he is a true "clown at heart". Excellent therapy dogs, they love to bring happiness to nursing h...

I love Poodles. I’m talking about all Poodles--big curly dogs, energetic water dogs, little lap dogs, flying leap agility dogs, groomed-up-to-look-ridiculous show dogs and just plain simple Poodle dogs. If it is Poodle-ly, it is, in my book, fascinating. I’ve been known to drive around in my husband’s construction truck with a Standard Poodle in show coat who has their hair up in colored papers and rubber bands. Why? Just to irritate non-Poodle folk I guess. Although I have trained and shown other dogs for many years, I don’t have any Poodles in show coat anymore, in fact, never even had a Poodle “show dog” turn out to be of show and breeding quality, so they have all retired to be beloved housedogs and training demo dogs. My first Standard Poodle became an excellent therapy dog at nursing homes, but another Poodle that came to me at a late age after his owner passed away never did anything more exciting than play a little tennis ball with us and make the neighbors smile at his clow...

Did you know that the original Poodles (Pudels) were water dogs? Yep, and many of them still enjoy a good swim, as Scout and Murray L'Abbe (above) can attest!