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!