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...