We have a very good local that does great food and is a dog friendly pub. There is a constant turnover of residents who usually eat there as well and so we see many types of dogs. The main trend I have seen are the oodles type dogs and alot of them are hooligan types who are a handful ! I upset one person I was talking to when I challenged her to say her Labradoodle was not a breed it is a cross of two different types of dogs and to pay the amount of money for the dog was ridiculous when a health checked Pedigree dog would have been a wiser option ! I said I hated to see my breed being exploited in that way! It didnt go down very well but hey ho !!

Recently however we were sitting down at a table and this little whirlwind ran into the pub and what a little cutie he was ! A six month old minature poodle! He was trimmed in a non poodle cut and he looked such a smart little dog. I asked him to sit and he did it instantly ! The owner came in afterwards and I had a chat and they were saying after looking at the oodle type dogs they had decided it was not the way to go and researched extensively, found a good breeder who did all the relevant health checks but also discussed about temperaments of their bitcn, their lines and also the studs side.

They emphasised how important it was to make sure the pups they produced were of the best quality and temperament that they coukd get.

This little chap was a great little boy and was such a good well behaved dog !

Lovely to see people researching properly and ending up with a smashing little dog !

This brought a smile to my face -thanks for sharing! (And I have ALWAYS wanted a Poodle, ever since I was 2 -it just somehow has never happened!)

It is funny as have known a few poodles (mainly standard) and they never really floated my boat but I was smitten with this little chap ! I think it was down to the way the coat was done but also about his personality, he did the same for me, put a big smile on my face ! :-D

i am going to be fostering a min poodle at the end of july really excited as she is a lovely little thing

>I have ALWAYS wanted a Poodle,

Marianne - I did obedience with my last Toy Poodle.  She even went on to start tracking, as she 100% enjoyed having her mind worked.  My first dogs were Pastoral breeds, and I think I just wanted to prove that I didn't need a Collie to do obedience.

They are very, very clever dogs.  And, even in show coat, my girl was not too posh to attack and kill a rat!

They have soooo much character.

You are all making me very excited about the toy poodle I will be getting towards the end of this year. I am trying to keep a lid on the excitement but it is hard. Hubby doesn't understand but at least I know you all do !!!

Just out of interest, what sort of haircut did the mini poodle have then?  Ive only ever seen the standard issue poodle cut round here which looks terribly time consuming and too 'dimante collar' lol for me

My favourite is the one that looks like the dog is wearing chaps with body short and face and feet trimmed short.

Oh yes, I do like the summer clip Brainless, my friend has hers in that and it looks great!

>Ive only ever seen the standard issue poodle cut round here which looks terribly time consuming and too 'dimante collar' lol for me

It's important to remember the reasoning behind the clipping of a poodle.  It was to protect certain areas when they were working.  i.e. having the mane left on, pretty waterproof, protecting the heart and lungs while retrieving from water etc.

The poodle is NOT a diamante collar dog.  Some humans may choose to make them so.  On the intelligence scale they rate up there with BC's and Shepherds, don't have any illusions about that one, it is humans that "developed" from the functrional cut to what you see today.  But clipping them was always functional.

All 3 - Toy, Miniature and Standard are capable of great things.  Even the Toy is not shown in the Toy Group remember.