I have just been given a toy poodle...we live in France - We don't fully understand why he was given away to the person who gave him to us...he couldn't be bothered with the grooming so the dog got into a bit of a state.

The dog is we think 4 years old and delightful (only speaks French!) our Jack gets on really well with the new member of the family...but I have never had a poodle before...he was excellent in the bath so has obviously been groomed in the past - no problems with the hair drier or shampoo, the shower or anything (not like our Jack!!)...his eyes were in a terrible mess with what I think was his fringe irritating his eyes - 24 hours later his eyes look fine and don't seem to be leaking now...but what advice can poodle owners give me for keeping what is obviously a well balanced, very happy little dog in peak condition...

Apart from the grooming they can be treated exactly the same as any other breed with just the extra grooming. They can take it or leave it with the exercise as long as you have a decent size garden but mine prefer the exercise option! So keep him the same as you would your other dog!!
Good luck they are great.

Jesse

thank you - we live on the coast so beaches are regular - plus we have a hectare garden so exercise is fine ...eyes are worrying me...the hair seems to constantly get in the eye and irritate...we get a pink wet area (I think that is the colour he goes when leaked on as round his willie is the same colour!), should I trim the hair or leave to grow so falls away from eyes...I have long hair & in a mad moment cut a fringe - growing it out drove me mad! How often do you cut the hair and also do you comb it so the dreadlocks are straight...I quite like the ringlet look!  Our Jack never has a bath unless fox poo or similar is involved! So I am quite a novice here.

Look forward to words of wisdom.

Many thanks

Poodles shouldn't have 'furry' faces as such - this doesn't sound right, does it lol?  What I'm meaning is that the hair of their faces, muzzles and round their eyes is kept short, so we've never had a problem with hair getting in their eyes, and the fur on top of their head is kept to a length that stands up rather than falls down over their eyes.  We bath ours about once a week, but our dogs tend to sleep with us so we like to take a clean dog to bed.

Poodles are brilliant pets (but I'm slightly biased!).  I agree with everything Poodlebabe's said, but try to keep their eyes clean.  They do seem to suffer from staining in this area.  You can usually buy products at your pet shop or make up a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and warm water to bathe the eyes regularly.  What do you use Poodlebabe?

I've never had a tear staining problem in my poodles!! I do have blacks and browns but they don't have weepy eyes so it's not an issue.

Jesse