Try having a Chihuahua. 
Last night on Dog Whisperer, they had the most out of control, overweight Chihuahua Iāve ever seen. It was owned by twin sisters who had both been bitten repeatedly by the little terrorist. Cesar actually had to take the dog to his dog center, and it looked so funny in with the pack. And it lost almost four pounds while it was there, since it only weight thirteen pounds or so, it was grossly overweight.
There are definitely a lot of chihuahuas out there, which I find a wee bit surprising. They seem to get homes, at least quite a few of them, although there are always lots of them in the shelter. Our rescue got a grant to spay/neuter them free residents of a couple of towns particularly overrun with them.
I mean no disrespect, but Iām not a fan of poodles (and plenty of other breeds) because I donāt find them cute. I just couldnāt have a dog that I didnāt like to look atā¦ LOL. And I think besides the stereotype of them being āfroo-froo dogsā a lot of people donāt care for them for the same reason. But, different tastes are what makes the world go 'round. You may think my dogs are ugly as sin. But thatās why I own my breed and you own yours. So what if other people donāt like your choice of breed? Plenty of people think Iām insane (and they may be right, but thatās a different storyā¦) for having 2 Great Danes. If I had a nickle for every āthatās not a dog, thatās a horseā āwhoās walking whoā or āscooby dooā comment I hear, I could buy, train, board, and show a Derby horse with a BNT.
I have found, though, relating to the big dog thingā¦people are much more willing to approach my male dog - he is MUCH bigger than my female, and has a HUGE head and HUGE mouth, but he is a fawn and my female is black. In fact, I was walking them today and a very tiny little Amish girl walked RIGHT up to Willyās face and gave Bella a wide berth. LOL
[QUOTE=To the MAX;6573313]
but he is a fawn and my female is black. In fact, I was walking them today and a very tiny little Amish girl walked RIGHT up to Willyās face and gave Bella a wide berth. LOL[/QUOTE]
I found this with my Shepherd as well. She was as steady and well mannered as a dog could get, but if we were with my friend who had a light colored faced Shepherd (who was a fear biter), they would avoid us and try to get to the lighter colored dog.
itās silly, but there ya go.
Color definitely has an influence - I realized this shortly after adopting my current dog, whoās the first dog Iāve owned who isnāt white/grey. Sheās a black/tan/silver combo, and people are much more cautious about approaching her (of course, the wolf resemblance may play a role). Iāve read that a darker dog usually has a darker face which is harder to āreadā than a light face, and so people tend to gravitate to the paler dog.
To the Max, no disrespect found here. There are definitely breeds and looks that I donāt find attractive or desirable at all, too. One of my rescue groupās directors has a house full of mostly black- or black and tan- shorthaired dogs that in looks alone do nothing for me. Their temperaments probably play a roll too though 
But sheās said that black and tan, or all black is āherā look, what she loves. Not to say I donāt like any that fit that description, but i am not magnetically drawn to any of her dogsā¦ except one- the silver miniature schnauzer!
A few friends and MrB included are crazy about shepherds. All types of shepherds, for the most part. Love them herding breeds, they do. Iām not attracted to much about shepherds really. Commonly the fur, often the one-person loyalty and the independence, and looks-wise not very attractive to me.
I think our two aussies are great dogs, but the old female is VERY much MrBās dog thankyouverymuch, and the younger male has more energy (with consequences if not released properly, lol) than I typically like.
MrB and I joke that āmyā three dogs are the lazy, do-nothings and his are the 3 in the front row of class, competing for straight As.***
But then, I also have always liked boy dogs much better, and 4 of our 6 are females! And one of the boys is a part-time diva beyotch, and i STILL wouldnāt trade them in for anything, so what do i know about what i like anyway
***OK, to elaborate. Because I must. My crew as we picture it: schnoodle1 is throwing spitballs and drafting ransom notes, schnoodle2 is flirting with anything that looks her way, and the labrador is hiding behind her backpack, stuffing her face with hostess cupcakes. Meanwhile, MrBās crewā¦ the older aussie is laminating her school reports, the golden is completing homework three weeks in advance (decorated with STICKERS!), and the younger aussie is cracking the campus computer security system from his phone, since heās bored already.
Break down the stereotypes- donāt hide or disguise it
[QUOTE=wendy;6572545]
oh, I so agree. A well-bred poodle is EXACTLY what most people want in a dog, but they hear āpoodleā and immediately they think of some yapping dyed-pink froo-froo dog and say āno wayā.[/QUOTE]
I was prejudiced against toys and basically folks who went to a breeder. Then I went to a breeder to get a Papillon. I was so self conscious projecting my own prejudices any time I stepped out to walk my Pap. That has finally diminished after 2 years.
He is tiny and froofroo so people assume 1) heās a girl 2) doesnāt shed 3) isnāt trained. I am so proud to say heās a Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog who does well in obstacle courses (ie agility) and obedience contests.
Break down those stereotypes!
You all are making me want a poodle! :lol:
There is a pair of big, black, lovely standards in town that I run into on occasion while running errands or getting coffee. They are the most charming, friendly, and well behaved dogs. I just love them! They have little floofs on their heads (but otherwise are groomed close), and I just love to give them a good tussle. :lol:
I love, love, love dogs and I am pretty breed and size blind. There are, unfortunately, dog breeds that I routinely find myself rolling my eyes at, but they are typically attached (or being screamed at) by the same type of owner (a bad one). Unfortunately, bad owners typically are drawn to similar types of dogs. :no: But I am just as quick to gush over a little Chihuahua as I am a big, slobbery, smiling pittie. :yes: Dogs are the best. 
A good friend of mine has a couple of miniature poodles. She has allergies, so they are perfect for her. She named the black one āKillerā. :lol: They are remarkably cool little dogs.
I tend to experience a lot of breed prejudice when I walk my big GSD. As metioned upthread, older men are routinely complimentary.
On the other hand, this is probably racist, but I also notice that Hispanic families are, for the most part, terrified of my dog. I suspect that the majority we meet at the park are recent immigrants who live in not great neighborhoods, and their only exposure to GSDs has been in the form of police K9 dogs. Makes me sad, and I try to reassure the kids at least that weāre not doing any attacking or chasing.
I definitely think that there is a ārscistā component to dogs overall. Most of our employees are not white folks and they are SCARED of the dogs. I feel so badly about that because my dogs truly do love EVERYONE. But I have ātreedā employees in their cars, on picnic tables, etc just by letting my dogs out of the car.
Bless their hearts (Northern way). I really do feel badly about that.
I have found out that dogs discriminate. I was at a place with a lot of Min Pinscher puppies a long time ago, and they had to be careful about turning out groups of red/brown and the black/tan ones, because they would separate into groups by color and have little puppy rumbles complete with chasing and cornering the smaller group.
And Iāve found a lot of people are scared of dogs, because so many have either been the victim of attacks as children, or witnessed bites, and may not have had pets of their own to be used to dogs either. And many adults that are afraid of animals pass that fear on to kids, and the kids grow up afraid.
Iāve never been around cats (some family members are allergic) so Iām very nervous around cats, because I donāt have the faintest clue what to expect or know if theyāre friendly or not.
Some of it is cultural. A Chinese friend of mine once explained that dogs really arenāt kept as pets there, especially big dogs, so the sight of a large slobbery predator bounding towards them can be very disconcerting.
Many of the families I meet in our neighborhood have little dogs - usually a Chi or a terrier, so unsurprisingly the big dog is terrifying.
There isnāt a better large dog on the planet than a well bred Spoo. :yes:
Seriously.
There is a preconceived notion of all poodles being either:
a) Psychotic biting spoiled handbag pets
b) tall trimmed freaks you only ever see on TV dog shows
Either size often dyed colors and having nails painted.
The GOOD news in regards to worrying about the general publicās view of having a tall froufrou dog? Nobody will ever know itās a poodle. :lol: And most wonāt believe you when you tell them what it is. Especially so if itās not white. And very much so if itās parti-colored.
A bonus right now is that people see some Spoos and assume theyāre Portugese Water Dogs. I knowā¦odd freaking breed for the public to know about. But with the Pres owning oneā¦anyone seeing a curly-ish large dog assumes itās the same kind.
A Spoo is a farm dog extraordinaire. Not just trainableā¦itās like a 4 legged human. They do mature slower than the small ones, but smart as hell. And expressiveā¦even folks who arenāt a fan of their looks/facial features fall HARD for them once they get to know one. They have extremely expressive faces.
As for breed prejudiceā¦I get more of that now with my GSD than I ever did with past other large breeds. People see GSD and think Police Attack Dog. More people steer clear of my Worldās Sweetest GSD ā¦and yet my last dog was an enormous Malamute and had the typical stand-offish personality with strangers and everyone wanted to run up and hug him. :rolleyes: And he was NOT a good candidate for that.
So run up to a 164 lb dog that looks even bigger due to the big puffy coat and thatās leaning away or staring you downā¦and back up quick from the ridiculously happy, sweet, gentle 90 lb GSD.
Silly people.
Theyād also come running to check out the Mastiffs when I had the 2. Like any giant dog owner knowsā¦once they hit pony size they cease to be scary and personal property and become a tourist attraction. :sigh: Thankfully they were typical big mushes considering all the people that would mob them if I took them anywhere. People would actually start to lift toddlers up to āposeā them on the back of one! Not that theyād have done anythingā¦but who DOES stuff like that?
I happened to be an onlooker at several agility training classes yesterday (my friend does it with her two dogs, who are a cockatoo and a Bichon/Poodle/? rescue mix), so saw lots of different breeds doing their thing (about 25 dogs total). Who do you suppose were the stars? The Miniature and Standard Poodles. There were a couple of Doodles who came along as well, but the ārealā Poodles totally rocked agility.
I grew up with a Toy Poodle. While I loved her, she was not an athletic or interesting dog. Smart, though! I have since met a number of Standards and have been so impressed by them; they have all been delightful animals, and yes, very athletic and trainable. I think the OP is on to something though with explaining the popularity of Doodles - people can be embarrassed to admit they have a Poodle but a Labradoodle, well, that is chic AND macho! (Especially if it came from Australia but donāt get me started on that again).
I have told my husband that I would definitely consider a Standard Poodle. Like a lot of men, unfortunately the image of the goofy show-ring haircut is all he thinks of, so he totally pooh-poohs the idea. We shall see!
I donāt have a problem with the original Australian Labradoodle cross.
-There was a specific need unrelated to crass commercialism: the breeder got a request for a non-shedding service dog from someone with allergy issues.
-The service organization tried training several poodles as guide dogs, and the poodles didnāt work out.
-The lab used for the original cross had proven herself to be a superior guide dog; she wasnāt just a random pedigreed lab.
-The first few generations were bred by people who were experienced at selecting dogs for service dog breeding programs; dogs they deemed unsuitable were eliminated from the program.
Later on the whole thing obviously went downhill, and people who got into breeding didnāt necessarily agree on goals. However, the same thing happens when any animal becomes trendy.
Iāve found I tend to engage in size predjudice more than breed predjudice. Love Standard Poodles, terrific dogs! I like most medium to big dogsā¦some large breeds I would not choose to own, but Iām perfectly happy to dog sit them, walk them, play with them, love themā¦ Little or, worse, tiny, dogs, I just canāt get close too. I love Pugs and, to a lesser extent, Westies, but most small breeds and all toy breeds, Iām just not interested in.
I suspect itās more an owner issue than a dog issue. Around here, land is at a HUGE premium and there are strict leash lawsā¦owners of biggish/high energy dogs are going to have to get their butts off the couch and run with them on a leash. People who arenāt really dog people or who donāt want to spend a lot of time and energy on a dog, get toy or small dogs who they imagine they can keep in a smaller space and just let out in the small backyardā¦so itās not a good sample. To generalize, maybe unfairly, the little dogs are not well trained, are under exercised and are owned by non-committal ownersā¦perfect recipe for an unpleasant dog.
I get really aggravated about the discrimination against poodles - how people will insist that their poodle is ānothing like a poodle; he loves the water, he loves to fetch, heās obedient and wonderful,ā etc. and so forthā¦of course he is! Heās a poodle! A German Water Spaniel! Bred for hundreds of years to swim in the water and Bring Back the Food You Shot!
To me, no matter what you do to groom a poodle, they still look like a poodle. I donāt like beards in poodles - I find them messy and it can contribute to tartar buildup - but thatās just me.
I am a serious poodle fan. I will often recommend them as a companion. They are so easy to train; and if they are kept short, they are very simple to care for.
FYI, if you have tons of time to devote to coat care and you have a penchant for the unusual, a poodleās coat will cord. Starting and caring for the cords is an absolute PITA, but the effect is striking and not at all what an average person will expect to see on a poodle. Heāll still look like a poodle to me, though.
I honestly think that with dogs as prevalent as they are, part of giving your kid a good general education in ālifeā these days should include basic dog skills. I mean, not everyone needs or wants to own a dog, but people should know basic stuff like ādo not run shriekingā you know? (To be fair, some dog owners need some classes, too. Just because YOUR dog is fine with random strangers hugging it to death does not mean mine will be, thank you.) (As it happens, he is, but they do not know that!)
Iāve actually volunteered dogs to friends for child education purposes when I have suitable dogs. (Meaning we go somewhere like a park and work with them together. For scared kids it works best if you have a people-friendly dog thatās also toy/game oriented so you can just hang out and play fetch or whatever and the kid can observe and close the distance in their own time.)
(Note also that suitable dog does depend somewhat on the age of the child. Pirate I would take to meet even pretty young kids because heās hugely tolerant of toddlers and younger kid type stuff. Our first family dog was okay with toddlers - he put up with me when I was one 
- but heād be better with slightly older kids, because he was clearly putting up with toddlers because he knew he had to and itās not fair to make the dog unhappy.) (Pretty sure Pirate would be totally cool with a toddler trying to, like, RIDE him, actually. He thinks they are FANTASTIC.)
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;6573931]
I was prejudiced against toys and basically folks who went to a breeder. Then I went to a breeder to get a Papillon. I was so self conscious projecting my own prejudices any time I stepped out to walk my Pap. That has finally diminished after 2 years.
He is tiny and froofroo so people assume 1) heās a girl 2) doesnāt shed 3) isnāt trained. I am so proud to say heās a Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog who does well in obstacle courses (ie agility) and obedience contests.
Break down those stereotypes![/QUOTE]
Gosh, I would LOVE a Papillon. We played with the notion of getting one for a second dog a few years ago, but were turned down by a major rescue ābecause we have a big dogā (and foster big dogs). :rolleyes: DH really wants one for our number three someday though.
For the most part though, Iām not at all a fan of little dogs. That is likely due to my days working at Petco, when people would set their purse dogs down next to their items. Iād grab an item to scan, and get bit, and the owners would almost always LAUGH.
āOh, look at Pookie, isnāt he just adorable?ā
Um, no. Your Chi that just tried to take a chunk out of my arm, because you decided to stick him in the middle of your pile of cat food on my tiny counter, is decidedly NOT adorable.
Working at a dog daycare I am starting to like some of the small dogs again, but it is a work in progress.
