We are currently on Standard Poodles #2 and 3. Our first was from Poodle Rescue. We adopted him when he was 6. Charlie was black ,and he was perfect, but he had two major health problems. A condition called masticatory myositis which caused him to have problems opening his jaws, and bladder stones which necessitated two surgeries. He finally died from cancer (not a treatable form) only 4.5 years after we adopted him. We were devastated.
We didn’t plan to get another dog, but within a month, we realized that our family was a bit empty without a poodle. Although none of Charlie’s issues were common for SPoo’s, we decided to get a puppy from a reputable breeder. We purchased a puppy whose dam and sire had been tested out the wazoo. Kobe is white and a wonderful dog. He is a bit shy, despite the fact that we socialized him a lot, but it mostly shows in that he takes bit to warm up to strangers. After a bit with new people, he is fine. The family joke is that he is a momma’s boy. He adores me, and I him. I have been playing at agility with him since he was a year old. He has an amazing hang-time jump. He is a bit nervous on the contacts, especially the teeter. He has a sensitive stomach, and we have to be careful with diet changes. He seems to have issues with allergies on certain foods. He did have a problem with his hips, but that seemed to be due to getting blind sided when playing roughly with poodle number 3. OTherwise, he seems very healthy. He is three now.
When my kids left for college, Kobe was only two, and he was lonely. We couldn’t get a puppy because rambunctious Kobe had way too much energy for a little one, and we wanted a dog old enough for him to play with. We contacted the women from whom we had gotten Charlie, and she found Mac for us. He was 10 months old when we adopted him. He is an apricot. He was a puppy that a widow with three kids bought from a pet store. He was from a puppy mill, had terrible manners (still can be a bit of a rogue at times), counter surfed, jumped on people, pulled on the leash, way too much dog for the family, but he was one of the sweetest dogs that I have ever met. He melts into you. Loves everyone. Being from a puppy mill, his tail was cropped too short. I call him Stubbins because his little stub is always wagging. He can eat anything–must be the puppy mill iron stomach. He does have a slightly crooked front leg. For that reason, I never planned to do agility with him. He had other plans. After doing two obedience classes and an intro agility class with my husband, we figured he was done with classes. He tried to sneak out with me and Kobe on class night. I finally signed him up for a class, and he was a natural. He is fast, fast, fast. He loves the contacts. It is too funny. My agility teacher says that he is channeling an advanced agility dog.
So how do we maintain them:
Have to do the ears. Especially Mac’s, need to pluck the ears monthly if not more often. Have to clean (with ear cleaning solution) them once - twice a week.
I clip them naked once a month. I have the Andis AGC super two speed and use a 7 blade everywhere but the top of the head. I have a cordless Moser Arco that I use for face, feet, and tail. If I keep the feet shaved close, the mud doesn’t get caught in them. We have a spray attachment that we attach to the shower head to bathe them. By doing it all at home, I save about $120 dollars a month across both dogs.
As for your questions:
*smart and trainable–oh yes, most deifnitely.
*high energy but not completely nuts-we talk about how our dogs can be couch potatoes in the house, but have tons of energy outside the house.
*low shedding-no shedding-I have asthma.
*protective- I am working on a more rapid "off"when strangers come to the door. As it is, the UPS and Fedex guys hate stopping here.
*people oriented- They LOVE people.
*big - Ours are about 54 pounds each. 24"-26" at the shoulder.
*able to go off leash-Charlie and Kobe yes, Mac not yet. Agility is helping to make the recalls better, but when he gets loose, he takes off. He does finally come to us once he had run through several neighbor’s yards. We joke that poodles understand what you are saying, they sometimes just choose not to listen to you.
I cannot recommend Poodles enough. IMHO, they are not like Golden Retrievers. The Goldens in my classes will turn themselves inside out to please their owners. Our poodles choose to work with us. And sometimes, they choose not to. My job is to motivate them and make it exciting enough to work with us. When I do a good job, they are right on board.
