hey, i think i need to get a poodle for my kid…oh will he hate me for getting him a female one…waking him up at 6 AM on Saturday/Sunday! :lol:
[QUOTE=LaurieB;6134087]
If you try to sleep late one morning, a Standard dog will climb in bed with you. A bitch will tell you that she knows what time it is and that you ought to be up. 
.[/QUOTE]
Too funny! Mine was like that. In the morning, she’d come sit right by my ear, and softly “grumble” into my ear until I acknowledged her. If that didn’t work she’d poke me with her (wet) nose. Very effective!
Now that she is 13, unless she really needs to go out (in which case she will go down and bark at the door until someone lets her out), she is perfectly happy to stay in bed with me…even if hubby gets up to feed the cat.
She will still ALWAYS asks for permission to jump on the bed, tho (poking with her nose). If I don’t react/give her the go-ahead, she won’t jump.
Speaking of the cat…she’s the one who waked me these days. Jumps up right by my face, purring, and tickles me with her whiskers.
no more sleeping late since that &%$ cat arrived.
http://www.poodlerescueofhouston.com/waiting.htm
They have one standard and some labradoodles right now
[QUOTE=clm08;6135122]
I have a question about finding breeders willing to sell a pet-grade puppy with undocked tail - is that possible? Does anyone here know of a breeder who would not dock a puppy’s tail if they had such a request? I don’t want to have to import one from Europe, and I absolutely love my dog who has an undocked tail! He was a stray and came from a rescue, so I don’t know how to find another one.[/QUOTE]
The tail has to be docked within the first couple of days, which is mostly too early to tell whether the puppy is show quality or not (other than a color fault, like white spots on a dark dog. Spots aren’t kosher as far as AKC is concerned.)
I’ve seen some breeders who will refrain from docking the tail if you agree to pay for the puppy in full, up front, non-refundable. I wouldn’t be comfortable with that arrangement myself.
There are a few other breeders who have stopped docking tails entirely. Carole Beresh in Virginia breeds a litter or so a year, mostly brown. (She’s also a dog groomer. Her Ponydoodles page is very cute. http://www.dogsinstyle.com/standardpoodles/ponydoodles.html). Silken Poodles in Ontario specializes in reds. (I don’t like the sire for her planned litter of red and white partis at all, but people seem ok with her solid reds if they are ok with red at all. Red is a controversial color, as it was introduced by crossing minis with standards. Red breeders are still struggling with some of the conformation wonkiness which resulted. ) There are a few other breeders here and there, especially in Canada and among breeders who are aiming for something other than conformation shows.
In my area it’s pretty rare to get standard poodles in rescue. The rescues usually have more potential adopters than homeless dogs, so the standards which hit petfinder tend to be harder to place: older dog, must go with another dog, allergy management needed, or some other reason why placement is problematic. Standard poodle puppies in rescue are even rarer. Good breeders want their pups back. They have return contracts in case the home doesn’t work out, and they microchip the pups in case someone violates the contract and dumps the pup at a shelter instead of returning it.
We have poodles because I have asthma, but the shedding issue was just brought home to us when my husband recently spent a few days with his sister who has a lab mix and a hound mix. He said there was hair everywhere, all over the floor boards etc. He had to wash everything, including his luggage, when he got home because I was so allergic.
Only poodle or terrier owners would be surprised that houses with dogs would be full of hair. We both agreed that clipping the dogs regularly is worth not having to vacuum daily.
[QUOTE=IFG;6141097]
We have poodles because I have asthma, but the shedding issue was just brought home to us when my husband recently spent a few days with his sister who has a lab mix and a hound mix. He said there was hair everywhere, all over the floor boards etc. He had to wash everything, including his luggage, when he got home because I was so allergic.
Only poodle or terrier owners would be surprised that houses with dogs would be full of hair. We both agreed that clipping the dogs regularly is worth not having to vacuum daily.[/QUOTE]
I am allergic to dogs and I am allergic to poodles also.
I don’t think they are any less allergenic than other dogs, but because they are kept cleaner with their continuous need for grooming, they trigger less symptoms than most other dogs.
Grandma had three and I did all the grooming, then we had a toy that was a great obedience and tracking dog.
When any of them would lick me, I would immediately break into hives.
Most people are allergic to the, to them, foreign protein in dogs.
We are exposed to that in their saliva and the body oils.
That is why most people allergic to dogs will react more to those with short hair, because those oils are more on the surface than in the long haired dogs, unless they are kept very clean.
If a person that is very allergic to dogs keeps them very clean and keeps them from licking themselves or that person too much, they can keep the symptoms at bay.
There is other most people allergic to dogs are allergic to that comes with the dogs, like house mites and molds and what all from the outside comes in with the dogs (and in our own clothes and shoes).
Allergies generally have a threshold at which we get symptoms.
We can be licked by a dog one day and not react, then another day we have been out in the yard and are at the top of our threshold and that dog licking causes symptoms.
Anyway, I wanted to say that the Westminster commentator mentioned that it is believed that the ball on the end of the poodle’s tail came to be as a discrete way to mock the king of France Louis.
Don’t know if that is true, but it makes for a funny story.
Bluey,
Yes, I am a bit allergic to poodles, but trust me, nothing like other dogs. I stayed in my BIL’s house with a Golden, and I had to use my rescue inhalers 24/7. Even when I go to agility classes when all of the Goldens are blowing coat, I have a really hard time.
When I have not been near a poodle for a bit, I am more sensitive, but then, just like allergy shots, the continued exposure makes me more tolerant, and my symptoms subside.
I do get allergy shots for “dog”, but I could never live with a heavy shedder.
[QUOTE=IFG;6141134]
Bluey,
Yes, I am a bit allergic to poodles, but trust me, nothing like other dogs. I stayed in my BIL’s house with a Golden, and I had to use my rescue inhalers 24/7. Even when I go to agility classes when all of the Goldens are blowing coat, I have a really hard time.
When I have not been near a poodle for a bit, I am more sensitive, but then, just like allergy shots, the continued exposure makes me more tolerant, and my symptoms subside.
I do get allergy shots for “dog”, but I could never live with a heavy shedder.[/QUOTE]
I am so allergic the doctor didn’t want to add any animal stuff to my allergy shots.
When I was helping at dog shows, I took cortisone pills for a day before, during and taper off after the show.
Ventolin inhalers are your friend.:yes:
The worst for me are cats and springer spaniels, corgis GSD and ACDs.
[QUOTE=Bluey;6141143]
I am so allergic the doctor didn’t want to add any animal stuff to my allergy shots.
When I was helping at dog shows, I took cortisone pills for a day before, during and taper off after the show.
Ventolin inhalers are your friend.:yes:
The worst for me are cats and springer spaniels, corgis GSD and ACDs.[/QUOTE]
You have my sympathies. I had a similar response to the mold in shots. When I was younger, and they tried to add mold to the shots, I had too many anaphylactic episodes. A few years ago, after being off shots for about 20 years, I was re-starting shots, and I asked them to try to add the mold again. So far, so good. So if you end up having to start from scratch again for any reason, you may want to try again.
Our SP is about a year and half old now.
I also have an 8 1/2 YO lab.
You’ve heard lots of the good things about poodles–and I agree with those things. Our SP, Roger, is very smart, very affectionate, cuddle bug, gets along great with other dogs, is a real character, etc etc etc.
So let me tell you two things I don’t so much like:
1) grooming: My husband and I clip Roger at home (we don’t do the fancy stuff, just a puppy cut). There are several reasons for this. A) we live in the middle of BFE and finding a good groomer close by has been a big 0. B) When I worked at the clinic, we fired multiple groomers for being too aggressive with dogs. I don’t want to risk it w/ our guy. C) I like him clipped about every 2 weeks so he can see and his paws aren’t tracking in mud/snow/grass/whatever.
I do not enjoy this process one bit. He’s very GOOD for it. I just don’t enjoy committing every other Saturday morning to the process. It’s not that the grooming itself takes forever, but the cleanup does.
I was used to giving my lab a bath every weekend and that’s a 10 min job. Poodle? Not so much. LOL
- stranger danger: Roger is much much much more standoffish with strangers, neighbors, and delivery people. To me, he almost gives off a “fear biter” vibe. He’ll bark, but then as the person approaches, he’ll keep backing up, often getting behind the lab or one of us if we’re out. Once he knows the person, no big deal. But our UPS guy will not pull into the drive if Roger is out. Propane guy, mail lady, and cleaning ladies have no issue with him though. Still, I must say, I kind of prefer my lab’s response to strangers.
Else, he’s a great fit for our family. Gets along with the kids and their friends, plays well w/ the lab (they’re both quite tall–our GP is 29 1/2 inches at the shoulder, lab is 27), is great on leash, loves the water, gets along with other dogs, doesn’t eat cats or bunnies (loves the bun buns), doesn’t eat rocks like labs are prone to, is a real character.
You can’t help but smile every time you see him bouncing around like Tigger in the back yard or loping up to you like a big dork.
We love him.
