I would like to hear your experiences with poodles - the good, the bad, and everything in between.
I am strongly considering getting a standard.
I am a total setter person, however I have many friends with standard poodles and I adore them! They are smart, friendly and great family dogs. At least all the ones I know or have known. You don’t have to poodle cut them you can leave them fuzzy all over and they are darling that way. Very athletic too!
Loved hanging with the big poodles at dog shows. They would play with my setters and were very social! Never had a bad moment with a poodle, well except my aunt’s little ankle biter toy poodle. That thing was evil!
Super dogs! If I wasn’t such a setter whore I would go out and buy a standard poodle in a minute!
For some reason, the little town I work in is Standard poodle central. 
You see them everywhere - curled on a cushion in the antique shop; walking with the judge down the street; minding the store at the boutique. They seem quiet, polite, well-behaved - and pretty aloof and self-contained. This is a huge plus for some folks and kind of a turn-off for others. Most folks I know who have (and adore) their Standards have either no children or no small children, big houses, and the ability to take the dog(s) most places with them.
OTOH, my brother who lives out of town has one. He’s the only person in the family who likes the dog, unfortunately. I’m not sure why - I think the dog is too big and hyper and the children/house too small/crowded for the dog to be allowed much family time. My brother walks the dog five or six miles every night and he has a big fenced yard to play in - but he’s just not a great match for their family. The poor thing has had to have several bowel surgeries because the kids can’t seem keep small toys out of his reach and he can’t seem to resist hoovering them up.
That said, my brother adores this dog and thinks he’s the greatest thing ever.
Pros: no shedding!
Cons: unless you clip yourself, haircuts are expensive, and necessary. But if you clip ponies, surely you could learn to clip a poodle, no?
I had Standard and Miniature Poodles for 30 years (as a breeder and an exhibitor). Now I write books about them.
Standard Poodles are terrific dogs in every sense of the word. They’re smart, they’re silly, they’re empathetic, and they have a terrific sense of humor. Having a Standard Poodle is not like having a dog, it’s like living with another person. Really.
The two downsides: first, the hair. It grows all the time (but doesn’t shed) so frequent grooming is a must. The second downside is that there are genetic problems in the breed (as there are in all breeds.) You need to shop for a puppy carefully and make sure that you deal with a breeder who does all of his or her genetic testing.
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Standard poodles are the best, just really great dogs. My very first dog as a child was a poodle.
I don’t remember any bad at all to be honest. They are smart, trainable dogs that can be outdoorsy (hiking, swimming, etc), but are fine inside as well. The grooming could be seen as a downside I suppose, but we sent mine out to be groomed and it was fun getting her different cuts.
CindyB59 has three, two smalls and a large (that is what I call them LOL!!) I have doggy sat the smalls, they are terrific little pups. Very loyal though, I get kicked to the curb in favor of CindyB5 and hubbie when they walk in the door :lol: Smart and funny for sure and they seem to be easy keepers. I’ll text her
I don’t think there are any downsides to poodles, especially miniatures and standards.
Toys have the warnings that come with all toys, other than that, they are still wonderful poodles.
We have had many standard poodles come thru our dog club, they are a rather common breed, so easy to find one.
As with any dog, your better breeders will have better individuals with fewer possible problems.
I don’t think standard poodles are generally good for puppy mills and that is good, you won’t get those kinds of problems.
The real drawback is that their hair, while non-shedding, will have to be kept groomed all their life, without fail, every few weeks and it is the kind of hair that will pick up all and anything and bring it into your house and car, so best kept clipped short often.
I agree that they are not really dogs, more like living with a kid that will never grow up and is always happy to go along with whatever you are doing.
I have never seen one with a bad or touchy temperament, but I expect there may be one such somewhere.
Other breeds, yes some are better than others at getting along with humans, other dogs and assorted critters.
Poodles tend to be the smart diplomats of the dog world.
Our neighbors have a large miniature/small standard they adore and has been a great family and ranch dog.
Some friends years ago had small standards that would work cattle right along with the ACDs and ride on the back of the saddle, behind the rider.
Poodles were initially sporting dogs, used hunting, so they were bred to be outside with the hunter, nothing sissy about them.
If it was not for the hair, I too would have a poodle.
After grooming up to four for Grandma for years on end, sorry, I had enough, my back hurts just thinking about that chore.
There is something about people that make them into poodle people or definitely not poodle people.
Anyone owning a poodle will come across that, have not figured yet what it is, but it really is there, more than just dog people and non-dog people would explain.
Good luck if you get one that it will be all you wanted in a dog.
We do currently have 2 toys & a standard. This is after having had German Shepherds my whole life.
Toys - Good: Best lap dogs in the world, smart, etc. Bad: They - at least mine - shriek at every dust particle that passes thru the neighborhood. I have tried every trick in the book for years & cannot break them of it. I think the youngest wouldn’t have been so bad, but he learned it for the oldest. I’ve trained many a dog & never have not been able to break a bad habit.
Standard: Everything everyone else has said. Fair warning though, mine brings a whole new meaning to high energy. I thought GSD’s were high, but Bella puts them all to shame. She really would love a more active home. She only has little dogs to “play” with - and I use that term loosely. Not a mean bone in her body, but just the sheer size of her creates problems. Broke one toy’s leg, and hurt the other’s back. So we have to monitor them all the time now, which means separation when we are not home. But she is very sweet, smart & a very fun dog.
I have them groomed every 4 weeks. I can’t do it myself & knew the time/expense this would be up front. Every time I added a poodle, I gave up more latte’s :). I keep them pretty short, which helps keep dirt down. They don’t smell like dogs either, which after a lifetime of GSD hair & dog smell, is a huge bonus.
I am a total poodle convert. My family was shocked when I got the first one, but I just can’t do the upkeep of GSD’s anymore. I miss having one every single day though.
I have a 3 year old standard, after a long line of very nice mutts. He is the best dog in the world. He was out of a line that was bred for hunting. He is not hyper, he lays around the house but if you want to go play in the yard he can run and run. Loves to fetch the frisbee. Very sociable and obedient, he is a bit timid but in a good way. Good with cats and other dogs, even though we don’t have any.
I get him groomed about every 6 weeks, sometimes a bit longer. We don’t keep him very fru-fru in fact I had to get him more “poodleized” of a cut cause people kept asking me if he was a labradoodle :mad:
I had a medium poodle growing up and she was great too, good with all us kids. We used to groom her ourselves 
I just purchased my first Toy Poodle after living almost all of my 50 years with GSDs. I still have one, an 8 year old male, but I knew I needed a change with my next dog.
I was shopping for a puppy over the last year and ended up finding an 8 month old male that had been kept back by the breeder to see how he matured and it looks like he will be slightly over-sized. So his show career is over. Out of tested parents, etc.
I am a total convert, too. I am smitten!
Sheilah
I groom, so maybe I’m a bit biased, but ALL of the standard poodles I’ve groomed have been wonderful dogs. I’ve yet to have one try to bite. Same rule does not apply to minis and toys however. I have a toy poodle myself, and he is a little demon :lol:
My family has always had standard poodles, so I’ve grown up with fond memories of them. There are currently two in the family right now and they are wonderful. They do have lots of energy and springs for legs, but are very smart and quick to learn. As long as they have a decent outlet for energy they are calm and settle down easily inside. Most of ours would happily entertain themselves if their people were busy. I can remember one that would ‘pop’ a tennis ball with her front feet so that it jumped straight up into the air so she could catch it.
My current shelter mutt is a poodle mix, mom was a large miniature, and he has a lot of these wonderful traits as well. They also seem to be a fairly healthy breed overall, having escaped some of the worse genetic diseases, but do your homework and look for a breeder that health tests.
My parents had labs in their early married years. When they decided to get a childhood dog for us, I was 5ish and my brother about 9. The change from the shedding, endless shedding, of labs plus the smartness of the poodle won my parents over.
We had two standards when I was growing up and they were SUCH great dogs. Max was the most tolerant, good natured dog with us and our friends, pretty much anyone who was invited into the house. But he was an intimidating guard dog when it came to people knocking on the door. Jet was purchased in a hurry and just not as great of a breeder, but still very tolerant (didn’t love strange kids petting him, so we didn’t encourage that).
Both dogs went fishing and boating with us and were very sporty hardy dogs. We did home clipping jobs until we fired my dad for ineptitude 
then took max to the groomers after that. Then with jet my mom picked up clipping him and has improved greatly they were groomed every 8 weeks with baths between (especially after swimming every weekend).
I have two poodle mixes now (under thirty pounds) and my parents now have two poodle mixes as well. One day I would LOVE to own another standard. The sight of them running is gorgeous, they have such regal and pure gaits.
I’ve had a few toy and mini poodles I’ve fostered too and they have all been darling. Some a little more vocal than I’d prefer, and one was only 6 lbs which made me SO nervous in a houseful of dogs that he would get hurt, because he would be so underfoot paying attention to the people but clueless to the huge dumb dogs bounding around him. That fragility was the only thing that made me okay with adopting him out, because otherwise he was my little buddy!
Oh and they DO love performing and learning tricks. At or before 8 years old I was teaching Max to sit, down, shake, jump through a hula hoop… And when he was older he was still humoring me when I taught him to hold a biscuit on his nose, roll over, etc.
Both standards fetched our newspapers every morning for a combined 18+ years After jet died my parents really felt his absence every morning, it had become such a routine of life for so long. I’m getting kind of misty eyed thinking of that!
They were really great family dogs
Oh! From the grooming and upkeep side… I forgot to add that both of them did have a tendency to get ear infections, and had to have their ears plucked and cleaned out regularly, and especially after swimming and bathing. It isn’t a huge problem and easily kept up with yourself at home, but something to keep in mind.
Now for my two mixes - my poodle/ schnauzer has nice and fairly clear ears, but my hunchback troll, Err unknown possibly schnauzer/poodle/sewer rat mix has almost more hair inside his ears than on his body aside from being a convenient excuse whenever he doesn’t respond to commands,… It’s not been a big issue.
I took my little one to groomers I trust for her first 4 or so clips, as I didn’t really want to train her up on that behavior. Once she had become familiar with the grooming, I took over. The expensive clippers have paid for themselves after four or five clippings! Also I can do a 7 blade and go 10-12 weeks, with only trimming the eyes and bum in the time between clips.
I lost my beloved standard last fall and am just beginning to think about another dog, so I was searching for poodle breeders and just came upon this thread. I can’t resist adding my two cents.
I am a total “poodle person” and can’t imagine having any other kind of dog. I grew up with cocker spaniels, but the people next door had a black standard named “Fifi,” who was the most fabulous dog. She would play with us kids nonstop while our cockers slept on the porch. I vowed when I grew up, I would have a standard of my own. I have had three of them, one at a time, and everything people have said in their favor is true: standards are scary-smart, engaging, loyal, friendly, elegant, and are great watch dogs. Mine, especially the last one whom I got as a puppy, were super family dogs as well.
The hair is something you have to deal with: my solution was to take mine to the groomer every six weeks instead of trying to deal with it myself. All of mine also had hairy ears and got occasional infections, but a good groomer will help with that. As large dogs, they are also subject to hip dysplasia. My last one had it, but it was not a big problem until he got old–we managed it with supplements.
My dog was very handsome (if I do say so), and when we took him out in public, people would invariably gush and gasp over him. I always joked that he was the most popular member of our family. I miss him a lot.
All three of mine were rescues though I am thinking of going to a breeder this time to try to avoid the hip dysplasia.
Here’s my favorite youtube video. This is not my dog, but she looks like him. You can see just how engaging and smart she is as she learns to play volleyball. I defy anyone not to be enchanted with this dog:
You know, all my present dogs are rescues. But - I am going through the heartbreak of advanced hip dysplasia with my oldest right now and yeah, only dogs from parents with OFA certifications for me from now on, thx.
Standards are wonderful- But my friends that own them complain constantly about how much grooming they need. If they pay for it, it’s pretty expensive, and if they do it themselves, it is hours of work every few weeks. that is the only issue.
Great video, Dewey!
We have had only a Chesapeake and then GSDs thereafter, and our beloved German Shepherd, Breezy, died last summer.
We were so brokenhearted about our GSD that we both, my DH and I would burst into tears watching war movies, so we thought, if, when, we got a new dog, it should be maybe, something different.
I love the intelligence of poodles and was thinking maybe that would be a good choice for us.
After 20 yrs of GSD hair, I confess I was looking forward to not so much hair.
But, life has surprises for us, and a beautiful GSD came to a rescue from a month in the pound. She had been abandoned, and either hit by a car or beaten severely. I saw her picture on FB, and that was that.
As part of her rehab, we have started to take her to a human chiro, who also has standard poodles!
So of course, LaurieB, I told her all about you.
I think you may have a new fan!
