Field and Hunting Poodles

I’ve offered quite a lot of information and videos of poodles who have been trained to service jobs – search and rescue, guide dogs, assistant dogs, etc. There is another class of working poodles (in addition to sheep herding and such, which they also do very well). It is the field and/or hunting dog.

Poodles were originally bred as hunters and retrievers, and their water skills led to a whole different poodle-like breed, the Portuguese Water Dog – of which the Obama family’s “Bo” is currently most famous. Their tendency to tolerate gunshots near them without fear also led to them being among the best of war dogs.

The best site I’ve seen out there on the web for all sorts of information about these sporting poodles – and yes, sports like these are indeed work – is the Working Field Poodle section of the Versatility In Poodles site. They offer excellent information about finding the right trainer, what a good training regime should look like, what things must be covered during that training, and it offers great lists of skills to be earned from the beginning through intermediate and advanced training.

But perhaps more important overall is the good information on choosing just the right poodle puppy for this sort of activity. The first criteria is to choose a driven retriever. Which my beautiful black Kenya proved herself a star. This is a pup who’s always got a ball or stick or toy in his or her mouth, and is constantly trying to get you to throw it. Not only do they chase, they also bring it right back so you can throw again. Kenya would retrieve anything, but her best was a snowball I’d throw into a snowbank. Now, THAT is a committed retriever!

Second on the list of inborn traits you’ll want to look for is a love of water. Not just being unafraid of a bath, but ready, willing and able to jump right into water and swim. If the pup hasn’t yet been exposed to water enough to swim in, a pup that plays in their water dish, chases water from a hose or really enjoys a bath is a bood bet.

You’ll want a pup that likes people and isn’t aggressive to other dogs. You want one that doesn’t act skittish or try to hide at any sudden noise. A pup that will confidently walk with you over unfamiliar terrain is good too, try flattened cardboard boxes or creek bridges.

Poodles are such intelligent dogs that it’s not that difficult to evaluate traits early, even at 6 or 7 weeks of age. Some are better suited to certain tasks than others, though almost any well-bred poodle can be trained to do things other dogs only dream about. Go on over to the Versatility in Poodles website and check out some of their good information about all sorts of poodle jobs!

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More Search and Rescue Training

In keeping with the SAR Training of two beautiful standard poodles that we’ve followed here since they were mere pups, 15 month old Angelina is shown in this video from searchdogtraining practicing “deep shelter” search, finding a hidden victim by sound clues.

Looks to me like Angelina is going to be a valuable ‘first responder’ in her working life, and perhaps an international star as well!

Filed under Dog Intelligence, Poodle Skills, Poodles, Service Poodles, Training, Working | Comment (0)

A Different Kind of Service Dog…

Here’s a great story about an “Educational Dog” in Oregon, who has been a ’school dog’ since he was just a pup. Our childrens’ classrooms have hosted mice, ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes and ant farms through their primary grades, so what’s wrong with a class poodle?

Should dogs be banned from schools? How about hamsters?

“He was four months old when he started school,” said Witt, who was teaching fifth grade at the time. “I got him specifically as a classroom dog.”

A year later, when Witt began teaching third grade, Rosebud followed.

Students were thrilled to have a dog in class. The animal even serves as an incentive for some students.

“He makes it easier to come to school,” said 8-year-old Madison Canova.

What do you think?

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Service Poodle in Action!

I found this video by sanprins over at YouTube. It shows service poodle Gautzy Wopper at work, helping with some basic household tasks. I’ll be featuring some further videos of service dogs at work and play in this series, so please enjoy!

Filed under Dog Intelligence, Poodle Love, Poodle Skills, Poodle Videos, Service Poodles, Working | Comments (3)

What Can a Trained Poodle Do?

Back when we’d first adopted our beloved Beau the black standard from the local animal shelter [A Poodle and His Clown] we were working as directors of a state funded after school program for at-risk and adjudicated young teenagers (12-14) at a local Jr. High school.

Beau was just 6 months old when we got him. He was about 9 months old when a volunteer from the local police force (good outreach) volunteered his time to help us with the kids. He turned out to be a great asset, kept most of the adjudicated kids out of trouble from then on by being their friend and mentor. One afternoon he brought a couple of beautiful German Shepherds – the ‘real’ shepherds that surprise people. Smaller than expected, low-slung in the rear. Seems he’d been promoted to K9 training and these were his babies. He’d trained dogs when in the military, our town was just starting a K9 program. His dogs were the same age as Beau, who as it happened had been to the vet that day so ended up at the school with us for the program that day.

We’d told our young policeman about Beau, of course, and he’d mouthed some platitude he’d learned in the Army about big poodles being excellent service/K9 dogs, but he’d never actually seen or met one. The moment he saw Beau – who was quite hairy at the time and already bigger than either of those shepherds – it was love at first sight. All that he’d heard about giant poodles suddenly clicked in his mind, and within 15 minutes he had Beau joining his pups in the “Obedience Show-Off Game.” He offered to include Beau in his training course for free, just wanted to work with him.

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Filed under Adoption, Dog Intelligence, Poodle Skills, Poodles, Service Poodles, Showing Off, Training, Working | Comments (3)

How “Intelligent” Are Our Dogs… Really?

Imagine watching a Big Headline News story blaring the “shocking” news that scientists have discovered that dogs can tell the difference between red lights and green lights. Whoa, you might think, you guys believed they were red-green color blind? How did you make this earth-shattering discovery, the CNN interviewer innocently asks…

“Vell,” the white-haired egghead in the lab coat begins in his thick Austrian accent, “ve taught zem how to drive, and found zey stopped at all ze red lights while proceeding through all ze green lights!”

It’s the cognitive dissonance that makes a joke like this funny. But wait! There’s more, and no, it’s NOT a joke!

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Filed under Dog Intelligence, Poodle Personality, Poodle Quirks, Poodle Skills, Research, Showing Off | Comments (2)