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!

Introducing: Bo Obama

A website called First Dog Charlie went up on Saturday (April 6) purporting to show the new Presidential First Dog, a Portuguese Water Dog named “Charlie.” It sure looks like the same dog the Obamas were shown getting to know in a photo in the Washington Post on Easter Sunday. Apparently the Obamas wanted to delay the announcement until Tuesday, when the pup is supposed to move into the White House, but the event has generated so much attention worldwide that it was probably inevitable that the news would get ‘broken’ (or… housebroken?) before the due date.

The Post reports that the First Puppy is a gift from water dog-loving Senator Teddy Kennedy of Massachusetts, and that the Obama daughters Sasha and Malia immediately re-named him “Bo.” Not “Beau,” which is a great name for a poodle and my family had just such a giant mutant mountain poodle too, once. Probably sounded too French. Seems that Michelle Obama’s father was known in-house by the fond knickname of “Diddly.” As in… Bo Diddly, get it?

Bo is primarily black, with a white chest, white paws and a white goatee. They call this “tuxedoed,” but basically he looks a lot like a parti poodle. In fact, poodles and Portuguese Water Dogs share an ancestry that dates well back into the time of the Teutonic tribes of northern Germany and rural Russia, when they were famed for their prowess at hunting, retrieving and… you guessed it… riding comfortably on boats of all description. In the provinces the dogs were bred and developed for hunting and in France, for warfare, while in Portugal they took to the sea along with their masters.

The tuxedoed look will no doubt come in handy for Bo in his job of being First Dog and in charge of meet-and-greets of various high level officials, ambassadors and leaders from all over the world.

Here’s to you, Bo! May your life with this lovely family be long and multi-storied.

Time for A Presidential Poodle!

Barack Obama has been elected to be the next President of the United States! And, as is a standard question for all newly elected Presidents with a lovely wife and children to share the White House with, Obama was asked what kind of puppy he was planning to get for the title of “First Dog.”

And yes, it’s going to have to be a dog, because 10-year old First Daughter Malia has allergies she can’t escape with a cat, but could easily avoid with just the right kind of dog. Plus, as Obama mentioned, the family is going to want a shelter puppy…

“But obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me,” said Obama, in an apparent self-depreciating reference to his mixed race heritage. “So whether we’re going to be able to balance those two things, I think, is a pressing issue on the Obama household.”

Yet a surprising number of shelter dogs are purebreds. We got our beloved giant mutant mountain poodle Beau (pictured at top) at our county’s animal shelter when he was 6 months old, and his pedigree was a whole lot more impressive than mine! A size-large standard poodle with your basic kennel cut would make a delightful First Dog!

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Famous Poodle People

It’s been noted here and there in posts to this blog that some famous people have been poodle-lovers – including entire regiments in European armies. So in this post I want to set down the list of famous people and their poodles.

The first thing you’ll probably notice is how many of these Poodle People are famous artists, musicians, actors, comedians and such. Thus it’s not difficult to see the poodle as Muse, which might be a more high-brow role in history than just being notorious hunters and dogs of war!

• Winston Churchill’s poodle was named Rufus.
• John Steinbeck had a poodle named Charley, namesake for the book Travels With Charley.
• Jacqueline Susann had a poodle named Joe, who was the subject of her short story Along Came Joe.
• Andrew Wyeth’s poodle was named Eloise.
• Jane Goodall the famous chimpanzee researcher had a poodle named Gigi.
• Julie Nixon’s poodle was Vicky.
• Both Louis XIV and XVI had standard poodles around to pretty-up the palace, and Marie Antoinette had her own poodle who didn’t lose his head.
• Pablo Picasso was a poodle person, so was Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
• Billie Holliday’s beloved poodle was buried in her best mink coat.
• Sammy Davis Jr. named one of his poodles Bojangles.
• Marilyn Monroe received a poodle as a gift from Frank Sinatra. She named it Mafia.

Other famous Poodle People (grouped in no particular order to save list room)…

• Juan Peron, Omar Bradley and Grover Cleveland
• Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace and Katharine Hepburn
• Barbara Walters, Barbara Streisand and Barbara Eden
• Jack Lemon, Betty White, Bob Hope and Cary Grant
• Claudette Colbert, Helen Hayes and Vivian Leigh
• Tallulah Bankhead, Lucille Ball and Liberace
• Joe Garagiola, Patrick Swayze, John Mitchell and Kirk Douglas
• Mariah Carey, Maria Callas and Gypsy Rose Lee
• Ingmar Bergman, Doris Day and Joan Crawford
• Walt Disney, Michael Wilding, John Lehmann and Jack LaLanne
• James Thurber, John Forsythe, Red Buttons and Robert Vaughn
• Ed Sullivan, Robert Mondavi, Walter Lippmann and Oribe.
• Benny Goodman, Gary Cooper and Clare Boothe Luce

Of course, poodles of all colors and sizes are one of the most popular breeds of dog ever since people started breeding dogs for special qualities. This is a (partial) list of just those Poodle People who have earned some fame of their own so readers will recognize their names. If readers have any knowledge of other famous people who loved poodles, contribute in the comments! The poodles’ names if you know them, and any anecdotes you may know about them.

Those Cool Alaskan Sled Poodles

In my post 12 Nifty Things About Poodles, I mentioned those standard poodles who ran the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska for John Suter from 1988 through 1991. He’d begun mushing poodles in the mid-1970s, competing in the 1976 Chungiak Sled Dog Race. In 1992 Suter’s daughter Esther tackled the 154-mile race with her poodles, and other mushers are adding poodles to their teams.

For a grueling race in ice and snow, the dogs need boots even if they’re regular Alaskan Huskies or Husky-Hound crossbreeds. Mushers can be downright snobby about their sled dogs, as is clear from Mark Hamilton’s opinion in the newsletter of the Inuit Sled Dog International, Dog Sled Racing vs. Sled Dog Racing.

Still, as reported by Angus of Alaska in the It’s an alaskan dog’s life, poodles can not only be great sled dogs, they’re also really good for impressing the ladies for their owners down at Koot’s in Anchorage, so they’re definitely double-duty dogs!

As january goes on and on and on, and February’s foreshortened period of white stuff still looming, thinking about poodles who love the snow is good. If ever I take up skiing I’m going to use my poods to get me to the top of the run so I don’t have to pay for a lift ticket!

Check out this article on how to keep those poodles warm during winter.

Links:

Poodle Sled Dog History [John Suter's site]

Poodle History: Draft/sled dogs

How to Train a Winning Dog Sled Racing Team

It’s an alaskan dog’s life

CrazyUnclePaul: The Iditarod Dog Sled Race

Wikipedia: Sled Dog

12 Nifty Things About Poodles

…that you probably didn’t know!

King of Dogs!

In deference to my new Russian friends, I’ll start off by mentioning that there is some disagreement about where, exactly, the poodle breed originated. Some say northern Germany, others insist they started in Russia or on the steppes of central Asia. I will say that about 90% the people I’ve ever known in the circus/performing world who work with poodles are Russian, and that they’re quite passionate about the intelligence, loyalty and talents of their dogs. Given the intriguing hints that it was Russians who suffered most of the battle scars from Napoleon’s War Dogs, if poodles weren’t originally a Russian breed those Russians were wise enough to appreciate quality when they met it!

That said, there is no disagreement about the specific job poodles were developed to do – they were water retrievers, and this job explains some things about poodles that people may not have known…

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Napoleon’s Dogs: Literary License or Dread History?

Since adopting our first standard poodle a little over 20 years ago – and being Poodle People ever since – we’ve heard a lot of stories about poodles, poodle history and poodle talents from a lot of different people. One of my favorites has to do with how poodles came to be the National Dog of France. No, it wasn’t because poodles are so fashionable or even that they’re so fancy. And it wasn’t because poodles are such fine water retrievers and hunting dogs who aren’t the least bit gun shy.

As I recall the story (no, I don’t recall who told it to me), it has to do with Napoleon Bonaparte and his strong martial proclivities. Dogs had long been mascots and soldiers in war, from the time of the Vikings and the early Teutonic wars, primarily wolfhounds and other large breeds. When guns and artillery became standard noisemakers on the battlefields, dogs who would not be shy of the booms or the fire were kept. Among these were the poodle, and Napoleon liked his poodles big.

Known for fierce loyalty, fearlessness and intelligence, the war poodles were known to take part in battles on behalf of their regiments even without specific training for the task. In his memoirs Napoleon praised a poodle who died at the battle of Marengo, licking the face of his fallen Grenadier master. Another poodle named Buff accompanied Lt. Col.Chestmaster during the Peninsula War, while the poodle Moffino got sadly separated from his master while crossing the Berezina River in the Russian campaign. Moffino then traveled from Russia to Italy to find his corporal master, and they were gladly reunited.

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Working Poodles: What They’re Best At

I’ve spoken a bit about how our family troupe of circus-style performers happened to be gifted with a standard poodle and fall so in love with him that we’ve had standard poodles as members of the family – and the troupe – ever since. I’ve even posted about one of our most successful poodle acts, Championship Poodle Wrestling.

But poodles weren’t actually bred to be delightful performers of tricks on command under the big top (or on the Riverwalk). Poodles originally appeared in Germany rather than France, working in the swamps as water dogs trained to retrieve fallen birds for hunters. They may have developed from rugged Asian herding dogs, and still make excellent herders today. Captured by the Berbers of North Africa, they also held a reputation as lion hunters with excellent tracking skills.

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Poodle History

Ah, poodles! The official national dog of France, beloved of old ladies, punks who love pink and purple hair dye, and talented circus performers ever since people figured out that kids and dogs will earn tips on the street, in the square or under the big top.

The first official notice of poodles appears on Roman and Greek coins from ~30 a.d., though suspiciously poodle-like hunting dogs are found in the detailed pictorial histories on tomb walls in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Where, legend has it, they were lion-hunters. When they weren’t the pampered pets of the ruling and priestly classes, that is. These would have been the big guys – “Imperials” – that Napoleon favored so highly.

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