Alternative Supports for Cancer

I have written previously about the sad fact that poodles (and boxers, and some other breeds) are prone to developing cancer. My own family has lost more than one beloved pet to this insidious disease. Most experts believe cancer is triggered primarily by environmental causes in both humans and their pets, though certain genetic weaknesses make it easier to trigger.

Alas, a friend this past week discovered that his beloved dog has lymphoma, a systemic cancer. He is currently out of work (as are millions of others with millions more to come in the current economic crisis), was devastated that he simply cannot afford the expensive chemotherapy his vet suggested. Feeling very depressed about losing his sweet dog in addition to all the other troubles his struggling family is facing, he felt entirely helpless and more than a little bit like a total failure.

So I wrote him a nice little email about my experience with canine cancer, and how that very expensive chemotherapy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Not only does it not gain the dog any arguably high quality time on the planet, it causes many peripheral problems too. Our dear Bob’s beautiful poodle hair fell out, he suddenly gained so much weight he could hardly walk, and time for “The Shot” came right on schedule anyway, he didn’t gain a single day. Even though it cost us $1500 way back in the 1990s, and those costs have doubled or tripled in the years since.

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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.

An Enclosure Full of Trouble

When my beautiful Kenya was a pup, she was so full of rambunctious-ness that we’d often spend hours just watching her find things to play with, then shred into teeny tiny confetti-sized pieces. Here’s a video of poodle puppies - three black and three white - who are six times the shredders Kenya was!

Happy 4th of July to all, and don’t forget to let your poodle enjoy those fireworks too… just don’t let them bite the rockets as they go off!

Meet Creole and Gumbo

This video is a clip from my friends at Creole and Gumbo blog (listed atop the blogroll on the right). This is Creole and Gumbo’s first weekend together, a delightful video.

Now, just because these parti-colored poodles are intriguing to me, thought I’d post a video of them so you can see what they look like. I did a little research, and found PartiInfo, which informs that while the original sporting (and truffle-hunting) poodles were generally two-toned, the AKC and BKC decided sometime around the turn of the 20th century to limit show participation to solid color poodles only.

Still, parti colored poodles are registered by the AKC, and according to The Parti Poodle now sports champion show dogs with the Multi-Color Poodle Club of America in conjunction with the United Kennel Club. Go to this page and view the photos of these amazingly beautiful dogs! I’m thinking I might just have to have one…

Parti Poodle History shows the many paintings of early poodles. The striking similarity in markings with spaniels will make you do a double take!

This video is Jazmin’s Parti Poodles playing - poetry in motion!

Shaving The Poodle

Grooming Therapy for Poodle-Lovers

In this family of poodle-lovers the issue of grooming has always been a struggle of time versus money. Sometimes we’ve got enough to take the dog to a pro groomer and pay for the service, at other times we’ve been broke and end up having to do it ourselves. When we moved to the mountains - and our poods became “Giant Mutant Mountain Poodles,” grooming became a 100% in-house job. We purchased a couple of pairs of good electric grooming shavers and many blades, a blade sharpener system that never really worked well, and some attachable combs so we could regulate the length of hair being cut.

The combs never really worked either. So the twice-yearly operation became one of simply “shaving the poodle,” and our daughter took on the job as therapy for her emotionally stressful life. She’d tell her friends at work and on the softball team, as well as her then-current boyfriend, that she’d be unavailable for the weekend. She’d set up in a nice shady part of the yard with her comb and brush and shears on a blanket, and get to work.

She got pretty good at it, too. In the spring and again in the fall she’d shave the poodle down to practically nothing, trim the puffs on the tail and head and ears with scissors, clean out and disinfect ears, trim toenails and hair in between the toes. The poodle would be good for about 6 months (when the dreadlocks again had to be dealt with).

Here’s a cool poodle-grooming video that should help any poodle-lover out there thinking about shaving his/her own poodle for a change! Enjoy, and don’t forget that poodles do have particular issues with their feet and ears that require extra attention…

Rescue Poodle Birthday Bash

This video comes via the PawsRescue channel at YouTube, and it follows a poodle mom and her nine 10-day old pups from their rescue to their first birthday bash. Looks like everyone found great homes!

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?

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!

Welcome Russian Visitors!

I have been getting some hits from a Russian language site, and wish to welcome you all! I’m using the Paralink translation site to see what you are saying, and I thank “The Professor” for his/her link to this blog.

Now I’m going to try to post this in Cyrillic…

A Poodle Person Who Hates Christmas?

I spent some years hating Christmas, I admit. It’s because I’m an elf. When we first moved to the mountains of western North Carolina 15 years ago, we of course went looking for work for which we were suited. Our family entertainment company made a good living for us in Florida, where our clowns, jugglers, fire eaters, super heroes, puppet shows and other costumed characters were hard at work every weekend and most of the week. But there aren’t a million people in a 30 mile radius of this homestead.

We used to have up to a dozen clown-elves covering six malls from the week before Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve. We have the costumes and the skills, so signed on as “Papa and Mama Elf” - plus Bob and Kenya the Christmas poodles - to do the stage shows at a seedy Christmas theme park in Cherokee. Basic clown stuff, some juggling and some dumb magic tricks. Bob and Kenya sported Elizabethan red and green collars, did the meet-and-greet at the theater door and gladly accepted love from the kids on their way out after the show was done. The kids loved it. The poodles loved it. We didn’t love it all that much…

Six shows a day, seven days a week, six months a year from May through October. In god-awful costumes, wigs, hats, tights, striped thigh socks and curly felt boots that are hot to wear in December. We quickly found that in July when it’s 95º in the shade, they’re unbearable.

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