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.

When our sweet Beau was diagnosed with cancer, we chose not to go the chemo route because we already knew it wasn’t worth the cost. So I told my friend about some herbal treatments that some vets recommend either as systemic support during the course of the disease or to use in conjunction with chemo to offset the gnarly side-effects. These are mostly anti-oxidants, general health supports, and may include energy and/or appetite stimulants. These really can help your dog feel better day to day, have more energy, avoid suffering rapid decline, and in conjunction with reasonable pain relief can at least make your dog’s last months much more comfortable.

Links below go to various pet-med and veterinary sites that offer formulations for cancer support and pain relief that will not break your budget. It is actually a good thing to feel that you’re doing something for your loving companion, while allowing for gentle, focused interaction at the end of a lifetime (the dog’s) spent together.

Links:

Canine Herbal Treatments: Cancer
Foster&Smith: Tramadol [pain relief]
Herbal Medicine as an Alternative Treatment
Integrative Treatment of Cancer in Dogs
All Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats
Alternative Medicine for Dogs

“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!

Neurologists and cognitive scientists have what they call the “Mirror Test” that is supposed to measure the self-awareness of animals based on whether or not they can recognize themselves in a mirror. Thus far among ‘lesser’ creatures the great apes, some monkeys, dolphins, elephants, rats and octopi are the only ones confirmed to recognize the image in the mirror as themselves, and humans only manage the feat after they’re 18 months to 2 years old.

Dogs thus far have been ruled failures at self-awareness – despite some disagreement in the scientific community as to whether the test can be properly applied to an animal that relies primarily on senses other than sight. In fact, there is considerable debate ongoing in science as to whether this test means anything at all about self-awareness and/or intelligence for any animal.

I must admit that I’ve always thought the mirror test was highly suspect. For instance, as a family of performers mirrors have always been a big item in our home. There’s a wall full of make-up mirrors with lights, and another wall lined with big mirrors used to perfect moves, flourishes, techniques and puppet manipulation so we can see what we’re doing as others will view it.

Thus it was no surprise to us when our grandson, who was born to mirrors and people who made serious use of them, recognized himself in the mirror very well by the time he learned to crawl – 7 months. As soon as he managed to get himself pulled up to a standing position (9 months – he was precocious) and relied upon Uncle Bob the Poodle to support him as he made his unsteady way from point A to point B, His favorite point B was right in front of the floor-to-ceiling wall of mirrors. He and Bob could be found in front of the mirrors quite a lot of the time.

Bob had no problem knowing who the boy reflected in the mirror was, and I’ve no doubt he knew who the reflected poodle was too – in fact, whenever Bob would come home from the groomer’s with a new haircut, he’d go straight to the mirrored wall to admire himself from all angles he could manage.

Now, maybe scientists just haven’t bothered mirror-testing poodles, who are notoriously finicky about their grooming and impressive good looks. Or maybe they’ve never spent any time with performing dogs (and their people) to know how much performers rely upon mirrors to make sure their performances are well timed and well done. And perhaps child psychologists just don’t deal with baby performers, for whom practicing in front of mirrors is taken entirely for granted from birth and availed just as soon as that baby can get himself to a mirror.

Heck, I once stood in the doorway watching 14-month old grandson seriously practicing his fit-throwing – theatrically throwing himself onto the ground, pounding his fists and feet, etc., the basic body language of the “Terrible Twos” early as usual for him. Finally I laughed and he knew I was there. “You’re never going to be able to pull off a decent fit, you know,” I told him with some humor. “Just not spontaneous enough.”

Not surprisingly, he never did become a famous fit-thrower, skipped that stage entirely, having been caught in the act.

Perhaps (my own opinion), cog-sci guys and psychologists just don’t know enough about self-awareness and self-consciousness to measure it. New research from researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria tends to confirm my strong suspicions that dogs are a whole heck of a lot smarter, self-aware and self-conscious than scientists have wanted to admit to this point. Turns out they can differentiate complex colors and images in photographs and on computer screens – even USE computers! – better than anyone previously imagined.

Dogs Can Classify Complex Photos In Categories Like Humans Do is a really interesting article about this research. From that article…

The authors also draw some conclusions on the strength of their methodology: “Using touch-screen computers with dogs opens up a whole world of possibilities on how to test the cognitive abilities of dogs by basically completely controlling any influence from the owner or experimenter.” They add that the method can also be used to test a range of learning strategies and has the potential to allow researchers to compare the cognitive abilities of different species using a single method.

I’m glad they’ve moved beyond mere mirrors and assumptions, all the way to teaching dogs to use touch screen computers so they can communicate their knowledge to researchers who didn’t think they were smart enough to even know they were dogs. Of course, all any of them ever had to do was ask a dog-lover (particularly any Poodle Person). They’d have gotten an earful on how intelligent they are.

Of course, as the joke at the beginning of this post suggests, perhaps no one should be surprised that researchers are surprised that dogs can recognize pictures of dogs, while NOT being surprised that dogs can be taught to use touch screen computers. Go figure…

Her AKC registration name was “Kenya Queen Reba Amelia E.” She’s the only giant mutant mountain poodle… er, Imperial-size standard that we ever actually bought. Got her as a black hairball puppy from a couple whose actual business was to breed English Bulldogs in Savannah. The mama was their house pet, an impressive black. Paid $550 for her, had our pick of a litter of 6.

We’d answered an ad for the puppies, checked first to see if there were any close relatives or cousins in her bloodline and Uncle Bob’s. We wanted them to be a pair, and they were quite the pair. Though they never managed to have any pups of their own.

The naming of Kenya was quite the ordeal in a family with strong opinions and favorites. My husband wanted to name her “Queenie,” but only because his parents never let him name one of their dogs Queenie, and he thought it was a great dog name. I thought it was right up there with “Rover” or “Fido” – awful.

Our daughter pushed for “Reba” because she was in a big Reba McIntire phase at the time, and was going to college with Reba’s niece. I thought that name would look better on a redhead, but what do I know? Our son wanted to name her “Kenya,” and that name fit her particularly well. She earned “Amelia E.” on her own, after taking to the habit of flying leaps off the second story roof whenever the deck gate was shut and someone she wanted to meet showed up downstairs.

She had these great long legs, and a natural spring-action landing pattern. Never got hurt, amazed everybody, and by the time she was grown could use that spring action to make spectacular leaps straight up the mountain side or bound terraces after deer just for fun. Kenya Queen Reba Amelia E., The Flying Poodle.

We just called her Kenya. After our son died in an accident we, Bob, Kenya, our daughter and then 2-year old grandson moved to a cabin and acreage in Western North Carolina to start over. The Pup (our son) had been our business partner and a genuine local celebrity in Florida. The newspaper devoted three pages to his memorial service, television crews covered it live, and we got literally thousands of cards and letters from his many young fans. Suddenly no one wanted our clowns at their events anymore. Too sad, I guess.

Starting over was all we could think of. The cabin is a hundred years old, originally built as a sawmill camp cabin. The Southern Railroad used it as a hunting lodge for executives. When it fell into private hands the roof was raised, a loft was built, and a full bathroom was added in the half-cellar. The chestnut logs and siding came from this property, long before the blight wiped them out.

Our young grandson didn’t like the cabin very much, though he did love the land. For the first whole year we lived here he refused to sleep indoors. So we pitched one of those little dome tents on the second story back deck (fully railed, 10 x 12) accessed straight through the sliding glass door. He slept out there with Kenya every night and it didn’t hurt him. No wildlife (other than Kenya and the cats) could reach him, so it worked out well and he did get over it after that year. Learned to sleep indoors fine.

During that first year a good sized black bear with a yearling and a small cub had spent the winter in an old collapsed barn down in the bottomland. First thing in the spring Mama moved on with her small cub in tow, left the male yearling here to fend for himself. And from the size of him he was fending okay. Yet what he really, really wanted to fend most for himself was Kenya. That bear was definitely smitten, thought she was absolutely T-H-E most gorgeous black bear he’d ever hoped to lay eyes on!

He’d seen Kenya get all defensive and listened to her bark ceaselessly at him whenever he came close enough for her to smell him. Boy bears smell pretty bad, though I guess she-bears think it’s sexy. Kenya did not. By the time spring was definitely upon us, that bear was stepping up his courtship considerably.

My husband and I slept in the loft, with windows directly above the porch with our grandson’s little tent. We had gotten quite used to Kenya’s barking at the bear, who showed up below the balcony every morning just at sunrise to sing her praises. He’d taught himself to bark, no doubt thinking that would make her love him, and his bark was not as easy to ignore.

Grandson could sleep through Kenya’s barking too, but liked that bear bark as little as we did. One morning after the two had barked and barked and barked at each other, we heard our sleepy, now 3-year old grandson yell out crossly, “SHUT UP, BEAR!!!”

He figured out for himself that if he’d just move inside to the bedroom, Kenya would still sleep with him but he wouldn’t have to be rudely awakened by a barking bear every morning of his life. So I guess we have the bear to thank for civilizing the kid somewhat.

The bear moved on once the object of his affections moved indoors, though we’d occasionally hear his mournful barking from up on heartbreak ridge at night. And Kenya always dutifully barked right back at him. We like to think he found a lover from his own species and helped to keep the local black bear population going.

We’ve seen a very big male a few times on the back road, probably 700+ pounds. Just the size our bear would be if he’s lived this long. Not the same bear who comes through in the spring to raid the trash bin, in the summer to hit the berry patch, and in the fall to languish under the pear trees to feast on droppings.

But every time I see a bear (male, female, cub or yearling) I think of Kenya Queen Reba Amelia E., the flying poodle. And one seriously lovesick bear who thought she was the most beautiful thing he ever saw.

“They say poodles aren’t ‘real’ dogs. At least, that’s what I tell motel desk people when we’re on the road with our Imperials and they say dogs aren’t allowed. It almost always works. In truth, their intelligence is amazingly human-like. They learn quickly, are highly creative, and love to be stars.”

That’s from the ‘About’ page of this blog. It describes something every ‘Poodle Person’ knows, and it’s honestly isn’t that difficult to convince other people – like your average motel desk clerk – that it’s true.

For a young guy being set up with a blind date, ‘personality’ isn’t necessarily a strong recommendation. Parents attempting to deal with a high-energy, short attention span child who might be better off on Ritalin, ‘personality’ can be a descriptive defense mechanism. The word itself contains the noun ‘person’, which does seem fairly exclusive to human beings. Yet poodles are famous for having personality to spare.

Poodle personalities can vary as much as any individual human’s personalities can, and it’s an interesting observation that – like other dogs – poodles will often reflect and compliment the personality of their human. Poodles can become easily spoiled. They’ve a certain presence and aura of superiority that no doubt comes from their pampered, high-class history. They hold themselves proudly, prance elegantly, and are amazingly intelligent, which helps to explain their affinity with nobility.

The intensive grooming that poodles require, along with the fact that they don’t shed like most other dogs do also helps to give people the general impression that poodles just aren’t all that dog-like. But it’s that famous intelligence that best recommends the poodle personality.

I’ve posted about working poodles to show how versatile these dogs really are. A sled poodle is no more or less intelligent than a circus poodle, who is no more or less intelligent than a guide poodle, who is no more or less intelligent than a hunting poodle… they start out with high intelligence and the ability to learn pretty much whatever their humans want them to learn. And they’re adaptable as well, meaning that they can serve different roles depending on the situation.

Standard poodles need more exercise than toys or miniatures, as they are bigger dogs. But they are fairly mellow, not jumpy or nervous. They love people, including children. When our grandson Josh was born, Uncle Bob the poodle loved nothing better than to lie happily on the floor and let that young’un crawl all over him or sleep snuggled against him. He seemed to understand that Josh might be frightened of him if he stood and towered over him, so he’d crawl along the carpet right along with him, making sure Josh was never more than a few feet away.

Josh also learned to stand and walk early – at 9 months – and that was all Bob’s fault. Bob would let Josh grab hold of his neck, ears or shoulder hair, then actually help him stand! They’d walk around the house looking for things Josh could get into, and the poodle never got tired of it. I’d never seen anything like that in all my life!

Poodles do not do well in cages unless you crate-train them early on. None of ours could abide a cage of any variety, but then, we’d never expected them to. Because we live in a rural area our poodles can come and go from the house at will during the day. We never had to specifically train them not to roam, because they’ve never shown any inclination to roam. They don’t want to be that far away from their humans. They sleep inside with us at night, always have. I’ve had outdoor dogs, but poodles just don’t fit the bill. When we lived in town we’d have to walk them, and standard poodles are big and friendly enough dogs to need leash training no matter where you live. You’ll be taking them places.

Those notorious sled poodles got their job because they love to pull. Standard poodles are strong animals, so if they aren’t properly leash trained you’ll definitely be sorry. Luckily, they care a lot for what you want and need from them, can read your mind, and will pretty much leash train themselves if you just let them know what you want.

And while it’s not strictly a personality issue, poodles take some serious upkeep. They love water, so regular baths usually aren’t a problem. Their hair grows like human hair – it doesn’t stop at a certain length, but will grow all the way to the ground if you let it. It’s curly and soft, so easily matted. You can do the fancy hairdo thing, but that takes brushing at least twice daily. I always liked the basic lamb cut – “shave the poodle” my daughter calls it. Take it all off except for the pom on the tail and some length on the ears and they’re good for two or three months.

Ears are an issue because poodles have hair that doesn’t stop growing in their ears, too. This has to be pulled out, the wax should be softened and removed, and mites find a happy home in there. Best to get your groomer or vet to do these jobs, but you can learn to do them at home.

Oh… and poodles love to go for rides. They’ll jump right into the back of the SUV or into the van, take a seat by the window and pay attention to everything going on. Our big male Beau loved to ride shotgun (that allowed us to strap him in with the shoulder belt), with the window down and goggle sunglasses. Really freaks people out at red lights, particularly when we’d be driving the little TR-4 with the top down, clown in the driver’s seat, human-size poodle with sunglasses in the shotgun position.

Links:

Poodle Personalities

More about poodle personalities