The second day of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show wrapped up last night (February 10), with a 10-year old Sussex Spaniel named “Stump” taking the Best of Show honors. For those like me who never heard of a Sussex Spaniel, it’s a medium-sized, short-legged, longish-haired dog with a saggy face and Prince Valiant ears that looks kind of cool – but not nearly as cool as the dreadlocked Puli, which could have masqueraded as a Wild Mutant Mountain Poodle in desperate need of a haircut…

At any rate, the standard poodle took Best of Breed Monday night in the Non-Sporting group. Ch Randenn Tristar Affirmation, a six-year old white lady-poodle of great grace and charm (not to mention big hairdo) took the gold, beating out the French Bulldog who took silver and Bulldog-bulldog who took bronze.

Here is the Video Link from WKC on the poodle-judging, and there are available videos on the site for all breeds and groups, so do spend some time if you missed the show on television. And while you’re at it, do check out that spectacular Puli. I just might have to consider getting me one of those one of these days. If I ever get really tired of poodle-shaving, that is…

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!

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…

1. Poodles first became famous for their performing abilities in Europe with the Commedia del Arte’s Gypsies and Jongleurs in the Middle Ages, moving quite naturally into circus and Vaudeville over the centuries. It was Gypsies (the Rom) who made most creative use of manicuring their poodles’ coats into fanciful and outlandish hair styles to delight audiences, often mimicking the outrageous wig stylings of the pampered aristocracy. They dressed their poodles in costumes to match, too!

2. Poodle hair is thick and tightly curled (on adult dogs), effectively repelling water if it is not allowed to become corded into floor-length dreadlocks. Because their hair grows continually, hunters who relied on poodles to retrieve their prize learned to trim and brush their dogs’ coats to prevent drowning. The poodle breed is related to both Irish and Portugese water dogs, and is popular as a “Yacht Dog” among the wealthy.

3. Those odd poodle haircuts were designed originally for utility in the job of water retrieving. By leaving the coat long over the hips, chest and head, internal organs were protected from the effects of very cold water and helped to buoy the dog with trapped air. Shaving the haunches and feet allowed the poodles to more efficiently swim. By leaving “pom-poms” on the ankles protected these important joints from the effects of cold as well.

4. Poodles can only be shown in English Saddle, Lion or Continental clips unless they are being shown in stud classes. Most pet poodles are trimmed for ease of maintenance, usually a single length all over, slightly shorter on the neck, longer on head and ears, face and feet shaved. Despite the “non-sporting” classification, the acceptable show clips are specific to the sporting function poodles were bred to perform.

5. Poodles do not shed like other dogs do, thus are a good choice for people with allergies to dog hair or who just don’t like to clean up after a shedding dog.

6. While some breeders do offer parti-colored poodles, these are not recognized by show breeders or allowed to compete in kennel club shows. Acceptable poodle colors are black, white, apricot, silver, chocolate or cream.

7. An artist’s favorite subject for hundreds of years, poodles appear in more works of art than any other dog breed.

8. All sizes of poodle are recognized as being a single breed. The standard is the oldest of the three varieties (standard, miniature and toy), which is why it’s called “standard!” In France and elsewhere, very large standard poodles (in the 90-120 pound range) are called “Imperial Poodles.” Imperial is not recognized as a separate variety by the kennel clubs.

9. Poodles are considered among the three breeds of highest intelligence among all dogs. While there is some disagreement about which breed is the smartest, poodles get a lot of votes! Ranking #2 in the top 10, the top 4 (because #3 is disputed) are: Border Collie, Poodle, German Shepherd and Golden Retriever.

10. A team of standard poodles competes in the Alaskan Iditarod dogsled race every year.

11. Torch singer Billie Holiday’s beloved standard poodle was cremated after his death in Billie’s best mink coat.

12. According to Tammy Bruce’s article, current Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero declared the Poodle to now be Spain’s national dog. This might be political hyperbole.

Links:

Historical Information About Poodles

Rick London: Good Things To Know About Poodle History

Alaska, where women win the Iditarod and men mush poodles!

Real French Poodles from the Languedoc

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.

Of course the park blared Christmas carols through loudspeakers all day every day, the same carols on the same loop, endlessly. Then we took two weeks off and went right into Christmas at the mall. Luckily for us, the Santa from the park was also the mall Santa, so we had an automatic in with the marketing director. That Santa was the best. A kind and portly man with honest twinkling eyes, real snow-white hair and perfectly manicured beard, he had been in show biz all his life. Father was a magician with a traveling medicine show out west, did great disappear-reappear stuff because he was the father of two sets of identical twins, girls and boys. Santa’s identical twin was a magician who ran the magic shop at the park. He was a mean drunk with a penchant for wife-beating, an awful man I called “Santa’s Evil Twin.” But that’s another story…

Anyway, I hated Christmas because after ‘doing Christmas’ for for a living 8 months of the year it seems so… anticlimactic. It’s very easy to get jaded if your job is Christmas. Where the consumerist frenzy, endless parade of spoiled children and emo teenagers, and way too many Bah Humbug parents can certainly get you down.

Then… then… there are those truly magical moments that make it all seem worthwhile. That occasional child who really, truly believes in magic and can make you believe it too… sigh.

Okay. I don’t hate Christmas, probably never REALLY did. It’s been good to us over the years. And I don’t care what anybody’s religious anger issues are, if you see Mama or Papa Elf in the mall or on the street during the holiday season, you’re entirely likely to hear a cheery “Merry Christmas!” whether you like it or not. Rudeness will earn a “merry humbug to you too, grumpy!” …and that at least gives kids a chuckle (line from The Muppet Christmas Carol).

It’s a dirty job. Somebody’s got to do it.

Merry Christmas from Mama and Papa Elf!

Our poodles have all been big dogs. In the Imperial range, they weighed in at between 60 and 80+ pounds of well-shaped critter. Despite their reputation for intellectual prowess and high-dollar doggie superiority, poodles are like any other dog when it comes to having fun… they love to play.

And anyone who has ever owned and loved a big dog will tell you, wrestling with their masters – in the grass or just on the living room floor – is one of the most favored forms of play. Because we were already show-folk when we were gifted with our first standard poodle, the next step was entirely predictable.

Sure, we might have trained Uncle Bob to dance in a tutu, or ride a horse we didn’t have, or jump through flaming hoops, or maybe just come when we called him. But we thought it was probably a better idea to just make the best commercial use of his natural tendencies. Which, in the case of a weekly riverwalk ‘New Vaudeville Night’ gig in Jacksonville, Florida, turned out to be Championship Poodle Wrestling.

Now, we worked hard on this act. Or, our teenage son did. He’d learned to juggle when he was 12, just out of the hospital from appendicitis, taught by a friend in Tulsa who went by the stage name of “SkyDawg.” He’s the one who gave our son his stage name of “SkyPup,” and who advised us early on that we couldn’t lose if we put kids and/or dogs in the act. We promptly took him up on it.

So Championship Poodle Wrestling became the exclusive territory of Uncle Bob the poodle and the Pup. They practiced every day, for seeming hours. In the yard, in the park, on the carpet. Being naturally athletic (as a good juggler and Kung-Fu black belt should be, despite reaching 6 feet tall at the ripe old age of 15), the Pup soon learned how to flip himself over, take great pratfalls, and generally make it look a lot like that dog had Hulk Hogan’ed him.

Bob just loved to wrestle with his boy. Any time, any place. Since he was also very well-mannered in public and in crowds, we figured we’d need to create a reserved space for the act so he wouldn’t become too self-conscious or shy. We got four of those nifty theater stanchions with the fat, velvet-covered ropes with hooks at the end, and a 10′ square of astro-turf. Set-up was easy, just roll out the carpet, put the stanchions at the corners and attach the ropes. Instant Wrestling Ring!

SkyPup had one of those standard one-piece wrestling suits that look like 1890s bathing suits. Black stretch with a big white “P.” Uncle Bob’s costume was more elaborate. Actual satin shorts (with tail-hole) and big championship belt. White because he was black, the belt was attached fake-leather painted to look 3-D and metallic gold. He also had a fancy robe he’d wear into the ring, where my husband did the emcee announcing to get the crowd all worked up. I often was the bell-ringer, got a nice big bell just for effect.

Both of them had their corner training crews too, there with buckets of water, towels, elaborately outsized first-aid kits, and in Uncle Bob’s corner, a nice poodle-sized futon he could lie down on. He had great fun with this, as Pup would be making a big show of total exhaustion in his corner, Bob would just take a nap. The crowd loved it.

Pup had subtle hand signals that Bob would respond to, standing up to put his front paws on Pup’s shoulders, or do a sideways body-block to the midsection, or, when Pup would throw himself (theatrically, often flipping in the process) down, to pin his shoulders before prancing in victory circles around the ring.

It was one of our most successful crowd-pleasers, and the hat-tip crew often worked it as though they were making real prize-fighting book. The poodle loved every minute of it, and I swear really did believe himself to be the World Heavyweight Poodle Wrestling Champion. SkyPup never won, even once. Bob always pinned him in the end.

There’s just something about a kid and his dog. And as SkyDawg told us, you can’t lose if you’ve got kids and dogs in the act. In my experience of such things, this is true. The act is still legendary among friends who still live there, all grown up and parents themselves now. More than a couple of them have big poodles, and wrestle with them regularly.

Which is just as it should be.