Poodle Crossbreeds: Use Your Imagination!

Big Ras Bob our first black standard poodle was a beautiful dog. And among the many notable qualities of the breed - such as beauty, intelligence, non-allergenic coat, minimal shedding and a palpable love of humans - there is also a sort of pride in being what they are. I’ve always called that “Breed-ism.” They know they’re the cream of the crop, and comport themselves accordingly.

We were living in St. Augustine, Florida in a rented duplex near the airport for awhile. Until that house burned down due to faulty wiring in the vacant half, quite the traumatic family event even though the only life lost in the fire were three goldfish. Our next door neighbors had a beautiful purebred black chow they didn’t keep a tight leash on, so it was inevitable that when she went into heat the full roster of neighborhood male-mutts were going to do their best to get their sperm into the mix.

But that girl-chow had eyes only for Bob. She was completely smitten and determined to capture his qualities for her own offspring. She was surprisingly vicious to her other suitors, keeping herself exclusive to the love of her life, and sure enough was soon pregnant with a litter of… um… ChowDoodles? PooChows?

The house burned down before they were born so we never got to see them, but we were quite sure they’d be some very cool dogs. And within the history of purebred dog breeding the exemplars are often crossed-out after developing some considerable genetic infirmities, so as to get “fresh blood” into the system, strengthen the genome, and then those out-crosses are put back into the pedigree tree for producing new, healthier champions a few generations down the line. This has occurred many times in poodles, who are among the oldest of breeds.

I’ve mentioned the genetic (and possibly epigenetic) issues that afflict poodles in our current culture. Our vet told us after having to put down the second of our beloved dogs that with poodles and boxers, if they don’t die getting hit by a car they are almost sure to die of cancer. That’s not a happy situation, not the least because these dogs are so very sweet and loved to excess by their people. I’d sure like to know if those PoodChows lived longer than Bob did, and didn’t develop cancer.

I’ve also mentioned Labradoodles since meeting a golden who immediately stole my heart. I understand that the offspring of the cross can have lab hair or poodle hair, this one was essentially indistinguishable from a poodle and could easily be re-integrated into a championship line for “new blood” grandpups.

I found a list of the most popular current poodle out-breeds over at Pet Lover blog, and simply imagining what these dogs might look like is definitely a fun exercise! Try your imagination out on some of these…

Saint Berdoodle - Saint Bernard + Poodle. A dog smart enough to rescue the skiers, but who drank the brandy on the way.

Scoodle - Scottish Terrier + Poodle. A dog short enough to lick the ground and insists on wearing a kilt.

Eskapoo - American Eskimo Dog + Poodle. The snootiest sled dogs on the trail.

Pugapoo - Pug + Poodle. Why would anybody want to do that to a perfectly good poodle?

Doodleman Pinscher - Doberman + Poodle. Would probably make an excellent regiment of war dogs.

English Boodle - English Bulldog + Poodle. Who put him up to it? How could she stoop so low?

You’ve probably seen examples of the rest of the list, which includes Cockapoos, Schnoodles, Lhasapoos, Pekepoos, Pomapoos and Weimardoodles. Hmmm… I can see that some of these crossbreeds aren’t going to contribute much in the way of desirable genes to the king-breed of Poodle-Poodles. But if anyone’s interested, you’ll find a list of cross-breeders at DoodleFinder. Be sure to exercise your imagination BEFORE you buy, so you won’t be unpleasantly surprised!

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