What is a Standard Poodle?

Standard Poodle

Traditionally the Standard Poodle, the largest of the subtypes, was a retriever or gun dog, used in particular for duck hunting and sometimes upland bird hunting. The breed has been used for fowl hunting in US and Canada since the early 1990s, in and out of hunting tests. The modern Standard retains many of the traits prized by their original owners: a keen working intelligence that makes the dog easy to command, webbed feet that make it an agile swimmer (all of the poodle's ancestors and descendants had or share the love of water) athletic stamina, and a moisture-resistant, curly coat that acts like a wool jumper in damp conditions. Towards the second half of the nineteenth century their use in hunting declined in favour of their use in circuses and status symbols of the wealthy, so that by the 20th century they were only found as companions or circus dogs. However, in the past 20 years, some breeders in the United States and Canada have been selecting for dogs with drive for birds in order to revive the breed for hunting, with some success. The Canadian Kennel Club admitted the Standard Poodle for hunting trials in 1996 and the American Kennel Club in 1998, respectively. As of July 2014, the end results of 20 years of breeding to reawaken the hunting instinct have been dogs that are very eager to please their masters. It has resulted in a gun dog with extreme intelligence, a relentless drive to catch its quarry, and strong swimming skills that requires special training: their aptitude is second only to the British Border Collie and thus the hunting Standard Poodle requires the gunman to be quite specific as to what he wants and how he wants it done. Unlike other spaniels and retrievers, Standard Poodles will attempt to solve a problem independently and need to be told specifically what is wanted when tracking and retrieving a bird. Because they are highly intelligent, harsh training methods do not work with this dog breed in the field-corrections must be timely, given with precision and the trainer must have a firm but kind hand; an overbearing owner training his dog to hunt will find his Standard poodle fearful of his master and the entire experience, and refusing to budge an inch towards the water or into the brush. Hunting poodles typically are dogs with lightning quick reflexes, sprinting hard on command after the downed bird and having a prodigious ability to remember where the bird fell and (though not as good as the English Pointer) a decent nose to sniff and track a bird hiding in tall grass.

Standard Poodles have been winning titles against the more widely used native breeds like the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever,American Water Spaniel and Labrador Retriever. Thus far 13 Standard Poodles have won Master Hunt titles (12 in the United States, 1 in Canada) and several more have won senior and junior titles on both sides of the border. Currently only the United Kennel Club in the US recognizes the Standard Poodle as a Sporting dog, thus in spite of this subtype of poodle being ineligible for field competitions more and more are appearing in the field as waterfowl dogs and hunters of pheasant in tall grass, the latter especially in the Midwest.

World War II working dogs

Poodles have been used as working dogs in the military since at least the 17th century. During WWII, Roland Kilbon of the New York Sun, reported that other countries had used dogs in their armies for many years. In his column he quoted Mrs. Milton S. (Arlene) Erlanger, owner of Pillicoc Kennels, a premier breeder of Poodles "The dog must play a game in this thing." Eventually, "With the blessing of the American Kennel Club, the Professional Handlers Association, obedience training clubs across the country, and Seeing Eye, Inc., a nationwide program known as Dogs for Defense, Inc. was initiated and became the official procurement agency for all war dogs used in the Army, Navy and Coast Guard." Dogs for Defense procured the dogs who were then trained by the Army. In 1942, the Poodle was one of 32 breeds officially classified as war dogs by the Army.

Description

Appearance

Poodle sizesThe poodle is an active, intelligent and elegant dog, squarely built, and well proportioned. To ensure the desirable squarely built appearance, the length of body measured from the breastbone to the point of the rump approximates the height from the highest point of the shoulders to the ground. The eyes should be very dark, oval in shape, and have an alert and intelligent expression. The ears should fold over close to the head, set at, or slightly below, eye level. The coat should be of naturally curly texture, dense throughout, although most AKC-registered show dogs have a lion-cut or other, similarly shaven look. The sizes of the official AKC-recognized Poodle breeds are determined by height, not by weight.

Poodles are bred in a variety of sizes, distinguished by adult shoulder (withers) height. The exact height cutoffs among the varieties vary slightly from country to country. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) recognizes four sizes of one breed: standard, medium, miniature, and toy. Non-FCI kennel clubs generally recognize three sizes, standard, miniature, and toy, sometimes as sizes of the same breed and sometimes as separate breeds. Only the FCI describes a maximum size for Standard Poodles. France is the country responsible for the breed in the FCI, and in this country, the puppies of all sizes are listed together. The terms royal standard, teacup, and tiny teacup are marketing names, and are not recognized by any major kennel club.