Poodles and Chickens - together forever!

[chickiebaby]

Jessica, that is a sweetheart of a dog, and what a great pic. PC, you just crack me up every time.

 

[rebecca10782]

Here is my toy poodle foraging in the compost with our chickens

She got a nice long bath that night!

As you know, it is NOT fun to groom a poodle. But it was worth it cause I got pictures

And here she is modeling her new sweater

(sorry, I go crazy with the pictures)

 

[PitterPaws]

All this poodle talk made me remember when I was young and we inherited our grandpas poodle cute little gray male poodle. well we used to bring him in to get his puppy cut hair cut at the groomers. and he would always come home with ribbons and painted toe nails. I swear that was the first time I noticed a dog could be embarased. poor little guy. as soon as he was let out into the yard he would start rubbing his head in the grass trying to remove the ribbons

 

[francisfarms]

so a lot of people don't realize that poodles are actually are retrievers and are bred for hunting right? They are eligible to participate in the AKC hunt test program. Not allowed in field trials yet but soon. I subscribe to retrievertraining.net a post by Kirsty Wilder was quite an inspiration to lots of pooodle owners. She received her Bench title and a Master Hunter title !!! quite an accomplished for a froo froo dog!!!

 

[freerange freaks]

Poodles were originally bred as retrievers. But over time, characteristics that make a good hunting dog get bred out because they are not favourable in the show ring. I don't know of too many breeders out there that breed working line poodles. I am sure they are out there somewhere.
Please don't hate me for bashing poodles. I love them, I really do. I just have a hard time with the AKC and CKC for what they do to working breeds.
How 'bout poodles and the Iditarod?!!! Now that's impressive.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Trust me--poodles are still out there working, retrieving, and competing in hunt tests. And contrary to what many people seem to think about show breeders "breeding the instincts out of them," I would hazard a guess that MOST working poodles are from "show" lines. But yeah, AKC/CKC has it wrong as far as classifying them. The UKC, this nation's oldest breed registry, places standard poodles solidly in the Gun Dog group. Our current retriever-in-training is "Remi," short for "Remington," and both her parents are show champions, as well as being working retrievers.

And yes, most of them have a STRONG prey drive, regardless of variety. This is Delta, showing her Very Sad Face because she knows she can NOT haz shickenz.

Two of our minis (both show champions) have pinned down turkeys twice as big as them, which is why we clip the birds' wings now, so they can't fly into the backyard.

 

[freerange freaks]

I don't have a lot of experience with poodles. And I am glad to hear there are still many of you out there working your dogs. I do have experience with huskies and Mals. And IMO it is not pretty what they are doing with those breeds. I only assumed it was the same with poodles seeing as how there is not one single poodle at our hunt club nor have I ever seen one at our local retriever trials.

Also what is the purpose of that curly hair? My gosh, it is nearly impossible to get burrs out of it. On top of that, there is no way our poodle could last all day in cold water like our Labradors. Why would you breed a retriever that can't keep it's body warm?

 

[MissPrissy]

I have posted photos of my poodles on NP's poodle thread.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
You won't find people with poodles in the hunt clubs very often just because of those kinds of attitudes. I went to meetings of our local retriever club a couple of times, but did not feel at ALL welcome. It was all Labs, and the couple of folks with Goldens or Chessies were "oddballs." For competition, the Golden Retriever national breed club has been most welcoming as far as opening their hunt tests to our dogs. If you're talking about field trials, poodles are not approved for inclusion in AKC field trials yet, just hunt tests. There are people working to change that.

The "purpose" of that curly hair is purely functional. It's COMPLETELY water-resistant. It's thick, dense, curly and coarse, if the coat is correct. Try to bathe a correctly-coated poodle sometime, and you'll see! A poodle who has been swimming, will get out of the water, shake off, and if you part the hair to the skin, you'll find the skin is still nice and dry. Of course, that's IF the coat is correct.

I don't know what kind of coat your poodle has, but I can tell you that a correct "steel-wool" coat is one of the first things lost in pet-bred poodles. Poodles' coats should NOT, I repeat, NOT, be soft! The hair should feel like fine steel wool. When you press your palm into it, it should spring back into its original shape instantly.

Burrs would be more of a concern for upland game dogs than for duck dogs, I'd think, at least down here.

As far as their cold-hardiness, again, I think you'd be surprised. The majority of hunting poodles come from far northern climes. Our Remi is from Minnesota. A LOT of the people who are championing the poodles' heritage are from Canada. I have sat out all morning long one particular Christmas Day when the temps were in the teens (which, for us, is WAY cold--we hardly ever get weather like that) in icy water with a standard poodle at my side who never once complained, and bless her heart, she had her feet/legs in the water almost the entire time. She went ahead of us and broke ice, then sat quietly watching the sky for hours. I was really impressed, as that was one of my first trips out.

ETA: I meant to add that you're right about extreme cold, because poodles are slim dogs, whereas Labs and Chessies have a nice insulating layer of subcutaneous fat that helps keep them warm in extreme temps. If Alex takes Remi out for extended stays in wet, VERY cold conditions, he'll outfit her thusly (this is Remi's uncle "Rudy"), and pay close attention to her comfort level.

Here are some links for anyone who's interested.

Our Remi is linebred on this great dog, "Pie:" http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/16345381/detail.html

http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=HUNTINGPOODLE-01-09-06&cat=OT
http://www.poodlehistory.org/PDUCKGU.HTM
http://www.vipoodle.org/docs/WPindex.html
http://tudorosestandardpoodles.com/fieldhunting.cfm
http://geocities.com/jibandsuzicope/
http://www.pooplastandardpoodles.com/
http://www.lakelandhuntingpoodles.com/
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpoodle/doc/CPpoodles.html

Google would turn up a lot more, but these are just some of my favorite resources and breeders.

 

[laughingllama75]

growing up, we had a std. poodle (max, aka the big dufus). He was a tried and true hunting dog......loved the water, couldnt keep him out of it. My parents got him from a friend down south, said he couldnt keep him, as his frineds made too much fun of him. LOL. So, we got him and my step dad were best buds. Coudn't be trusted near our chickens, he would retireve them all, one by one. Not hurting them, just bringing them to dad. haha. Silly boy........he was black, and wiry as heck. Lived a long time, 16 years we had him, I think.