Why on earth does anyone even think of buying a POODLE?

So I asked myself once. ”If you are going to have all the trouble having a dog, you should have a REAL one!”  Aren´t poodles just accessories, puppets on a string for little old ladies to spoil, goodfornothing-dogs? Always barking, nervous and overerotic, everyone knows that! Silly dogs! I thought.

If anyone then had told me that I was going to have a poodle kennel with several bitches I would have laughed, loudly. I - who in all my life had real dogs: Alsations, Rottweilers, Collies.

When a friend of mine in 1987 got herself a poodle puppy I considered her as crazy; why didn´t she buy a real dog instead? But Boss the Poodle soon turned out to be a real charmer! He was so smart, full of jokes and easygoing, he learned so fast and he was such a darling. And after having him as a lodger in our house during a few weeks I was ”sold”. This was the kind of dog I wanted, as a companion for our wonderful Alsation dog, Anja.

But my children said: ”but Mother, you cannot have a POODLE!!!”

And my husband said: ”a poodle, then I will move out of the house!”

And my friends said: ”have you become that old?”

And I listened to everyone and went on searching for another breed: maybe a small terrier, a dachshound or a small schnauzer? I really really tried, but failed to find any other dog as charming as Boss the Poodle.

So I started looking for a poodle boy. I did not want a bitch, as I wanted a dog for obedience training and competition and did not think that the bitches were good enough for that (!). I searched all autumn, winter and spring, but in the whole of Sweden there was no poodle puppy boy for sale!

Then I got in touch with Ruffa and her owner. Ruffa was pregnant and was expecting at the end of April. I went to visit them and became very fond of the lovely and beautiful Ruffa, so I ”ordered” a male puppy from her litter-to-be. And so I started waiting for my poodle lad. One Saturday morning the phone rang: ”Now the pups have arrived, unfortunately there is only one boy and he is already ”taken”. How about a girl instead?” – No thanks!

The searching started all over again. No result. Then Ingrid phoned: ”Are you sure you do not want a girl? Do you want to come and have a look at them?” Yes, that I could do, but I still did not want to have a bitch. But Ruffa was such a very nice poodle, and she was a bitch, and maybe, anyway, but no - or yes?

As you now may have guessed I ended up with one of Ruffa´s girl puppies, little Isa Anisette. And this was, of course, a good decision indeed!

The Poodle is a humoristic, funny and sporty little dog, a real companion in the forest as well as in the ski track and on shorter bicycle tours, he is intelligent, cheerful and fearless. He is very social and usually very fond of people (especially children!) as well as of other dogs. You can practise almost every dog sport with your poodle; he is excellent at obedience, tracking, searching and agility, among other things. You can even hunt with your poodle and many poodles are trained rescue dogs.

No other dog looks so firmly into your eyes as the poodle does, which also is very pleasing. Another advantage is that he is not loosing hair - you do not have to vacuum clean the house every day. But on the other hand you must be fond of grooming: taking care of your poodle must be a cosy hour for you and your dog!

I will never change to another breed. Try the poodle yourself and you will see – if you haven´t already done that!