Standard poodles anyone?

[Shelly in IL]

I am looking to replace my Airedale. We loved her. But she was quite aloof for about 5 years until we got our Cavalier. Little dog got attention, then big dog wanted some. I really want an alert dog who will be a great companion. I liked the guard tendencies of my airedale, but I really just need the alert - we can protect ourselves :) we have 6 acres, chickens and after this cavalier- absolutely want non-shedding!

 

Will the poodle fit the bill? Any other selections will be considered. I have ruled out Black Russian terriers (too big), Portuguese Water Dogs, Kerry Blue, and Giant Schnauzer. I guess I would still consider the Airedale,' it would prefer a people dog who is easier to train. Airedale turned out wonderfully, but it was a challenging 2 years

[Mama Geek]

I love my standard poodle.  He will alert when he hears or sees something, but will also do so when it isn't necessary.  He is friendly and good natured, he was hard to house break, I think it was 9 months before he was going accident free in the house.  He is great with my 3 1/2 yo dd.  He is smart easy to train, but doesn't have the intuitiveness that my previous dog a Siberian Husky had.  He has to get a hair cut at least every 6 weeks and we keep him shaved other than his ears, head and tail.  We do let it get just a little longer in the winter.

[Liz CA]

Or the Labradoodle - or do they shed? If they have some of the Lab tendencies, they should be easy to train.

[whitestavern]

We've been looking for a dog for a while, and are thinking when we finally go ahead and get one, it will be a poodle.  I know someone with two standards and they are so smart and so easy going.  I've asked several vets their opinion (just asking them about a great breed to purchase) and they've all said poodle. 

[gardenmom5]

I've known two standard poodles.  they were both very nice and polite dogs.  I did hear one bark .. . . not sure what set him off, as it's the only time I've heard him bark.

 

and even when he was barking (for a couple minutes) - it was noise, not threat.

[Flowing Brook]

I love my standard poodle. He's the handsome guy in my profile picture. He was super easy to house break. 41/2 months. He is very alert.  He barks if he is in the yard and does not miss much. He is a big cuddle bug.  He thinks he's a lap dog. He loves to please.  If he thinks I want him to do something he does it.  One thing about standards is they need to be groomed frequently.  I have mine groomed every three months.

My mom raises them. She has two females that live in the house.  She only breeds each once a year.  The black one daisy. She is territorial.  She came to us from a lady that her children were mean to her. She is now a little nervous around strangers.  We think she is doing this because she is afraid.  Once she is used to the people she is their best friend. We love our standards,  My mom's poodles learned really fast as well.  Here is a pic of Rowan and Daisy together.  I thought it was funny because I took five pictures and in every picture they were looking in the exact same direction.

[ktgrok]

Certified Vet Tech, Certified Professional Dog Trainer here. And yes, a Standard Poodle sounds like it fits what you want EXACTLY. (which, by the way NEVER happens...usually people describe what they want and then ask about a breed that is the complete opposite, lol)

 

Standard Poodles are fun, affectionate, playful, and very easy to train especially in comparison to a terrier, lol. They love everyone, not stand offish at all, but would bark if they saw someone. Probably to get pet, not to warn, but hey, a bark is a bark. 

[ktgrok]

I love my standard poodle. He's the handsome guy in my profile picture. He was super easy to house break. 41/2 months. He is very alert.  He barks if he is in the yard and does not miss much. He is a big cuddle bug.  He thinks he's a lap dog. He loves to please.  If he thinks I want him to do something he does it.  One thing about standards is they need to be groomed frequently.  I have mine groomed every three months.

My mom raises them. She has two females that live in the house.  She only breeds each once a year.  The black one daisy. She is territorial.  She came to us from a lady that her children were mean to her. She is now a little nervous around strangers.  We think she is doing this because she is afraid.  Once she is used to the people she is their best friend. We love our standards,  My mom's poodles learned really fast as well.  Here is a pic of Rowan and Daisy together.  I thought it was funny because I took five pictures and in every picture they were looking in the exact same direction.

 

You sound like you really love those dogs! But I have to say....a dog that is skittish with strangers should not be bred. That usually is hereditary to at least some degree, and not something that should be passed on. Please just breed the more friendly one. We have plenty of dogs in the world, if we need to add more we should make sure we are improving the breed, not adding more dogs with issues. Sorry :)

[speedmom4]

Every standard poodle I have ever been in contact with has been such a nice dog. They seem to be very friendly and good natured. Plus they are just stinkin' cute!

 

Good luck!

 

Elise in NC

[Shelly in IL]

Thank you so much. I am so glad to hear someone thinks what I want fits the breed I'm looking for. I just can't believe I want a POODLE! But good thing for me, I am highly visually stimulated and I find these dogs to be gorgeous! The grooming doesn't intimidate me too much, as the airedale needed often grooming and we had a mini schnauzer many years ago that I kept in the breed haircut myself. I would probably trimy own poodle. Thank you.

 

I've been doing so much research my brain hurts! I want to be done and appreciate a new dog!

[Flowing Brook]

You sound like you really love those dogs! But I have to say....a dog that is skittish with strangers should not be bred. That usually is hereditary to at least some degree, and not something that should be passed on. Please just breed the more friendly one. We have plenty of dogs in the world, if we need to add more we should make sure we are improving the breed, not adding more dogs with issues. Sorry :)

 

I appreciate your thoughts I agree with you 100%. All of our puppies have excellent temperments. If even one pup turned out like daisy we would have her spayed.  Several of our pups have went on to be therapy dogs.  She has people wanting to put down deposits on pups before they are even born because our dogs are so nice.  We refuse to sell to puppy mills and screen people before we sell.  We want all of our pups to have the best of homes.

 

Really Daisy is not that bad.  We don't think it is hereditary because like I said the kids where mom got her from were rough with her.

[Momling]

We love our 3/4 standard poodle 1/4 golden retriever mix. She's smarter than the golden retriever we had and less high strung than the poodles we've had. Plus she's got this awesome non-shedding coat... Wavy and soft.

[Suzanne115]

Standard poodles are great dogs.  We have two now.  They are smart and easy to train.  Our first female was very easy to housebreak.  She was paper trained in a day and transitioned easily to outside when she was still just a young puppy.  She was unbelievably smart.  She has been gone almost 2 years and I still miss her!  Our male was more difficult, but he had some digestive issues that caused him problems.  He is almost twelve and spoiled rotten.  Our second female was relatively easy to housebreak.  She just turned two. 

 

 

Suzanne

[Hen]

we have a 3/4 standard poodle, the other part is labradoodle.  She is wonderful, very, very smart.  She's very quiet, but does bark when someone comes up to the house.  She makes me feel very safe, when she breaks into that deep bark when someone comes to the door.  She figures out what we want and don't want, and figured out that we don't want her barking at the mailman.  She was very easy to house train.  She went through a shoe stage for a few months, but then after that was perfectly trustworthy.  We had planned to keep her crated the first year at least, but somewhere around 5 or 6 months she decided she had enough of the crate and we went on to give her the run of the house with no problems really (except for the shoes for a bit). She communicates with us very well through body language.  Sometimes at night, she will go out and bark at the opossums on the fence, we debated how to train her out of this and settled on treating her for coming as soon as called in....I realized the other day (she is 3 years old now) that she has indeed figured it out and goes outside, gives the obligatory bark or two and then runs right back inside for her treat. :001_rolleyes:

 

she is a great dog, and I hope someday to get another.

[Suzanne115]

I forgot to add that both of my poodles now will let me know when anyone approaches our house. They were both trained not to bark excessively, but they will not let anyone sneak up on me either.   I am pretty sure my male saved me from a break in a few years ago.  This young man was walking up my drive way.  Maurice started barking with his big booming bark.  The guy turned around and ran to his car.  I believe that if he had a legitimate reason for coming to my door, he would have rang the door bell.  The rest of that day, Maurice would walk from door to door and back to me checking everything out.  I was home alone that day so he was a great dog to have around!  It is so funny, he has this big booming bark, but he is one of the gentlest dogs known to man. 

 

Suzanne

[Shelly in IL]

Thank you, Suzanne. This is exactly the scenario that I want the dog to perform in. At night, especially. Are they alert in hearing and at night? My bedroom is upstairs and I want to be able to sleep without worrying that I can't hear what's going on downstairs. My cavalier will sleep more soundly than me and snore louder, too! I just need a set of night ears.

[torikei]

We love our 3/4 standard poodle 1/4 golden retriever mix. She's smarter than the golden retriever we had and less high strung than the poodles we've had. Plus she's got this awesome non-shedding coat... Wavy and soft.

This has been our experience w our golden doodle!

[elfgivas]

I appreciate your thoughts I agree with you 100%. All of our puppies have excellent temperments. If even one pup turned out like daisy we would have her spayed.  Several of our pups have went on to be therapy dogs.  She has people wanting to put down deposits on pups before they are even born because our dogs are so nice.  We refuse to sell to puppy mills and screen people before we sell.  We want all of our pups to have the best of homes.

 

Really Daisy is not that bad.  We don't think it is hereditary because like I said the kids where mom got her from were rough with her.

 

puddles, your profile dog looks like a sister to our standard apricot poodle.... any chance your mom is in SoCal?  ;)

this is where our dear daisy came from :  http://www.kayekids.com/

 

she is super bright, and just wants to be with us.  she is just the loveliest companion.  

 

smiling,

ann 

[PeterPan]

Dog Breed Selector : Animal Planet - Discovery Channel  You might try this online breed selector and see what pops up.  We REALLY wanted to get a standard poodle, and in fact we put a deposit on one, blah blah.  We finally decided not to for a variety of reasons including the 40% cancer rate, the risk of bloat (yes you can tack their stomachs, but still), the advice not to board them (again, because of bloat if they decide not to eat), and the potential for them to become neurotic if your lifestyle doesn't fit what they want (to be in your bedroom at night, etc. etc.).  Maybe those aren't issues to you, but they became deal-breakers for us even though we loved the dogs and still talk about them.  

 

I know someone will say they board, have never had bloat, no cancer, blah blah, but there you go.  That's what we were told.

 

We ended up going miniature schnauzer.  You mentioned giant schnauzer.  I haven't seen one in person, but it would be interesting to see what the breed selector pops up for you.  That's how we ended up deciding on our breed.  We went with an extremely good breeder, and the dog is beyond our expectations for temperament, etc.  We still talk about the spoo, because we loved them so much, but the mini schnauzer has worked out well for us.  I don't know how much of that personality is in the giant, but for us a lot of what we liked about the spoos is in the schnauzer, and they're a healthier breed.  Might be worth checking out.  

[Suzanne115]

Yes, our poodles are alert at night.  As he has gotten older, my male doesn't hear very well and sleeps pretty soundly sometimes.  However, our two year old female is still very alert at night.  I would be careful when choosing a breeder.  We researched a lot and still ended up with a male that has had pretty bad health issues his entire life.  We call him the walking miracle and I honestly can't believe he is still with us at almost 12.  His half sister was healthy most of her life though so maybe we just got unlucky with him.  We researched even more for our second female.  She is extremely healthy and hasn't had any health problems at all.  You can get a healthy standard poodle.  You just have to select your breeder carefully.

 

Suzanne

[Laura Corin]

Or the Labradoodle - or do they shed? If they have some of the Lab tendencies, they should be easy to train.

 

 

If you get a several generation labradoodle, they are less likely to shed - the first generation can shed like a labrador.

 

Our several generation labradoodle (miniature cross) is very low key and easy.  And sheds very little.

 

L

[Flowing Brook]

puddles, your profile dog looks like a sister to our standard apricot poodle.... any chance your mom is in SoCal?  ;)

this is where our dear daisy came from :  http://www.kayekids.com/

 

she is super bright, and just wants to be with us.  she is just the loveliest companion.  

 

smiling,

ann 

 

I got my male from Colorado.   I am getting his pedigree papers soon. I will check to see if any of the dogs in his background came from there.

[Flowing Brook]

Yes, our poodles are alert at night.  As he has gotten older, my male doesn't hear very well and sleeps pretty soundly sometimes.  However, our two year old female is still very alert at night.  I would be careful when choosing a breeder.  We researched a lot and still ended up with a male that has had pretty bad health issues his entire life.  We call him the walking miracle and I honestly can't believe he is still with us at almost 12.  His half sister was healthy most of her life though so maybe we just got unlucky with him.  We researched even more for our second female.  She is extremely healthy and hasn't had any health problems at all.  You can get a healthy standard poodle.  You just have to select your breeder carefully.

 

Suzanne

 

My guy came with a lifetime health guarantee. I know of several other breeder that do the same thing. Although I am so attached to him that if he did come up with a health problem. I'd have to keep him rather than trade him for another.

[Flowing Brook]

we have a 3/4 standard poodle, the other part is labradoodle.  She is wonderful, very, very smart.  She's very quiet, but does bark when someone comes up to the house.  She makes me feel very safe, when she breaks into that deep bark when someone comes to the door.  She figures out what we want and don't want, and figured out that we don't want her barking at the mailman.  She was very easy to house train.  She went through a shoe stage for a few months, but then after that was perfectly trustworthy.  We had planned to keep her crated the first year at least, but somewhere around 5 or 6 months she decided she had enough of the crate and we went on to give her the run of the house with no problems really (except for the shoes for a bit). She communicates with us very well through body language.  Sometimes at night, she will go out and bark at the opossums on the fence, we debated how to train her out of this and settled on treating her for coming as soon as called in....I realized the other day (she is 3 years old now) that she has indeed figured it out and goes outside, gives the obligatory bark or two and then runs right back inside for her treat. :001_rolleyes:

 

she is a great dog, and I hope someday to get another.

 

Your poodle sounds so smart.

I have trained Rowan that he has to sit for a treat. Sometimes if I am eating my food he will sit without me telling him to.  If I don't want to give him anything I will ignore him.  I can see him out of the corner of my eye. His hips will be wiggling back and forth like he is having a hard time staying seated. Then he will stay sitting and start barking. "Kinda like hey look I'm sitting where's my treat?"  Can you tell who's got who trained?

 

[Suzanne115]

My guy came with a lifetime health guarantee. I know of several other breeder that do the same thing. Although I am so attached to him that if he did come up with a health problem. I'd have to keep him rather than trade him for another.

 

Maurice's breeder did offer to replace him, but I couldn't do it.  I looked at some breeders that offer that guarantee as well, but it pretty useless for me.  Once they enter my home, they become like family. 

 

Suzanne

[RoughCollie]

It is important that you buy a dog from a reputable breeder, and that the parents (and further back) have been tested as given below.  Don't just ask.  Make sure you see the test results.

 

All of our breeding stock is routinely tested for health conditions that are known diseases in Standard Poodles.  We test for hip dysplasia (OFA), eye conditions including juvenile cataracts (CERF), a hereditary skin disease in Standard Poodles (Sebaceous Adenitis, SA) and a bleeding disorder (VonWillebrand's Disease, VWD).  We do not knowingly breed to animals that have epilepsy, autoimmune disease or bloat.

 

http://avalonpoodles.tripod.com/index.html

 

 

[Flowing Brook]

Maurice's breeder did offer to replace him, but I couldn't do it.  I looked at some breeders that offer that guarantee as well, but it pretty useless for me.  Once they enter my home, they become like family. 

 

Suzanne

 

I know what you mean. Please do not feel I was criticizing or judging you in any way.  I was not in the least. I am sorry your dog has health issues.  I think we should start a new thread with all of us posting pictures of our standards.

[Hen]

Puddles,

 

yes, she is really smart.  We have her sit for a treat, too.  Then she has to do a trick, either speak, bunny-puppy (hind quarters with front feet in front like a rabbit) or shake hands, or pick a hand (put the treat in a hand, but behind my back then have her choose a hand...if she gets it wrong, she will choose the other hand).  Her one real bad habit is her love affair with our neighbor across the street, he keeps a box of dog treats for her and when she sees him, if she is off leash she will run across the street to get a treat (I'm worried she will be hit by a car one day).  I have had her on a walk several times when she sees him, and she immediately puts herself into "sit", thinking "treat" I guess.  When she is off leash at our house and sees him in his yard, you can see in her eyes and posture that she is thinking about it, thinking about getting in trouble and then that flash when she decides to do it anyways. 

 

When I forget to feed her, she will come stand in front of me.  I'll be doing something and then ever time my gaze falls on her, she will wag her tail.  I look away, she stops, I look back at her, she wags her tail.  Eventually it will dawn on me that she wants something and that I didn't give her dinner.  If I don't figure it out, she will start groaning at me.  She does this with the cat, it's funny/sad...she wants to play/be friendly and every time the cat looks at her she wags her tail hopefully.  The cat looks away, she stops wagging, the cat looks back, wag.  It's sad that the cat doesn't speak dog.

 

with the crate thing, we had crate trained her, it went well, and then one night when she was about 7 months old she just had a complete tantrum- that's the only way I can describe it.  She was going through a bout of the runs (food allergy we figured out finally) so I kept having to take her out and didn't know if she was upset because she needed to go potty, or what.  Finally I just left her out of the crate in our room, and she became supremely/ queenly happy.  Figured she was just done with the crate.  Soon after that she gained the run of the whole house with little problem.  She sleeps on a bean bag in our room.

 

she has a standard poodle dad and her mom is a labradoodle (lab with standard poodle) so she is more poodle.  She does not shed. She is really the greatest dog I've ever had.  Her only fault is that she is non-touchy...doesn't like to cuddle, likes to be petted but will move away from you as you are doing it, though lately she doesn't move away so much.  It's a real treat when she comes up to me and lays her face on my kneed to be petted.  I think it works for us though, she would drive my dh crazy if she was more touchy, I think.  I have a photo from last Fall of me and her in some leaves, I have my arm around her in a hug and she is clearly leaning away from me.  I am dog-mom, though, she follows me around the house all day.  The tradition continues, even though my kids are older now, I still can't be alone in the bathroom, the dog must come with me... :lol:

[Suzanne115]

I know what you mean. Please do not feel I was criticizing or judging you in any way.  I was not in the least. I am sorry your dog has health issues.  I think we should start a new thread with all of us posting pictures of our standards.

 

I didn't take it that way.  I'm sorry if I sounded offended.  I just wanted the original poster to beware the limitations of a health guarantee.  Maurice's breeder was actually very reputable and I was given copies of all the health testing.  She tested way more than most of the breeders.  I think even careful breeders can sometimes have an unhealthy puppy.  Our other poodle that we bought from her was very healthy.  She was almost twelve when she passed away and she had few problems.  I agree a picture thread would be fun!

 

 

 

Suzanne

[Wolfmeis]

I love Standard Poodles.  I had poodles for 17 years (the do not shed) and when we needed a new dog, we went with a massive Labradoodle (also non shedding).  We did this because like you, we had kids and acreage and I thought I wanted more play-energy from the pup than a poodle typically keeps into adulthood. OMG.  Go with the poodle.  The "lab" element, in mine anyway, really shines through.  He's a wonderful dog, really, but I MISS the obedience inherent in a poodle.   Our dog is so genuinely excitable that he remembers his manners AFTER he's already spazzed out. He's the exact mix described above, standard poodle Dad with Labradoodle dam, but he's EXTREMELY touchy feely and emotionally clingy.  Drives me nuts, but my husband and children love it.

[Mama Geek]

I love Standard Poodles.  I had poodles for 17 years (the do not shed) and when we needed a new dog, we went with a massive Labradoodle (also non shedding).  We did this because like you, we had kids and acreage and I thought I wanted more play-energy from the pup than a poodle typically keeps into adulthood. OMG.  Go with the poodle.  The "lab" element, in mine anyway, really shines through.  He's a wonderful dog, really, but I MISS the obedience inherent in a poodle.   Our dog is so genuinely excitable that he remembers his manners AFTER he's already spazzed out. He's the exact mix described above, standard poodle Dad with Labradoodle dam, but he's EXTREMELY touchy feely and emotionally clingy.  Drives me nuts, but my husband and children love it.

My std is 3 1/2 and still acts young and plays like a young dog.  He has settled a little bit, but I think my 3 1/2 yo dd keeps him pretty active.

[Shelly in IL]

Going to go look at a litter of silver puppies tomorrow. Really want to just meet the parents to see if this is the breed for us. Puppies are 5 weeks. Probably cuter than crap!!!

 

Thanks for all the info

[Flowing Brook]

Going to go look at a litter of silver puppies tomorrow. Really want to just meet the parents to see if this is the breed for us. Puppies are 5 weeks. Probably cuter than crap!!!

 

Thanks for all the info

 

Be sure and post a picture of your new puppy when you get back :D

[Lanny]

Normally, I do not like smaller Poodles. I took my OES (Old English Sheepdog) to an Obedience class in Delaware. The instructor had a Standard Poodle. That was one very nice Poodle. Smart and well behaved. Seemed like a great dog when I was in those classes.

 

We had a neighbor whose Pug got loose one day, when they were gone. We brought her into the house. She was a one super lovable dog. They were glad we had her, when they got home and found their dog had escaped. GL with your new puppy!

[Shelly in IL]

Well, we put a deposit on a puppy. The mom was awesome! The grandma was awesome! Super excited to get the puppy - first week in December. I can't believe we are getting a poodle - thought we would be getting something a little tougher - like a Black Russian terrier, but she was so sweet! I'll be proud to own her.

[Mama Geek]

Congrads!  They are good dogs.

[MyThreeSons]

I am looking to replace my Airedale. We loved her. But she was quite aloof for about 5 years until we got our Cavalier. Little dog got attention, then big dog wanted some. I really want an alert dog who will be a great companion. I liked the guard tendencies of my airedale, but I really just need the alert - we can protect ourselves :) we have 6 acres, chickens and after this cavalier- absolutely want non-shedding!

 

Will the poodle fit the bill? Any other selections will be considered. I have ruled out Black Russian terriers (too big), Portuguese Water Dogs, Kerry Blue, and Giant Schnauzer. I guess I would still consider the Airedale,' it would prefer a people dog who is easier to train. Airedale turned out wonderfully, but it was a challenging 2 years

 

i am not a dog person at all, but I have very fond memories of our Standard Poodle that was the family pet when I was growing up.

 

He was purebred, but grew to bet he wrong height, so the original owners gave him away. That family wanted to use him as a hunting dog, but he freaked out at the sound of the gun. The next family wanted a dog their daughter wouldn't be allergic to, but she was a rare kid who was allergic even to him. Those people gave him to my brother. 

 

He was very well trained when we got him, he was great with us kids and my younger cousins, he alerted but wasn't aggressive. We had him about 15 years; we all cried when he had to be put down.