the happiest girl in the world by: Cameron Armstrong-Lickey
I am glad you folks rescue, but your comment about a former show dog and whether you wanted one that had been a former show dog or not bothers me as does the comment "if you have the patience for a Standard Poodle". I have had Standards all my life, my first two were brothers whom my parents had when I and my twin brother were born, along with their Golden Retriever. They are the most wonderful dogs in the world, patient, so smart it is scary and the most wonderful dogs in the world. I got into showing dogs at 13....was born into the world of show horses and racehorses, and my parents have a motto "if it needs a home and comes to them it has a home no matter what it is" and that is my motto as well. My showdogs live normal dog lives in the house with all of the other animals, and like the very famous judge and breeder of Standard Poodles as well as being a very famous handler, Annie Hone Rodgers Clark, used to do with her dogs in full coat, they do run the fields with the horses being normal dogs. The field trial people with their Labs and Goldens, GSP's and whatever used to laugh at my dad when he would bring my show champions to field trials in their full show coats, but they don't anymore as if my dad is there with one of my dogs they usually get beaten and my dogs not only bring back dad's stuff, but other hunters as well to the right hunter as they have the most unbelieveable noses and are too smart.
The Standard Poodle is the original size of this breed and a very old breed of dog and the ansecstor of alot of the modern hunting dogs. My Poos outthink me all the time and I think it is great. Yes there are some serious health issues but if you watch your breeder or are looking for a puppy with no ggenetic problems then why did you go to a CKC breeder and not AKC? Things like Addisons have come out in the last few years because of bad breeding and breeders not watching what they are doing, it is not fair to blame a whole breed and say, well we did not know if we wanted a Standard because of all the health issues this breed has. Every breed of dog has some sort of problem and it is up to honest reputab le breeders to watch what they are doing.
