Talk to me about poodles!

[Toblerone345]

My family always had dogs growing up but I've never had one myself, and now I've finally moved into a house with a garden I'm looking to get a dog. My boyfriend (who lives with me) has slight allergies so I'm looking into small to medium sized low-shedding breeds including Toy Poodles and Miniature Poodles, though of course we need to spend time around Poodles before buying one to make sure they don't set his allergies off.

I think poodles are adorable and I've read that they're very intelligent and easy to train, but I've also read that they can suffer from separation anxiety and can be destructive or snappy. For clarity, I work full time from home (this is unrelated to Covid so unless I change jobs I should be working from home for the forseeable future) but I'm worried that we won't even be able to leave the dog alone for 3-4 hours if we go out on the weekend. Please could you tell me about your Poodle experiences?

[RunningFromInsanity]

Standard poodle (and 2 Standard goldendoodles) owner.
2 don’t shed at all, one sheds slightly. None set off our severely allergic uncle.

No problems with separation anxiety, left regularly for 4-5hours whilst at work.

The standard has a beautiful temperament, she is the softest clumsiest dog, but she isn’t the brightest spark bless her.

None are aggressive or snappy.

Costs a fortune in grooming though (so don’t get 3 large poodles )

[Onlyonewayout]

Poodle here. Gorgeous boy. Grooming is a bit of an issue but we’ve invested in clippers but he’s fabulous and doesn’t shed. His recall, despite training isn’t the greatest and he constantly has his nose to the floor, one sniff and he’d be off. We’re still working on heel walking but he’s a lovely boy xx

[RunningFromInsanity]

Oh I’d probably go for a miniature poodle, Standards are huge and toy look too delicate and fancy.

[BistoBear]

Poodle owner here, with an allergy to dog and cat hair. Pleased to report that I have had no allergic response to our pup. And she sometimes every night sleeps on our bed.

My parent’s have a labradoodle and I have to keep him away from my face or I’ll be very wheezy. I have had nothing like this with our standard poodle.

She has a wonderful temperament, loves everyone. Has been easy to train but can be wilful and has selective hearing.

She does require regular grooming, which costs £50 a time. I bought clippers during lockdown so have been doing it myself with varying success. I don’t groom her fancy, just a lamb cut or my variation

Our pup is only 10 months old and she is honestly the best thing we’ve ever purchased. She was an absolute Godsend during the lockdown.

The only negative I have is that one isn’t enough and I want another one

[Toblerone345]

@RunningFromInsanity That's good to know! I've heard Standards are less likely to be yappy or have separation anxiety but our house is quite small and I think a big dog would be a bit too much. I've checked grooming costs and it doesn't look too bad around here, and also I'll only have one (unless I end up going Poodle mad and one isn't enough ). Do you know if there's meant to be much different in temperament between Toys and Miniatures?

@Onlyonewayout To be honest I don't think any of the dogs I've had have been great at staying by my side when walking! Good in all other ways but got a bit too excited when out and about and couldn't resist trying to run off. Yours sounds very cute!

@BistoBear Glad to hear she doesn't set off allergies! I'm also happy to hear all these reports of friendly Poodles with good temperaments. I think lots of people have wanted lockdown companions so prices seem to have gone a bit crazy lately. When prices go down you should treat yourself to another

[Onlyonewayout]

This is our poodle. He’s lovely. He pulls on a lead as he’s still quite excitable but really lovely little dude.

[kauri25]

A miniature poodle owner here - he is only 3 months so as a puppy is into everything but he does have calm moments! Two different vets have already commented how calm he was at appointments for jabs. He is proving quick at picking up training - house trained and happy to sleep in his crate. We got a poodle because they are ‘proper’ dogs albeit small and because of allergies - DH has had no problems at all. (We checked him out with an adult standard poodle - the adult coat is different to the puppy one)

[MissShapesMissStakes]

Mini poodle owner here too. I never thought I'd have a dog as my asthma and hay fever are set off massively by all dogs I've met. Until I met poodles! I did spend time with poodles first to test my allergies. And the breeder said very happily that she would have pup back at any point if my allergies suffered.

My boy is the least snappy dog I've met. I've never seen him snap. Ever. He's two and is a fantastic calming influence on my 8 year old who has anxiety and can be quite loud and 'emotional' at times. He will come over and fuss her, lick her feet and bring her his toys till she calms down. He's amazing! He's happy to be close to her and snuggle her though.

He's never chewed or destroyed anything, his recall is great (apart from squirrels). He's a people dog and would much much rather be with his people family on a walk than playing with other dogs.

Before lockdown he was fine being left - we never did more than a couple of hours but only because we never needed to. Not had to leave him yet. So we shall see... he is certainly happier with us. If we are home he will just doze on and off all day but join in with anything we do if we are doing stuff (not always helpful!). We live next door to my parents and if we occasionally go out for longer they hang about with him. But he mostly refuses to play with them and just sleeps by the door until we come home. He's no trouble with it though.

Grooming - I pay £35 every 5/6 weeks. He's just short all over so easy to groom. I don't need to do it every day as he's so short.

He has just needed his teeth descaled - I do brush (obviously not well enough) every day but apparently poodles can be prone to bad teeth so you need to be aware of that and keep on top of it (I wasn't, and didn't!).

[Toblerone345]

@Onlyonewayout He's adorable! I love that 'hairstyle'. I was embarrassingly old before I realised that the stereotypical Poodle cuts are human invention and not caused by Poodles only growing hair in certain places.

@kauri25 He's also gorgeous - look at his fluffy little head! I'm glad to hear he's very calm and thanks for mentioning the puppy coat being different to adult coat - I didn't know that.

@MissShapesMissStakes So many adorable Poodles on this thread! I'm happy you and others have said that Poodles didn't set your allergies off - I think I'll cry if we go to hang out with some Poodles one day and my boyfriend says they set his off. His temperament sounds great. I didn't know that about the teeth - I don't think I'd have ever thought of it if you didn't mention it!

[Pinkandpurplehairedlady]

I have a 13 year old miniature poodle and he’s always been a dream. He was easy to train as a puppy and adapted really quickly when my children were born and has always been great with them.

I have him groomed every 2 months and he doesn’t shed at all.

Personality wise he’s very chilled out and has always been happy to be left to chill out on his own when we’ve left him.

As someone else said you do have to keep an eye on their teeth as they get older and expect them to need dentals.

[Toblerone345]

@Pinkandpurplehairedlady He sounds like a dream dog! Can insurance cover teeth-related stuff? Weirdly I don't think any of the dogs I had when I was younger ever had their teeth brushed, or needed anything done to them at the vet - or maybe they did but my parents never mentioned it! - so I don't know much about it.

[Pinkchocolate]

I had a poodle growing up and he was wonderful. He was toilet trained as a pup and would only ever have accidents when ill. He didn’t shed and was relatively low maintenance apart from the monthly grooming. He was really loving and fiercely protective of our family though and could be quite aggressive when he wasn’t a total teddy bear. But he wasn’t around young children when he was small which I think makes all the difference.

[MissShapesMissStakes]

I think the main thing is finding a good breeder who has chosen the parents because they have good temperaments. Really any dog can have any quality but it's largely about breeding and training.

My mini was our first ever dog. Both his parents are lovely, and we had a 1-1 trainer in not long after we got him. She came to our house and chatted to us and taught us some basic things that were more about managing a puppy. Then a few months later she came and we focussed on any issues we had (none really - pup eating sticks, jumping up). Once he was about 1 and a half I got her to come back and have a walk with us and we worked on recall and lead walking.

These all worked out at less than puppy classes and I feel like we got a lot more out of them.

[DilysMoon]

Toy poodle and first time dog owner here. He's 4 months now and such a good dog. I've had major wobbles since having him but I think that's been the shock of puppy ownership rather than the puppy himself. He does cry if I go upstairs (theres a stair gate and he's not allowed) but is happy to lie and wait for me if I leave the house and he's getting better with me being upstairs. Easy to train although I don't trust him with his recall yet, he's far too excited by leaves blowing in the wind! Toilet training was a doddle and we've only had couple of wee accidents in the last month usually when noone notices he's sat by the door. No poo accidents since the first few weeks.

Wouldn't say he's yappy but he does bark when he's trying to tell you something.

Great with everyone and other dogs, lots of people have commented what a confident social pup he is.

I'm quite clumsy so did trip over him a few times when he first came but used to him now! Would definitely recommend!

I brush and comb him every few days and he had a puppy groom at 12 weeks and he's just had another with a haircut as I was struggling to keep up with the combing. He looks much better shorter all over I think, I'm not keen on the actual 'poodle' shaved look etc. Looking forward to his adult curls coming through.

[Toblerone345]

@Pinkchocolate Do you think being around small children when young makes a big difference? I don't have children though hope to in the next 3 or so years and one of my concerns is the dog hating the baby when it comes along.

@MissShapesMissStakes That sounds like a good idea. If I decide to get one, I definitely want to make sure I take training seriously as one of my relatives has a badly trained dog and she's a bit of a pain to be around (though she is cute).

@DilysMoon He's so cute, like a little bear! Do you have to put him in a crate when you go out?

[Pinkchocolate]

@Toblerone345 I do to be honest and that goes for any breed. Since you’re planning children I would either get your dog used to children (family/friends children) and teach them appropriate behaviour or wait. I got my dog in between having children and he’s learnt to walk away when kids annoy him and learnt to have fun with them. My poodle would go into attack/defence mode because he found them unsettling. They are such loving, loyal dogs though so I hope I’m giving you food for thought rather than putting you off.

[Toblerone345]

@Pinkandpurplehairedlady That's definitely something for me to think about. It hasn't put me off poodles because, as you said, it could be the same for any breed. Unfortunately there are no children in my family and none of my friends have children, so I'm a bit stumped for socialisation opportunities short of taking it out as a small puppy and hoping to bump into children. Interesting - I'll have to have a think about this one.

[Toblerone345]

Apologies, responded to the wrong person! The response above was supposed to be for @Pinkchocolate

[MrsEricBana]

I have one of these guys. They are the best!! Playful and fun when out, cuddly and snoozy at home. I agree with the potential for separation anxiety but the flip side of that is that they are happiest right next to you, which has made me happy. No shedding, snapping, destructive behaviour at all. I take him to the groomers every 5 weeks which is expensive but I prefer this to hair all over the house every day. Also the zero shedding thing means he can sleep on the bed next to me 😊 Doesn't seem to be unduly intelligent 😂 He has made me so happy and I highly recommend 🥰 (oh and he's adorable looking which means that everyone you pass smiles at him and me, which is just lovely, though obviously not the reason for choosing a breed). I hope you get one.

[Toblerone345]

@MrsEricBana He sounds great! Definitely what I'm looking for in a dog as I spend a lot of time at home and would like a little companion, but I would like to be able to leave him without worrying for a few hours if we go out to a restaurant or something. The previous poster who mentioned the importance of socialising with children has given me something to think about, though, so as much as I want a Poodle I'll have to think about if I'm confident it will be good around children by the time I have some myself.

[VanellopeVonSchweetz99]

I have found my people! After 20 years of deliberation (!) we are on a waiting list for a mini poodle puppy, friend has a rescue (elderly owner couldn't cope) and it's just the loveliest dog ever. Very excited and will be following this thread with interest. x

[Paddingtonthebear]

We have a poodle cross breed, she is just wonderful

[Juiceey]

I have a 5 month old mini poodle and he's a dream! I have very severe allergies- (we got a greyhound last year and had to take him back after I went into anaphylactic shock after 2 days)- and he doesn't trigger me at all. He doesn't shed at all, never found a single hair!

Grooming every 5 weeks at £45. Looks like a new dog after!

'Teddy bear' style cut for us- I'll put up a photo in the next post.

He's just delightful. He LOVES everyone, is so smart and funny and just wants to be with people. We're trying to teach him to be left at the moment which is tricky as he's not used to it but we'll get there. He's never so much as growled let alone snapped. His temperament is brilliant. I have nothing to compare it to as I've never had a dog but he really is lovely and everyone comments on him :)

[Juiceey]

Here he is.

[MissShapesMissStakes]

@Juiceey - he's lovely!

Poodles do seem to think they're more on the people side than the dog side. Mine does anyway. He just is a constant companion. But not in a needy way.