Where are all the poodles?

[BenCoopersSupportWren]

I am a dog noticer. I have radar for cute dogs (which of course is all dogs, to a greater or lesser extent) and after having owned dogs for most of my life, volunteering in rescue, previously subscribing to Dogs Today etc etc I’m good at identifying breeds / dominant crosses. I’ve pleasantly surprised the owners of a couple of less common breeds by correctly identifying their Large Munsterlander/Leonberger/Swiss Mountain Dog/Schipperke (and sorry again if you have been one of the people on the receiving end of this mad random woman asking if I could say hi to your dog 😂)

Unsurprisingly, these days I see poodle crosses everywhere. Cocker/poodles, cavalier/poodles, Labrador and golden retriever/poodles, Maltese/poodles, Jack Russell/poodles…you name a breed, it’s probably been crossed with a poodle. There are several living in the streets round about me, I see 4 or 5 daily. Easily half a dozen or more every time we go to the beach (which is usually weekly spring-autumn), at least one at every visit to the garden centre - dog-friendly, has a large pet section. We holidayed in another part of the country recently - more obvious poodle crosses at every turn. And of course that’s just the ones with the more obvious poodle cross characteristics, there are probably others I only define as ‘spaniel X’ or ‘Labrador X’ that may well be “-poos” too.

I frequently see many/most of the purebreeds that the poodles are crossed with around too - plenty of cockers, JRs, retrievers, the odd cavalier etc. But I hardly ever see a purebred poodle! I think I’ve seen two in the past 18 months or so - one black miniature, one apricot standard that I can recall. So where is all the poodle breeding stock being used to produce the many and varied crosses hiding??

Locked up at the puppy farm.

I've got one. Not that I use her for breeding. And she didn't come from a puppy farm. It is rare to see them these days though.

I know what you mean, though we do have two black standard poodles living nearby, you don't see many these days. I wonder if a lot of them are second generation crosses - labradoodle crossed with labradoodle?

That would make sense, F1 x F1 crosses (and subsequent generations).

I have a miniature poodle, she has a Teddy bear cut so lots of people assume she is a cockapoo. If you look closely though her proportions and delicate features show she is a poodle. I know of one toy poodle that we see on our usual walk. But I know about 6 poodle crosses! I think the breeders are making new generations of crosses by breeding them together but it can be a bit hit and miss.
I will have poodles forever now she's the best dog in the world.

This. We've just adopted a 5 year old miniature poodle who was used for breeding. He's never lived in a house before and is scared of everything. I expect he's related to a good proportion of the poos born in the last few years

There's quite a lot of poodles here. (Not puppy farm dogs thankfully. I know the owners)

I suppose that most of the part-poos these days are breed from other part-poos rather than poodles. I do wonder why more people don't just go for actual poodles, though, rather than spaniels etc with a bit of poo inside them. Poodles seem like really lovely dogs.

That said, I think I'm seeing a few more actaual poodles than a year or so ago.

I have a miniature poodle! He’s a rescue, so I have no idea of his background. Brilliant dog though 🥰.

I find this hard to believe so you must post photos of said dog as proof immediately 😉😄

So where is all the poodle breeding stock being used to produce the many and varied crosses hiding?? As someone upthread said, you won't see the parents of lots of the crosses as they're kept in horrible conditions on puppy farms until they're no longer any use.

We have standard poodles and have done for over 20 years. I grew up with poodles. People generally assume ours are labrador/poodle crosses as they're not kept in traditional poodle clips but just kept short all over and the same length with no shaving. I'm seeing quite a few more poodles around over the last few years, certainly when we had our first standard it was very unusual to meet another.

They're fantastic dogs, great family pets or working dogs.

My retired neighbours have a mini poodle and there's a huge standard poodle in town near my office. Both are beautifully behaved and clever dogs.

Chris Packham has two.

The Poodle gene seems quite dominant. My Cavapoo (home bred by a friend) is an F1b but lots of F2s, F2bs around.
I know of a few toy Poodles locally, not many standards but not seen many Cavaliers either (I always notice them because I grew up with them).

Puppy farms are and always have been an abomination

This is my boy (proud dog mummy!)

Awww, what a little sweetheart @Reallybadidea 😍

I walk a mini poodle and we have a couple of toys and standards around here too.

But you're right, it's mostly crosses these days.

Heres my toy poodle. He's 9 years old.

My toy poodle

I have a rescue who had never lived indoors, was scared of everyone and everything, wouldn’t eat unless I left the room, she very much loves her home comforts now and loves everyone except people wearing high viz, she has been with us 10 years now double the time she was suffering, I’m so happy we found each other

I will have poodles forever now she's the best dog in the world. @katienana

This.

I had labradors before and they are wonderful dogs but PoshPoo is just the best. He’s got bagfuls of personality and makes me laugh every day.

PoshPoo has Labrador in his history so not a pedigree. His dad was 1/4 Lab and mum was full (standard) poodle. He has no lab features and no obvious Lab behaviour traits. I don’t mind the ‘hop in the fence’ of his history as a little dilution is not a bad thing. I consider him full poodle.

My sister has a standard poodles and he's the most beautiful dog. Gets a lot of admiration when out!

Not from puppy farm.

I wonder where poodle owners typically live?

I'm rural, and we have a lot of retrievers, spaniels, terriers and some collies. I think there is one min poodle I see about. Wondering if that has an impact, certainly don't see large breeds where I am eg. Leonberger, newfies, nor Lhasa apsos, bichons, schnauzers, chihuahuas, pomeranians.

I have a purebred (KC reg) miniature poodle - she was red but more apricot now.

Most people assume she's a small cockapoo or cavapoo as she's cut fluffy, not typical poodle style. We know one other purebred poodle around the corner and I've met half a dozen on walks over the last few years. But agreed mostly poodle crosses around here.

I'm SE London by the way.