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??

I have a miniature he came from a very very reputable breeder, his litter mate is a multiple show winner at the highest level including Crufts. I have a “guide to poddles” book I sometimes think he wrote it!! They are adaptable happy intelligent little dogs super easy to train devoted to their family and exceedingly healthy no significant illnesses in 11 years. And best of all non shedding. They will walk miles even at 11 or go around the block he cheerfully stays with friends whilst I’m away and can be left. Everyone admires him many people comment “I’m surprised he’s a poddle he’s so lovely”. I never understand this comment many people seem to have lots incorrect preconceived ideas about them.

You make a good point, not many poodles around. Lots of doodles and poos though round here...every one of them as lovely as the other 🥰

Standard poodle and the back cranky old cocker at the front living their best life.

We had 2 standard poodles when I was young they were so gentle and beautiful. I know there are lovely poodle mixes as well, but the poodle fur is definitely not going to shed whereas some of the crosses will. My nan had 2 miniatures over the years, also lovely dogs. Go poodles!

There are 3 poodles I see on my walks, I was surprised how big poodles actually were. I always thought they were small (but obviously they're the miniature poodles).

I've got a Lab x Red Setter and I haven't met a single other Red Setter apart from my boys Mum. I think about this, as I think they're gorgeous dogs, but not ones that people have anymore 😢.

My sibling had a poodle. I'm told it is 2/3 poodle and one third collie.
It looks like a poodle. It behaves like a poodle.

How can a dog be two-thirds poodle.

has not had

I'm tellin ya, they are too snobby to say 'she's a poodle' so they say she's a bordodoodle or sumfing.

They all live at my mother in law's house! 🤣 she has 6 miniatures...

I beg you to send a picture of them all lined up!

Gorgeous dog. Kiss his ears for me, please. xx

@TheYearOfSmallThings love to but I don't have one and the stress involved in trying to explain to her how to take and send me a photo would tip me over the edge today! Here's two I've just pinched from her fb. The black one is getting old...

They are lovely!

(If I had 6 miniature poodles I would spend all day every day getting them to pose for group photos )

There’s quite a lot round our way, but I keep mistaking them for crosses as no one has their poodle’s nose shaved.

Here is one...love him to bits

You can usually tell if you look carefully. The bone structure of crosses tends to be very different.

Here they are

We have a miniature poodle, she’s a really great dog. Many people, usually people with cockapoos, comment that they didn’t realise how lovely actual poodles are and they wish they’d got one. The cockapoos we know are completely mental.

Do you see many Dalmatians these days? I think I’ve only seen one or two in real life.

Loving the photos. I don't have a poodle but my parents and grandparents had many.

these are very rare round us! There’s one senior dog who is sometimes at the dog walking park, but he’s the only one I’ve seen in real life for years.

Thank you, he's lovely isn't he. We've had him less than a week and he's stolen my heart already. I have smooched his ears lots 😊

They’re all here... there’s a woman near me with varying amounts of poodles, least I’ve seen is 8, most was 16, only a couple of standards the rest are mini or toys.

Not a clue if she owns them all or sometimes had extra or walks them in shifts or what.

I don’t know her, we just call her the poodle lady.... because it’s quite noticeable when you pass her, even if you drive past 😂

But yeah, in general given the amount of crosses and how few actual poodles about, I assume a lot are in puppy farms.

Dalmatians are prone to genetic disorders. A lovely lady I know used to breed them but stopped due to lack of clear stock. There's only so many one may breed amongst their own stock before the gene pool needs expanding through the cooperation of others.

@wizzler , my relative's dog looks exactly like yours. It might be a doodlepoo, but it looks like a poodle.

They’re here! We see a number of poodles out on our walk - but they often look like one of the mixes do unless you speak to the owners it can be hard to tell for certain.