Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You’re Not to Read 3
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 4
Part I: Picking the Poodle of Your Dreams 4
Part II: Living Happily with Your Poodle 4
Part III: Training and Having Fun with Your Poodle Pal 5
Part IV: Maintaining Your Poodle’s Health 5
Part V: The Part of Tens 5
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Picking the Poodle of Your Dreams 7
Chapter 1: Making a Match with a Poodle 9
Understanding the Poodle Breed 9
Strolling through a brief history 9
Reviewing sizes and personality traits 10
Considering breed standards 11
To Poodle or Not to Poodle: Is One the Best Dog for You? 11
Selecting the Perfect Poodle for You 12
Adjusting to Life with a Poodle 12
Training and Enjoying Your Poodle 13
Keeping Your Poodle Healthy 14
Chapter 2: Unwrapping the Whole Poodle Package 15
Walking through the History of the Breed 15
In the beginning, there was dog 15
The appearance of Poodle varieties 17
The Poodle’s modern rise in popularity 17
Picturing a Poodle’s Physical Traits and Personality 19
Measuring up sizes 19
Scoping out a Poodle’s anatomy 20
Taking a look at temperament 22
Surveying Breed Standards 22
The American Kennel Club 23
The United Kennel Club 26
Chapter 3: Deciding Whether a Poodle Is Right for You 29
Asking Yourself a Few Important Questions Upfront 29
Does a Poodle fit in with your lifestyle? 30
Do you have room for a Poodle? 30
How will a Poodle respond to your children and other pets? 30
Considering the Costs of Poodle Ownership 31
How much is that doggy? Money matters 31
The clock’s ticking: Time issues 32
Chapter 4: Choosing the Best Poodle for You 33
Selecting the Traits You Want in a Poodle 33
Puppy or adult? 33
Toy, Miniature, or Standard? 35
Male or female? 35
Which color? 36
Deciding Where to Find Your Poodle 36
Beginning with breeders 36
Considering shelters and rescue groups 42
Wondering about pet shops 44
Choosing a Healthy Poodle 45
Registering Your Poodle 46
American Kennel Club registration 46
United Kennel Club registration 47
Perusing a pedigree after you register your Poodle 47
Part II: Living Happily with Your Poodle 49
Chapter 5: Preparing for Your Poodle’s Homecoming 51
Outfitting Your Home with Crates, Gates, and Ex-pens 51
Crates 52
Gates 54
Ex-pens 56
Buying Comfortable Bedding 56
Staying Attached with Collars and Leads 57
Shopping for collars 57
Looking at leads 59
Securing Proper ID for Your Poodle 60
Beautifying Your Poodle with the Right Grooming Tools 61
Hair care 61
Nail care 62
Self-grooming considerations 62
Savoring the Details of Food and Bowls 64
Getting the Scoop on Cleanup Tools 65
Finding Toys for Toys (And, Yes, Miniatures and Standards) 66
Following a few toy guidelines 66
Gnawing on chew toys 66
Rollicking with retrieving toys 67
Settling on squeaky toys 68
Getting creative with homemade toys 68
Poodle-Proofing Your Home 69
On the inside 69
Out in the yard 70
Choosing Special Spaces for Your Poodle 72
The eating spot 73
The sleeping spot 73
The potty spot 74
Scheduling a Checkup with Your Vet 74
Chapter 6: Welcoming Your Poodle Home 75
Picking Up Your Poodle 75
Selecting the right day and the right time 75
Taking home other items besides the Poodle 76
Traveling home safely 77
Giving Your Poodle the Grand Tour 78
Meeting Other Family Members 79
Kids in the house 79
Other pets 80
Surviving the First Night 82
Anticipating Possible Problems and Planning Sensible Solutions 82
Avoiding bad habits from the outset 83
Handling food issues 83
Getting used to grooming 84
Chapter 7: Providing Your Poodle with a Nutritious Diet 85
Knowing the Nutrients that Your Poodle Needs 85
Dishing Out Main Meals 87
Choosing among dry, canned, and semi-moist foods 87
Doing some home cooking 89
Getting the scoop on raw foods 90
Steering clear of table scraps 91
Keeping water, water everywhere 91
Giving Snacks and Treats Smartly 92
Giving out snacks 92
Trying treats 92
Establishing a Feeding Routine 93
Feeding at set times 93
Having food available all the time 94
Knowing how much food to feed 94
Changing Your Poodle’s Diet as He Grows 95
Avoiding Certain Foods 95
Chapter 8: Keeping Your Poodle
Clean and Attractive 97
Drawing Up a Grooming Schedule 97
Deciding between Professional and Personal Grooming 99
Grooming in your personal Poodle salon 99
Ushering your Poodle to a groomer 101
Getting to the Root of Hair Care 102
Brushing and combing 102
Bathing and drying 104
Clipping Your Poodle 107
Keeping it simple with pet clips 107
Showing off with show clips 109
Fresh from Head to Toe: Tackling
Other Grooming Tasks 113
Trimming your Poodle’s nails 113
Keeping an eye on your Poodle’s eyes 115
Examining the ears 116
Doing some dental work 118
Part III: Training and Having Fun with Your Poodle Pal 121
Chapter 9: Housetraining Made Easy 123
Littering Your Brain with Housetraining Basics 123
Setting up a housetraining schedule for your Poodle 124
Staying consistent (yet flexible) in your training routine 126
Speeding up the training process 126
Recognizing the telltale “I gotta go!” signs 127
Mastering Effective Housetraining Methods 128
Sleeping the day away: Crate training 128
Putting pee to paper: Paper training 129
Scratch and sprinkle: Litter training 131
Surveying additional indoor training options 132
Getting the Scoop on Cleanup Duty 134
Cleaning up inside 134
Cleaning up in the great outdoors 136
Chapter 10: Instilling Good Manners in Your Poodle 137
Getting a Grip on Some Disciplinary Basics 137
Handling a Collar and Lead 138
Collaring your Poodle 139
Leading on 141
Training Your Poodle with Basic Commands 142
Come! 143
Sit! 145
Down! 146
Stay! 147
Leave it! 148
Heel! 148
Overcoming Common Canine Behavior Problems 149
Barking at the mailman, at neighbors, at squirrels, at 150
I beg you — no begging! 152
Chewing on everything 152
Nipping and mouthing 153
Digging up some trouble 154
Jump, jumping around 155
Aggression against others 155
Finding Professional Help 156
Attending classes 156
Taking private lessons 157
Seeking out animal behaviorists 158
Chapter 11: Socializing Your Poodle 159
Acclimating Your Poodle to New Faces 159
Meeting the neighbors 159
Setting up play dates 160
Enrolling in puppy kindergarten or other classes 161
Handling Strange Situations, Objects, and Noises 162
Going for car rides 162
Adjusting to unfamiliar situations and objects 163
Easing a fear of loud noises 164
Chapter 12: Hitting the Road with Your Poodle 165
Checking Out Your Traveling Options 165
By car 165
By air 167
Taking Care of Other Trip Details 170
Packing it in 170
Carrying the proper ID 171
Staying at a Poodle-friendly place 172
Leaving Your Poodle at Home 173
Boarding your Poodle 173
Picking a pet sitter 175
Chapter 13: Showing Off and Enjoying Your Poodle’s Talents 177
Passing the Canine Good Citizen Test 177
Preparing for the test 178
Taking the test 178
Looking Good: Conformation Shows 179
How can you and your Poodle get ready for conformation shows? 179
How does a conformation show work? 181
Testing Skills: Rally Events 182
Oh, Behave! Obedience Events 183
Staying on Course: Agility Events 185
Surveying an agility course 185
Looking at rules and levels 186
On the Prowl: Hunt Tests 187
Equipping yourself and training 187
Hunting at different levels 188
Earning qualifying scores 188
The Nose Knows: Tracking Tests 189
Sharing the Love: Therapy Poodles 189
How a therapy dog helps 189
How to become certified (and other considerations) 190
Part IV: Maintaining Your Poodle’s Health 191
Chapter 14: Taking Basic Care of Your Poodle’s Health 193
Choosing the Right Veterinarian and Setting a Schedule 193
Knowing what to look for in a vet 194
Asking a potential vet important questions 195
Setting up regular checkups 196
Surveying Alternative Healthcare Choices 197
On pins and needles: Acupuncture 197
Back to basics: Chiropractic medicine 199
Doggie day spa: Massage treatment 199
All-natural: Herbal treatments 200
Homeopathy 202
Taking a Shot at Good Health with Vaccinations 202
Checking out available vaccines 202
Scheduling shots 204
Nip and Tuck: The Basics of Spaying and Neutering 205
What happens during spaying and neutering? 206
When should you spay or neuter your Poodle? 207
Keeping an Eye on Your Poodle’s Health at Home 208
Exercising your Poodle 208
Checking your Poodle regularly 210
Giving medications 210
Chapter 15: Considering Common
Poodle Conditions 213
Ouch! Treating Everyday Illnesses and Injuries 213
Cuts and scrapes 213
Lumps and bumps 214
Skin problems 214
Tummy aches 215
Ear issues 215
Internal parasites 216
External parasites 217
Limping 219
Surveying Other Common Poodle Health Issues 220
Bloat 220
Epilepsy 220
Hormonal problems 221
Orthopedic issues 222
Vision conditions 223
Von Willebrand’s Disease 224
Chapter 16: Staying Prepared with First-Aid Basics 225
Stocking the Essentials in Your Canine First-Aid Kit 225
Traditional medicines 226
Holistic medicines 228
Performing Basic First-Aid Techniques on Your Poodle 228
Taking your Poodle’s temperature and pulse 229
Muzzling your Poodle 229
Moving your Poodle safely 230
Giving artificial respiration 230
Treating shock 231
Coming to Your Poodle’s Rescue in Specific Emergencies 232
Lacerations and bleeding 233
Different types of wounds 233
Broken bones 234
Heatstroke 235
Frostbite 236
Choking 236
Poisoning (including insect bites and stings) 237
Electrocution 238
Chapter 17: Easing Your Senior Poodle into the Golden Years 239
Instituting a Sensible Senior Diet 239
Exercising Your Senior Poodle 240
Handling Senior Health Issues 241
Potty problems 241
Arthritis 242
Hearing problems 243
Fading eyesight 244
Saying Goodbye to Your Beloved Poodle 245
Knowing when the time has come 245
Deciding whether to be with your Poodle at the end 247
Memorializing your Poodle 247
Dealing with your grief 248
Part V: The Part of Tens 249
Chapter 18: Ten (or So) Great Sets of Poodle Resources 251
Kennel and Poodle Clubs 251
Rescue Groups 252
Grooming 252
Training 252
Travel 253
Performance Events and Other Fun Activities 253
Therapy Dogs 253
Healthcare 254
Memorials 254
Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Help Your Poodle if Disaster Strikes 255
Stock and Store Necessary Supplies 255
A crate 255
Food and water 256
Medications and vaccination records 256
Identification 256
An extra lead 256
Make a List of What You Need 257
Consider Places Where You Can Go 257
Examine Your Transportation Options 257
Plan to Leave Your Poodle with Other Folks if Necessary 258
Succumb to Your Last Resort: Turn Your Poodle Loose 258
Index 259
