Poodles | Part One
By Emily Mulholland
I
f you ask nearly any creative groomer what their
preferred breed is for creative competitions, they
will often name the poodle without hesitation.
Usually the standard, in particular, is the most popular,
which can often be seen frolicking in creative groomers’
households and salons.
White poodles are the most obvious choice for creative,
as their coat is a blank canvas waiting to be transformed.
Of course, with their porous coat that often readily
absorbs colour, creative poodles never stay white for
long, at least not in the presence of a creative groomer.
Poodles have come a long way from their original
purpose as retrievers. Prior to the 15th century,
poodles were curly-coated water dogs sent after their
hunter’s kill. Pictures from this period show dogs that
look similar to the poodles we know today, if you can
look past all the hair, that is. Even with all that hair,
they could easily accomplish the job for which they
were bred.
All poodles are well known for being smart. I myself have
trained a variety of breeds, but my miniature poodle
has been the quickest to learn. Their intelligence and
trainability has made them a popular breed for circus
displays.
The Posnas family chooses poodles for the Posnas Pudel
Parade, which tours throughout Europe demonstrating
just how smart poodles are. Poodles can be trained for
any number of tasks; they have been used for guiding,
assisting, search and rescue tasks, agility tasks, tracking,
and of course creative grooming.