THE MINIATURE POODLE
The Miniature is the least popular of the three
Poodle sizes accepted by the United Kennel Club and the American
Kennel Club. In both clubs, all three sizes have the same breed
standard. Why then is the Miniature, the middle size, not as
well-accepted as the Standard and the Toy?
I have raised
Miniatures for several years and am astounded when people with young
children want to acquire a Toy. The breed standard calls for the Toy
Poodle to be up to 10” at the shoulder, the Miniature, over 10” and
up to 15” at the shoulder, the Standard, any size over 15”. The Toy
has always been known as a lap dog, the Standard, the working dog,
known for its incredible ability to function in many capacities – an
all-round “can do it all” dog. The Miniature is known for . . .
well, what????
In what area are the Miniature’s
accomplishments? Like its counterparts, the Miniature is highly
intelligent, eager to please, clever, witty, and often shows prince
or princess-like tendencies. You know what I mean . . . that
“look-at-me attitude.” The attitude that says, “I can do it better
than anyone else: notice me because I am the best and I deserve the
best.” I have a prince and a couple of princesses in my own Poodle
family.
The Princess
Savannah is one of the
princesses I’ve bred. From the moment she opened her eyes, her life
has revolved around getting just what she wants. A pretty, solid
white girl with an outstanding attitude, I knew she was a keeper and
planned a show-ring career for her. As a suckling, the first thing
she wanted was out of the whelping pen . . . and she had no
intention of returning to it whether or not it meant getting any
more mother’s milk! Of course, she did not succeed in that endeavor
so she learned how to make her feelings known. When her siblings
left for new homes, it was time to crate train Savannah; however,
she was not about to have any part of that. She wanted to be with
her mama and not in a crate. I began putting her in the crate for
just five minutes at a time, but she put up such a fuss that the
endeavor was not worth continuing, and Savannah made her way onto our
bed. That was the first round of many that she won by manipulating
me.
When we started her show grooming routine, it was
perfectly fine with her as she was with me and that was all that
mattered to her. We began socialization steps and that was fine too
because everyone who met her loved her princess-like attitude. She
was charismatic and turned heads where ever she went. Everywhere we
took her, she ate up the attention she received. She is now a UKC
Champion and was placed in the Top Ten for 2007. At the Premier show
in 2008, of the Top Ten Poodles for 2007, Savannah won Best of Breed
and became the Number One Miniature Poodle (solid) for 2007, an
appropriate title for our little Princess.
Today, she is our
spoiled rotten brat who still manipulates us to her way of thinking
and the life she chooses to lead. If her day bed has a spot of dirt
on it, she drags it to the kitchen and leaves it, indicating she
needs a new one. I have left new beds available to her so that when
she decides she needs a different bed, she can choose the one she
wants. She is also very quick to tell on herself when she gets into
mischief, which is not often. All I have to say is “Who did that?”
and, if it was Savannah, she won’t look up at me, her nose almost
touching the ground. She will not take the blame for something
another Poodle did – if she was not the culprit, she is her usual
happy dancing self.
Many people have wanted to take Savannah
home with them.
The Prince
The prince of all princes
is our boy Chili. Chili, like Savannah, endeared himself to us from
the very beginning. Bred by Ed Sweet of Edryn Poodles in Arizona,
Chili was transported to us by car. A little red Poodle boy, he
arrived at my house with the most peaceful and quiet nature of any
Miniature Poodle I have ever met.
Chili was content to be
with people but, even when ignored, he never fussed. He just
accepted the world as handed to him. With his quiet, endearing
nature, Chili pulled at our heartstrings and soon found his way into
our bed. It did not take long to discover that there was more to
this boy than his quiet nature. Chili is a clown. He will do things
to make you laugh, he’s never met a stranger, and he loves to give
back rubs. You can ask Chili for a back rub; turn around and he will
give you the best back rub you’ve ever had. He runs those nails up
and down your back like he knows just what he’s doing.
Chili
has his own chair in our computer room; however, he would rather use
either mine or my husband’s. He gets in one or the other as soon as
we get up, but the minute we come back he jumps off and goes over to
his own chair. In the beginning, this was a little dog chair;
however, soon that was not good enough for him so we bought him his
own full-sized office chair so he is high as we are.
Like
Savannah, Chili is very clever at getting what he wants. He can give
you the most innocent look of “I didn’t do it.” This has gotten him
out of many situations until, finally, we began catching on that
Chili DID do it. Actually, he told on himself. Items started going
missing – just small things like a hand towel or an envelope off our
desk then the staple puller went missing, the pen I used, and a
letter I had just prepared for the mail.
Roma, our Standard,
a long time thief, was immediately blamed. Then one day Chili came
out from under the low area of my desk with my mail in his mouth.
The height of that part of my desk is no more than six inches tall .
. . no way could Roma (who is 25 inches tall) get under there. Lying
on my belly, I decided to investigate. Sure enough, there were my
stolen items. Now we knew that our innocent Prince was not innocent
at all, and we began watching for other signs. We discovered he
would steal something of ours if we left him behind when we went
out. I guess he was punishing us. Like Princess Savannah, Chili
showed in UKC in 2006 and, at Premier, was awarded a Best of Breed.
Chili, unlike the princesses, insists that his friends are
the Standard and Klein boys. He hangs with them and rules them as
well. At night, during feeding, he is so funny. He takes food, such
as a chicken neck or a chunk of pork, and places it on his office
chair, then gets up on the chair to guard it. He does not want to
eat it but is unwilling to let one of the big guys have it.
Eventually, when he’s not looking, someone will steal it from him.
It’s a game to see who eventually gets it as all the Poodles try;
however, his “big dog” growl initially prevents them from taking it
while he has his eye on them. None of the other Poodles ever
challenge him, but he also knows his limits and knows when to back
away.
He is a funny boy, smiling all the time, the happiest
Poodle ever. If he wants to go some place on the property, nothing
will stop him. Opening a gate or slipping under a fence is not an
issue for him. If he gets a toy that he decides is his, no other
Poodle will get it back. Once we bought a toy duck that said “Peekaboo”
every time it was touched. The duck was almost as big as Chili, but
he worked for almost an hour getting that toy onto his chair. After
he had accomplished that, it was his duck and every time another
Poodle approached, he would set that duck to saying “Peekaboo.”
Unfortunately, someone stole his duck and took it outside. Poor
Chili found it and brought the innards that said “Pekaboo” back
inside, but the rest of the duck was shredded beyond repair. He
saved that part until the batteries finally ran down about two
months later.
Savannah and Chili (as well as all my other
Poodles) love kids and adults alike. No one is a stranger to them.
They roughhouse with kids that come by and are all-round wonderful
little dogs, a great size for smaller children. So why is this size
slighted when prospective owners look at Poodles? When people call
about acquiring a Poodle, it is obviously the adults in the family
who make the decision. Mums want small, as small as they can get,
but Dads want large, and it appears that neither one will compromise
by choosing the special middle-sized Poodle.
So who is the
Miniature Poodle?
The Minis are clever, funny, happy,
outgoing little dogs who accept changes in life more easily than the
other two sizes. Their personality is unflappable where as the
Standards and the Toys are a little more reserved. As with all
Poodles, Minis are easy to train and want to be with their owner. To
me, they usually have the soundest health and overall temperaments
of the three sizes.
It has always been known that the Minis
have the fewest health issues in Poodles and are the perfect size
for a family with young children. Miniature Poodles excel in
performance events such as Agility, Obedience, Rally, and all
activities they try out for. Some are wonderful bird dogs and
terrific show dogs. Most of all, they are the best companions and
have a natural endurance in all they pursue. They are great guard
dogs who will alert you and your family to danger. They are the
perfect size for motor homes and enjoy life equally with adults and
children.
So what causes the lack of popularity that the Toy
and Standard have enjoyed? I cannot answer that, I just know that I
enjoy them tremendously and hope others will learn to enjoy them as
well.
