Poodle (Standard)
A German water retriever long before it was anything French, and the show clip is functional: hair over the joints, bare wherever it would drag in water.
Photo by NatalieMaynor, CC BY 2.0
Overview
The Standard is the original Poodle and the other two sizes were bred down from it. It is a water retriever, developed in Germany and refined in France, and the name comes from the German pudeln, meaning to splash in water.
The traditional continental clip is functional rather than decorative: the pom poms cover the joints and the chest to keep them warm while the rest is shaved to reduce drag in cold water.
Temperament
Intelligent, dignified and genuinely funny. Standards are affectionate with their families, good with children, and they are among the easiest breeds to train.
They are sensitive, they read a room, and they respond badly to harsh handling. They are also more athletic and more playful than the show clip suggests, and they retain a full retrieving drive. They dislike being left alone.
Care and grooming
The curly single coat does not shed and grows continuously, needing combing right to the skin two or three times a week plus professional clipping every four to six weeks. Neglect produces solid matting that has to be shaved off.
Bloat is a serious risk in this deep chested breed and prophylactic gastropexy is worth discussing. Sebaceous adenitis, Addison's disease and hip dysplasia occur, and several conditions have DNA tests.
Living and exercise
Ninety minutes to two hours a day with swimming and retrieving plus mental work.
This is an athletic working retriever that happens to have a fashionable haircut, and it is at its best when treated as the former. Ten to eighteen years.
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