Miniatures Poodles
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 .jpg)
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.