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In my experience, it’s best to relax your attachment to material things when you bring a dog into the house. They’re going to do some damage, and it’s not their fault.

Our spoo is not destructive compared to other dogs I’ve known and loved, nor is she a counter surfer, but here are our freshly painted kitchen cabinets. ;)

Grey Wood Rectangle Material property Tints and shades


She was just being a poodle. ¯\(ツ)
 
Thank you, Rose n Poos! What everyone is saying has been really helpful; I've been searching for photos with people or furniture to compare, so this is great. 10-15 lbs and inches seems/seemed so small...
Standard owners, oversize mini owners, would you mind adding some poodle in your arms or on laps photos to aid in the comparison?

The breed standard starts at 15" for standards but the reality is 20"-21" is unusual and at the petite end. 24" and up is much more likely because most of the quality breeders also show in conformation AKC or UKC to prove that their dogs meet the breed standard. Judges seem to prefer that midsize.

While there's no top end for standards in the North American registries, moving over probably 27" is sometimes done by breeders going for marketing trends, using terms like Giant or Royal. Their focus is often breeding for size, rather than health and diversity.

Until some additional photos appear, imagine 10" more in height on my guys, and 35-45lbs. Poodles height is in their legs, and those legs are looong :).
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Thank you so much. I've been in touch with someone at Poodles Club of America and she said that minis are not nearly as much water dogs as standards. She also said for my interests I should definitely get a standard, and there's a1-2 year waiting period on minis. :/. Perhaps I should ask the Breeder if the parents like water? Silly me, I thought all of this would be more straightforward!
 
Thank you so much. I've been in touch with someone at Poodles Club of America and she said that minis are not nearly as much water dogs as standards. She also said for my interests I should definitely get a standard, and there's a1-2 year waiting period on minis. :/. Perhaps I should ask the Breeder if the parents like water? Silly me, I thought all of this would be more straightforward!
Some breeders may have a 1-2 year waiting list. Others may not. Some breeders don't keep long lists like that. Depends on the breeder. I would try to contact them individually to ask.

I would say in general a standard may be more likely to enjoy swimming but plenty of minis do as well. You can find minis titled in dock diving. Mine does not like to swim like a lab. He loves to play in shallow water. He will play in the beach water if he is following humans or other dogs. But he prefers not to actually swim. I like it because he isn't diving into ponds all the time like retrievers do. Keeps him cleaner. It has no impact on things like kayaking because that does not involve swimming and is more about being ok with moving ground surfaces.
 
My standard is my service dog and he is so helpful to me. Mine is 50lb & 6 years old and in an emergency, I can handle him. I know others have minis as a good fit for you - but I feel a small standard might work for you as well. For my boy
I am always training him. For us that is a good thing.
 
Thank you so much. I've been in touch with someone at Poodles Club of America and she said that minis are not nearly as much water dogs as standards. She also said for my interests I should definitely get a standard, and there's a1-2 year waiting period on minis. :/. Perhaps I should ask the Breeder if the parents like water? Silly me, I thought all of this would be more straightforward!
I don't know if the listing is outdated, but there is currently a litter from Aery on AKC Marketplace. Normally I would recommend caution when looking at listings there, as the quality of the breeders buying ads varies widely. Aery, however, is the real deal when it comes to mini poodles.

Regarding love of water, none of my four spoos have loved water the way I've seen other dogs love water. They are perfectly happy going for boat rides. My dearly departed boy Pogo would jump in after a tennis ball, and a few times I saw him wade in after leaves or when chasing my husband's kayak, but I never saw him swim just for the fun of swimming. My other three all had incidents where they fell into water over their heads as young puppies. There was no way they were going to swim from a dock or a boat after that. They would play in very shallow water if we were at a beach, but they would not go more than belly deep. I might have been able to coax them in deeper with a lot of work, but I honestly kind of like not having to haul a soaking wet dog back into my boat.
 
she said that minis are not nearly as much water dogs as standards.
I would say in general a standard may be more likely to enjoy swimming but plenty of minis do as well. You can find minis titled in dock diving. Mine does not like to swim like a lab. He loves to play in shallow water. He will play in the beach water if he is following humans or other dogs. But he prefers not to actually swim. I like it because he isn't diving into ponds all the time like retrievers do. Keeps him cleaner. It has no impact on things like kayaking because that does not involve swimming and is more about being ok with moving ground surfaces.
That's what I was going to ask, partly for future reference, was the advice covering both in and on the water?

The wait can be that long, but maybe that was region specific? I don't remember if your general location has come up. We might be able to give some breeder rec's if we know approximately where you are and how far you'd travel to meet the breeder before committing, if possible. This is highly recommended, to see how/where the poodles live, temperament of the dam and see for yourself.

We just had a member who went to meet a breeder and realized just by being there why these things are important to see in person. Their search is for a toy, but the principles hold. There are 4 threads from her that cover almost every aspect of a breeder search. I'll link them.

(9) Seeking toy poodle on Long Island | Poodle Forum

(9) A good breeder? | Poodle Forum

(9) Breeder (and breed) evaluation when selecting a puppy | Poodle Forum

(9) Meeting a puppy ..... need advice... | Poodle Forum

There's a lot of information to look at in those threads.
 
Annie (standard) is also not a water dog, despite me trying desperately to teach her to swim. Our mini mix was actually more water motivated, she would walk until her ears floated in to cool off in the summer, and loved chasing frogs on the river edge. So I wouldn't go with a standard just because of the water thing!
 
This is a screen grab from yesterday's training session. For size reference, I'm 5'6. Simon is 24" tall and a very lean (bordering on thin) 40 pounds at eight months.

Dog Plant Carnivore Dog breed Hat


He is only 5 pounds heavier than my pibble, despite the fact that he towers over her by five inches. Then again, the pibble is a cannonball.

Dog Plant Water dog Dog breed Carnivore
 
My standard is not a swimmer, he will wade if prompted but will avoid entering the water as long as possible. I've taken him to rock hop at a low stream and while he enjoys the experience he very much would prefer to avoid the stretches of water that require him to get his legs wet. Unfortunately we mad humans decided to go straight down the middle so he had to follow.

I think it's hit or miss whether any poodle will instinctively enjoy the water and is something you train for like everything else. Yeah you can get one more likely to enjoy the water if there's a consistent history of loving water in the family, but you're still rolling the dice. I've heard poodles are more wading dogs than swimmers anyway.
 
My mini isn't a fan of swimming, but does like to wade, especially in rocky creeks and rivers. He has trouble staying still in the canoe, so we use our Radisson for day trips instead of our kevlar canoe because it's so much more stable, but still light enough for a couple of 60-somethings to get on and off our SUV. I imagine Topper would go paddle boarding with me because he's a velcro dog. We like to kayak but didn't go this year because the water in our local lake was so low due to drought and there were blue-green algae blooms. (We canoe at our vacation place in northern Minnesota and kayak on lakes in Minneapolis.)

Topper can hike for at least three to four hours on hilly, rocky trails and still have energy to spare, so I bet he could do an all-day hike. He's just over 1 year old and stands about 13 inches tall and weighs about 10 pounds. He's perfectly portable!
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
That's what I was going to ask, partly for future reference, was the advice covering both in and on the water?

The wait can be that long, but maybe that was region specific? I don't remember if your general location has come up. We might be able to give some breeder rec's if we know approximately where you are and how far you'd travel to meet the breeder before committing, if possible. This is highly recommended, to see how/where the poodles live, temperament of the dam and see for yourself.

We just had a member who went to meet a breeder and realized just by being there why these things are important to see in person. Their search is for a toy, but the principles hold. There are 4 threads from her that cover almost every aspect of a breeder search. I'll link them.
I'm in Washington, DC and willing to drive about 3 hours... I have a lot more reading and learning to do so I'm hoping to get a puppy in early or late spring.
 
I'm in Washington, DC and willing to drive about 3 hours... I have a lot more reading and learning to do so I'm hoping to get a puppy in early or late spring.
If that's the case, then you want to start asking around now. There's usually a wave of puppies in the spring/early summer so many breeders are starting their waitlists/vetting potential owners now.

If your posting here, then your actually in better hands then you think. There's probably atleast an accumulative 50+ years of poodle parent experience from just those who have posted.

However, I don't want to rush your process or come off as pushy.
 
Discussion starter · #38 ·
If that's the case, then you want to start asking around now. There's usually a wave of puppies in the spring/early summer so many breeders are starting their waitlists/vetting potential owners now.

If your posting here, then your actually in better hands then you think. There's probably atleast an accumulative 50+ years of poodle parent experience from just those who have posted.

However, I don't want to rush your process or come off as pushy.
Oh, yikes. I'm not ready :/. Ugh. I'm afraid I'll get one who is a lump when I just want one who'll play with me, or I'll get one who's so hyper I can't handle her. And who barks so much, my neighbors will hate me. But anyway, I really appreciate all of you! Maybe I should just get a stuffed dog and drag it around like a pet rock
:D.
 
Discussion starter · #39 ·
Oh, yikes. I'm not ready :/. Ugh. I'm afraid I'll get one who is a lump when I just want one who'll play with me, or I'll get one who's so hyper I can't handle her. And who barks so much, my neighbors will hate me. But anyway, I really appreciate all of you! Maybe I should just get a stuffed dog and drag it around like a pet rock
:D.
But real ones are soo cute. And I got to hold my neighbor's puppy yesterday (different breed) and it was hard to give him back. :/
 
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