[curlflooffan]

So it is all gettign very real!

Two girls were born in May, the selection has been made. I will take the little naughty one and the breeder keeps the calmer one 😅

I have given my little rascal the name Evra in honour of the trans-european heritage of both the breed and her pedigree. Evra in my native language comes from the word Evrópa which naturally means Europe. It is also the word we use for the Euro (the currency). So her name is essentially Euro haha.

I have mentioned in other posts that we were considering going into showing and by extension, breeding. But I was maybe thinking of starting with a male or not show this poodle but ask the breeder if I can tag along to shows and learn the ropes and then try with my next dog.

Long story short the breeder actually suggested to me that I might want to consider showing and breeding my girl. I have been agonising over this decision and talking about it to the breeder and we have come to a decisions and that is, we don't know.

The breeder cant promise me that Evra is show and breeding material, she is promising but is too young to tell for sure we have to see how she matures. Plus the black poodles here in Europe are highly competitive, lots of quality to compete against so you have to have a really good dog.

Little old inexperienced me in turn cant promise the breeder that I absolutely will show and breed. I have a lot of passion and ambition but I have never been in the ring, only watched from the outside. Who knows maybe I will give up during coat change.

So at least we are on the same page haha.

But my plan is that for the first year I will approach the puppy raising as if I am definately going to show. Evra comes home to us at 15 weeks the first weekend in September. I have already talked to a local groomer about getting her in on a 2 week schedule. I will also focus on getting her confident in crowds and to focus on me even when there are distractions. I will be doing this in collaboration with the breeder so they will also guide me for the coat care and training etc.

If in a year we decide that we are not ring material then the worst case scenario is that I have a confident little poodle who behaves well on the grooming table.

So as far as I can see this is a win-win situation for me.

 

[curlflooffan]

Oh and to add we were finally able to visit!

Met our girl. She is fantastic! absolutely fearless temperament. Not only that we met her mother of course, but also her grandmother, great grandmother and great great grandmother. All really confident and friendly dogs.

It was fascinating watching the grandmothers interact with the puppies. Evra was chewing on my SOs shoe and the matriarch came to her and was like 'no little thing thats not how proper poodles behave!'

I am not upset that I can't take her home before 15 weeks I think she is going to learn so much from her pack. Plus the breeder is socialising both girls outside the home as well. They are already going to dog school. Very inquisitive, not scared of sounds, confident when meeting other dogs or people. So far the temperament looks like its exactly what I was looking for. It was definately worth the 1.5 year wait.

 

[Liz]

Congratulations! Sounds like a great partnership. Evra is a lucky girl!

FWIW a former member, CharismaticMillie, got her start the same way - apprenticing under an established breeder, before launching her kennel with a foundation stud.

 

[cowpony]

What an awesome update! It sounds like there's no reason not to try showing.

 

[Dechi]

Are we missing a picture ? She sounds like a fantastic puppy ! What a great project !

 

[curlflooffan]

Here she is eating the garden furniture.

 

[curlflooffan]

I was nervous about visiting the breeder. About meeting this little puppy whose arrival I have been planning for 9 years. Meeting the breeder face to face for the first time etc. But most of all I was worried about my SO. He loves dogs, he wants a dog but the poodle was my dream breed. I vetoed his, the fox terrier, for now. This would be the first time that he interacted with poodles so I was concerned that he might not like them after all.

I was talking to the breeder and then I turn around and see my SO sitting on the sofa just covered in poodles

There was one on his lap, another next to him and then he had a multi-champion on his shoulder

So thankfully my SO is absolutely in love with Evra and is looking forward to having a poodle. He loves her naughtiness! she is definately going to keep us on our toes!

I don't know if its because we are very compatible as a couple or just luck but we thankfully have somewhat similar taste in dogs. He is not as obsessed about dog breeds and breeding as I am but he primarily wanted a playful, naughty (grew up with a fox terrier...) athletic dog that can go hiking with him and maybe try agility. Luckily my dream breed fits that description. I think he would be a little disappointed if I were insisting on a pekingnese or pug, or on the other end of the spectrum, a big mastiff who couldn't or wouldn't be as interested in those things.

 

[Skylar]

This sounds like the perfect situation where you have commitment and training with a great breeder/mentor but if it doesn’t work out you have a wonderful puppy.

Evra is gorgeous and now You can finish preparations to bring her home.

 

[Asta's Mom]

Sounds like you have an awesome plan working with an established mentor. I can just imagine your SO covered in poodles.

 

[cowpony]

I was thinking of your fiance's preference for high octane dogs when you said you took the naughty puppy and the breeder keep the calm one. It must have been refreshing for her to get buyers actively seeking out the difficult puppy.

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Congratulations! What size is your poodle? She is very pretty!

 

[curlflooffan]

I was thinking of your fiance's preference for high octane dogs when you said you took the naughty puppy and the breeder keep the calm one. It must have been refreshing for her to get buyers actively seeking out the difficult puppy.

perhaps but I know that the waiting list is long, they only have around 2 or 3 pups per year if that. From my conversation with them they do say that they are careful to make sure that people understand that puppies from them are not just lapdogs. Actually found out that a pup from a previous litter has being doing well in obedience.

I know that we talk about good breeders matching you with the right puppy but I think its even more important as a puppy buyer that you match with the right breeder. That you and the breeder have a similar definition of what a desirable temperament is. Because there won´t necessarily be a complete rainbow of temperaments in a litter. Especially such a small one which is typical for small dogs. Although the sister might be ´calmer´ I doubt she is low energy.

Congratulations! What size is your poodle? She is very pretty!

Thats a tricky question. The short answer is she is a miniature. But I think a better term for her is dwarf which is essentially the german or dutch for miniature. This is because she is an FCI registered poodle and FCI size categories are different from the AKC ones. Its not just that we have four groups including the moyen/medium our toy poodles tend to be a bit bigger than the AKC toys but our miniatures or dwarfs are a bit smaller than the AKC miniatures. A lot of AKC miniatures would actually be considered to be Moyen over here and not miniature.

Additionally, her mother is just below the standard at 27cm. She is registered as a miniature but is actually a toy size, so Evra could actually mature into a toy poodle. I will have to check the rules but i think there is a process then to re-register her as a toy and show her as a toy poodle. But at the moment she is registered as a black FCI miniature poodle My guess is that she will grow to be around 27cm to 30cm but you never know.