[nagdu] poodle ponderings

Fri Mar 29 06:13:31 UTC 2013

Hi Megan,
Gary and Tami have covered grooming quite well, so I won't repeat what they 
have said.
I have been working with my second guide and first poodle for two months 
now, so I will mention a couple differences I have noticed. (My first guide 
was a lab golden cross.)

First of all Gary mentioned jumpyness, and my poodle tends to be a little 
jumpy or skiddish too when he sees strange things. I thought it was just 
mine, but perhaps it is a poodle thing?
The biggest thing to get used to is that poodles are very alert and are 
looking at everything. With a lab, if they are looking around at other 
things while they are working, they are distracted. But a poodle is moving 
their head around watching everything around them, all the time, and can do 
this and still do their work too. They are very good at multitasking. It is 
ok for them to look; it is not ok for them to get off track and bump you 
into things or go towards whatever they are looking at.

Also, a lab's gate is kind of bouncy or side to side. But a poodle's gate is 
very smooth. Imagine holding onto a cart that someone is pulling in front of 
you. That is how it feels to walk with a poodle; as if you are gliding.

Though my poodle is the exception when it comes to food, Many poodles can b 
finicky about eating. They can also be picky about relieving. Mine is; when 
there is something happening around us, he would rather watch than do his 
business. I usually don't fret about this too much. I figure if he has to go 
he will, and if he doesn't go, he must not have to that badly. So I just 
give him a few minutes, and if he doesn't seem interested, I end it until 
the next time.

This is all I can think of at the moment, but I am sure there are other 
differences too. As Gary said, they can be a bit vocal. Mine isn't too bad 
with this though. He sometimes whines when he sees something he would like 
to get at, but he almost never barks. Occasionally he'll growl when he sees 
something out of the ordinary that doesn't look right, but with a poodle 
this normally isn't aggression, it is more like saying hey what is going on. 
There were 3 poodles in my class, and all 3 of them did this at various 
times.

I will second that they are very smart. Mine made my instructor look silly 
once or twice in class. She said that was the reason she wouldn't want a 
poodle; she wouldn't want a dog that is smarter than she is.

One other personality difference that we were warned about from the start. 
Labs will listen to you just because they want to please you. But a poodle 
listens to you because they respect you. So until you teach them to respect 
you, they don't care if they listen to you or not. Thankfully this isn't 
hard to teach. You just have to not let them get away with disobeying your 
commands. The first few times I told RJ to sit, sometimes he would sit, and 
sometimes he wouldn't. But every time he didn't listen, he got an immediate 
correction. Within a day or two, he was listening to me regularly. And now 
he listens to me every time I tell him to sit. At any school, with any 
guide, they will tell you that daily obedience is important, but this is 
doubly so with a poodle, especially early on in the relationship when they 
are learning to respect you.

Sarah & RJ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GARY STEEVES" <rainshadowmusic at shaw.ca>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] poodle ponderings

> Hi Meghan:
>
> I've had Bogart for several years now and the maintenance isn't too bad. 
> Tamara's description is pretty on.  I brush Bogart about every 
> second/third day. I'm not crazy about it but if I find him lying down 
> relaxing and I'm relaxing I might just grab his slicker brush and/or metal 
> comb and brush his head, legs and parts of his body showing. Usually get 
> most of him and if done regularly we'll get all the bits and pieces.
>
> At the school they talked about washing his eyes every day with a warm 
> face cloth. Sounds great but I rarely did it. I just gently pull the 
> hardened stuff from around his eyes (just like sleep in our eyes) This 
> will probably gross everyone out but I let him eat it cuz he wants to. 
> :)( It is a ritual that he is thankful for. I put my hand by his eye and 
> say eyes and he holds still while I gently feel around. I have a bit of a 
> poof on Bogart’s head and tail so find it is his head, ears and neck area 
> that are most prone to tangles. I've made grooming him a bonding thing 
> rather than a chore most of the time.
>
> I get him groomed  every 6-8 weeks depending on the time of year but 
> Bogart's hair grows slower than other poodles I've met. My girlfriend cuts 
> his nails for me but if we're every 6 weeks getting them done at the 
> groomers works well. (want to get my money's worth there!) I usually ask 
> my groomers for a bit of a discount as he is a service dog. the best I've 
> got is about 10% however, I've settled for $80 before taxes as a good 
> price for a dog of Bogart's size.
>
> Tamara is right about bringing nature home with them. We often have to put 
> Bogart in the tub for a lower leg wash after the dog park since it's  not 
> just dirt but smelly dirt he gets stuck around his legs. :)
>
> As far as his work goes I find him very good however, he is my first guide 
> dog so have no comparisons. Poodles can be a bit jumpy but they recover 
> immediately which makes Bogart a very good city dog. He has a great memory 
> of places we've been and is a great problem solver if given the time and 
> patience. Poodles are verbal dogs which means Bogart is coming up with all 
> kinds of moans and groans that mean this and that. However, my only 
> complaint is his dog distractions. Tends to bark at dogs a fair bit. We're 
> working on this though. I live a very busy life style and I find Bogart 
> adapts very well. He has flown about 15 times in his almost 3 year s with 
> me. He even came to London last summer for my work I was doing at the 
> Paralympics and did an awesome job.
>
> As you all can tell, I'm quite fond of my curly haired boy. If you have 
> any specific questions you think I can help with email me on my personal 
> address at g.steeves at shaw.ca since I'm rarely on this list these days.
>
> Have fun.
>
> Gary
> g.steeves at shaw.ca
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Meghan Whalen <mewhalen at gmail.com>
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:43:13 -0600 (MDT)
> Subject: [nagdu] poodle ponderings
>
> What can folks tell me regarding poodle maintenance? How often to you
> brush your poodle, and what grooming tools do you use? Do you need to
> pluck ear hairs? How about anyone who has worked poodles and other
> breeds? Compare and contrast? Sorry to be vague. I just need to know
> more about them. I've done a lot of research, but I would appreciate
> some first hand perspective.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Meghan
>
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