Poodle facts and facts about poodles, from the Random Facts shelf.
10 facts on this shelf
Even though the Poodle is the national dog of France, it actually originated in Germany. Its name comes from the German word "Pudel," related to splashing in water, because it was originally a duck-retrieving water dog.
The Poodle is the national dog of France, even though the breed actually comes from Germany.
The classic Poodle show cut started as a practical hunting clip. Hunters shaved parts of the coat so the dogs could swim easily and left puffs of hair over the joints and chest to keep them warm in cold water.
Standard, Miniature, and Toy Poodles are all the same breed. They share one breed standard and are separated only by height.
In psychologist Stanley Coren's 1994 book "The Intelligence of Dogs," the Poodle ranked as the second-smartest breed, behind only the Border Collie.
Poodles have a curly, low-shedding coat that many people with allergies tolerate better, but no dog breed is 100% hypoallergenic, because allergens also come from saliva and dander.
In the late 1980s, musher John Suter raced teams of Standard Poodles in Alaska's Iditarod sled dog race. Their coats iced up badly in the cold, and the race later added rules limiting teams to northern breeds suited for Arctic conditions.
A black Standard Poodle named Siba won Best in Show at the 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, one of the most prestigious titles in the dog world.
The Labradoodle was first bred in 1989 by Wally Conron at Royal Guide Dogs Australia, to create a low-shedding guide dog. Conron later said he regretted it because of the unregulated "designer dog" craze that followed.
The poodle skirt was a huge 1950s American fashion trend. It was a wide felt skirt often decorated with an appliqué of a Poodle, and it became a symbol of 1950s teen culture.