doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Poodles that hunt?

Due to family situation I cannot have a dog that sheds and the only one that truly doesn't is the poodle. I have seen a few websites with hunting poodles, primarily pheasants, but I keep hearing rumors that are good upland dogs and water dogs if you can find a line that hasn't had the instinct bred out of them.

See if you can refrain from bad jokes, petty remarks, etc., does anyone have first or second hand experience with poodles that hunt?

Try this: http://www.clearlight.com/~bedog/Touley_rev_c.pdf

AND.......http://www.geocities.com/huntingpoodles/Hunting.html

I'll stop now but you get the idea: http://www.lakelandhuntingpoodles.com/

And when you take a break from the field and stop at a local biker bar for lunch, you can take Fifi into the bar in the crook of your arm. Just joking, of course. I wouldn't want to get into a fight with a standard poodle with an attitude.

The standard Poodle was originally a German duck retriever, a descendant of water Spaniels.An extremly intelligent dog eager to please and easy to train.Here's our boy Riley this fall.





I love the strange looks, double takes and snickers we get when hunting afield, the real jokes on them.
A Poodle, A Patridge and A Parker anyone? ;>) Bob

Good for you for not be afraid to be different. We had a Schnauzer that just plain loved to hunt. This breed does not shed either. Now, I have a West Highland Terrier. He is an avid squirrel hunter and dove retriever. Funny, they claim that Westy's don't shed, but ours doesn't know that.

Bob,

Did you get Riley in PA? I'll drive to Pennsylvania Dutch Country to see a breeder.

Bouvier, thanks those are the only websites I have found. BTW do you hunt a Bouvier?

Anyone know of any breeders of hunting poodles in the NY/NJ/CT area?

Thanks, Rob

Had a friend who swears his standard poodle was the best gun dog he ever had. I met him too late to know his poodle, but I know he's had some excellent Labs, so I believe what he says.

There was a snow goose guide I hunted with once in Arkansas who used Labradoodles. Cross with Labs, of course. They all had the Poodle hair and he said they did not shed. Good thing, because he kept them inside in his "Lodge". They were also superb retrievers. You might consider this option instead of trying to find a hunting line of Standard Poodles; probably cheaper too...Geo

Poodles were at one time great hunters. As for their hair cuts, it was originally done by the estate owners in France to designate their dogs in the field. So different land owners dogs had different "doos" when running together.

George, do you know if they worked well for upland also?

The lady that gave me my Boykin/Watchtelhunde cross...used to raise hunting poodles and claimed she ran them in field trials up north some where.

RR:

My Bouviers will hunt ..... when they feel like it. They love to flush birds but will never wait until I get close enough for a shot to do it .... They'll find a downed bird but after that they feel their job is done ...... I've tried to teach them to retrieve but after the first time they bring it back they can't understand why you would throw it away again.

They are great with cows, sheep and small children.

Al

I have read, (but cannot reference) that the "silly cuts" actually evolved from hunting. The hair was kept longer over the joints to keep them warmer while the rest of the hair was cut close to keep down on briars. Hence the pom poms on the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, neck, and such. I'm sure the French took it to extremes.

Poodles get a bum rap, due to the edible minature ones carried around under feebs' arms, and the poor sad show ring dogs being unspeakably and cruelly groomed ringside by over-imaginative fellows who could use a little time digging ditches for a living, just so's they know reality when presented with it.

I competed in dog agility courses a bit back and just got the biggest kick out watching working standard-bred poodles. Dey IS da workinest gem'mans, i do say. Bright and energetic, their worst drawback was that liked to embellish a performance by mebbe doing the required action twice or throwing in a curvette and extra jump -- out of sheer joy at working.

Thru those poodle folks I found out about the existence of real full sized, standard bred hunting poodles, and would presume that they have not disappeared in the decades since then. My canine is Chesapeakes and will be 'til I can't, but were there not those wavyfurred brown dogs, a spirited, intelligent poodle would be just fine in blind or boat or field. They are not wimp dogs, as mentioned above, and will give a full day of hard work.

In fact, I do believe a good slidey-breeched gun or two would be lovely and appropriate for such a noble creature: perhaps a short Ten and a Sixteen, true thinking hunter's gauges.

Go French!!! ;~`)

I seem to recall someone saying the American Water Spaniel didn't shed, and I know they are definitely good upland dogs. Might want to ask about them too. The few standard poodles I have known were quite nice dogs and not related except by general appearance to pitiful little lap pets.

I only saw them work as retrievers, but I was impressed. Being half Lab I would think they could do anything an upland hunting Lab could do...Geo

One of the biggest and most serious problems facing those that appreciate and use hunting poodles is the jealousy of non poodle users. They have been known to put Velcro on bushes as a form of poodle trap.

I have had a couple of American Water Spaniels and I can say for sure, they shed. Not as bad as some dogs, but they do shed. They also like to fish as well as hunt.

Rob, Yes Riley came from a local breeder.However he comes from a line of champion show dogs not hunters. His great grand father won Westminster several years ago and his brothers and sisters are local champions. I could not assure you that another dog from this breeder would hunt as well as Riley.
We took Riley along on a Pheasant hunt one day on a whim.
Dang if that dog didn't start to hunt! A couple of bird wings and a few weeks later and he knew what I wanted him to do. I attribute his quick training to the breeds intelligence not any skill on my part.I just made a game of it and was patient and consistent.
I'm sure if you get in contact with a hunting breeder they could point you in the direction of a breeder near you. Bob

I know lots and lots about this. I have a Poodle bred out of "Oakwind's Time to Burn." You can google the name. He is owned by Jaci Bowman in Wisconsin.
There is a VERY active group of folks out there breeding hunting Poodles and running Standard Poodles in hunting trials. You can go to http://www.vipoodle.org/ and look around there.

I am a member of a yahoo list serve group, which goes by the name of "HuntingPoodle@yahoogroups.com. It is a closed group but would welcome someone who really wanted to get involved with hunting poodles.

They are breeding some GREAT hunting poodles. And, the bonus is that there is no better dog than a poodle, period.

I would be happy to converse with you privately about this. I can give you some of the absolute top names in the country for hunting poodles.

Best Regards, Jake

My Dad and I hunted for years with a guy who had a Standard Poodle and of all things an Airdale. The Poodle was an outstandiing dog. Pheasants in Michigan were the quarry...

Don't the French police use standard poodles because they are so intelligent and because of that are so easy to train???
All the best

Jake, PM sent.

Rob

Jake, you out there?

Please contact me @ recoil@optonline.net

In the early seventies I lived in the Garden District of New Orleans and had a standard white. I would walk her down to Audubon Park, which is about a square mile of city park across the street from Tulane Univ. I would encounter guys working their gun dogs. In the course of conversation I would say something like, "Gee, someday I hope to have a good gun dog." Time after time after time I was told about a guy from southern Louisiana that had two standard blacks that he would enter in open trials. It was never a matter of whether his dogs would do any good, but more a matter of which one would get first and which would get second.

Ten years later I was casting about for a wire-haired pointer. They were fairly new in the country at that time and you could about count the number of breeders on your fingers and toes. I probably talked with most of them and kept hearing the same story about the end-all of wire-haired pointers. I finally tracked down the guy that had this end-all pointer and he lived in Pearl River, north of New Orleans. I told him my poodle story. He said, "My God, those were my dogs! Well, one of them was. The first dog I trained was my wife's poodle, and that was done on a bet. The second dog was easy."

I will say that I still regard that standard white as far and away the smartest dog I have ever owned. I regret that she was my first dog and wish that I would have known then what I know now about dogs. They are, however, high maintenance, what with the need for trims and their propensity for bringing half the field home in their coat.

I've reconciled myself to the maintenance issue, now I'm in the hunt for a good breeder of dogs with hunting lines.

Rob

Well, yes and no. Poodles don't shed. So they are clean as a whistle in the house. No allergies from them either. They do require a bit of REGULAR maintenance. But, if you give them a bit of a brush every day and a shower or bath about once every two weeks and the occasional trim, they are very trouble free. And, they are remarkably clean animals.

Regards, Jake

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Best regards, Bob