Poodle Time!-The Historical Retriever

My First Ever Pin To My Poodle Board On Pinterest

Hunting season will soon be upon us. Living in the American rural mid-west, November can be very loud and at a bit nerve wracking (we have numerous domestic animals that can get spooked). At the same time, this gives me a chance to talk about the origins of the working Poodle.

All Poodles decend from the ancient standard size dog and that dog was a retriever. Even the origin of the word "Poodle" emphasizes this. Poodles originated between France and Germany where it was known as the Pudlehund.  "Hund" in German is dog and "pudel" comes from  a german verb "to splash about". 

Poodles became so popular that they were bred into the forms that  fitted into everyone's life style. But all our Poodles, even if we have toys or miniatures, harken back to this retriever tradition.  

Below are photos with links to good articles with more information on the new resurgence of Poodles as hunters.  I am not a hunter but find this fascinating. 




Hunters who use and breed these hunters are better testaments than I can ever give.  Two great sites that I have found are: 

From an article in a 2008 New York Conservationist Magazine on unusual gun dog breeds. 

One of Lakelands hunting Poodles from their site.  They have great photos of their dogs in action either in hunting or trials.

A red hunter from Louter Creek Hunting Poodles.  These  dogs have even been
featured in a numerous hunting magazines.

This photo is from an article of Gun Dog magazine (Sept. '11"). solely about Poodles
as hunters. 

Happy Hunting if you hunt, 

OK, I retrieved the duck, so where is the treat?