[Cassidy]

Well Ive been doing a lot of research and even though I've never been that fond of poodles, the standard interests me. Well I read a lot about the breed, and they are way off from what I wanted, but they are one of the easiest dogs to train and is a calm breed, but I know for a fact they can be hyper :/
I know the grooming could be a little extreme but I dont really like the fancy poodle cuts so I could just shave it myself, as I have done before but with different breeds. I just wanted some advice because I am still in the middle of deciding what breed and I will most likely change my mind, but Im not going to get a dog without knowing 100% what breed I want.

Anyway, if I get a standard I want to adopt from a shelter (a mix is fine with me) but I have also been looking at responsible breeders, just incase I dont see one in my shelter for awhile.

 

[Criosphynx]

I have never met a standard I didn't like. They are a nice mix of friendly and reserved...

they are a bit tall/large for me though.

 

[pawzaddict]

I am NOT the person to ask here LOL

 

[Cassidy]

I like large dogs lol so I think I will be looking out for one in my shelter :3

 

[meghf]

Hi Cassidy,
I'm so excited you asked about standards! I LOVE them!! My family had a golden retriever when we were all really young (she died at age 15 when I was 9) and we were dog free until I was 17. I begged and begged for a dog at every birthday, christmas, etc. Finally when I was 17 my parents agreed. The problem was that I had allergies so we did some research and decided on a Standard Poodle. We looked for breeders in the Atlanta area and just went to meet one, meet their dogs, get a sense of what the breed was all about. They brought out a 4 month old male puppy who was the last of his litter that hadn't been sold. We fell in love immediately, put down a deposit, and made plans to come back in a day or two to pick him up. I think we lucked out because we did not research this breeder that much and I think they might be a hobby breeder or backyard breeder although I'm not positive (I can give you their name and you can do your own research/make your own decision). We also lucked out because our golden was not a puppy when our family got her so this was our first time training a puppy.

At 4 months he was sleeping through the night and almost completely potty trained. The breeder had also started crate training so he did great in his crate. He had a very shy and submissive personality (was terrified of the steps, terrified of visitors, etc) but was so sweet and loving once he got to know us. We got him in March and we started puppy classes in June and he did so well!!! The instructor really wanted us to go on to do intermediate training but I was going into my senior year of high school so it didn't work out. Anyway, Buddy (our st. poodle) is now almost 9. He is very healthy, very beautiful, sweet, sensitive, hyper and playful when appropriate but completely fine with vegging out if that's what we're doing. He wants to play when we want to play and he wants to cuddle when we want to cuddle. He is a doll. He is very well trained, knows his basic commands and I'm pretty sure he also speaks English. I can't say enough good things about him.

A couple of things I have heard about the hyperactivity. I've heard girls can be more hyper than boys and that boys are the "superlovers." I've heard girls want love on their own terms. I don't know this first hand but I do know that it's true that boys are the super lovers. I don't remember Buddy being extremely hyper as a puppy-2 year old but he might have been. But he was obviously easy to control because I don't remember it. He is altered and I think that helps and I think his puppy classes helped.

Definitely meet some standards, meet some of the moms and dads of the puppies if you go through a breeder and feel free to ask more questions.

I love my Buddy!

 

[natalie265]

I love standards! I've thought about getting one myself, but one of my friends has one, and her grooming horror stories have made me have second thoughts
You might have to be really patient if you want to get one through a shelter. I think they don't end up there very often, but maybe there is a poodle rescue group in your area who could help you.

 

[Cassidy]

Ive only met like two standards :/ One at a flea-market, and one at the park with Bubby. I think its funny because they walk "proper" compared to Bubby lol

 

[meghf]

Definitely try to meet a few more, they are the sweetest. See if you can find a breeder in your area that you could go visit her dogs. When I was doing research to get a bichon I was very clear to a breeder that I just wanted to learn more about the breeder and wanted to meet some bichons and I told her that if I decided it was the breed for me right now I would most likely be rescuing one. Another breeder gave me the date for a bichon meet and greet and I wasn't able to make it but I'm sure there's somewhere in your area that has something like that for standards.

Good luck!