Poodles For Dummies

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 What You’re Not to Read 3 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 4 Part I: Picking the Poodle of Your Dreams 4 Part II: Living Happily with Your Poodle 4 Part III: Training and Having Fun with Your Poodle Pal 5 Part IV: Maintaining Your Poodle’s Health 5 Part V: The Part of Tens 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Part I: Picking the Poodle of Your Dreams 7 Chapter 1: Making a Match with a Poodle 9 Understanding the Poodle Breed 9 Strolling through a brief history 9 Reviewing sizes and personality traits 10 Considering breed standards 11 To Poodle or Not to Poodle: Is One the Best Dog for You? 11 Selecting the Perfect Poodle for You 12 Adjusting to Life with a Poodle 12 Training and Enjoying Your Poodle 13 Keeping Your Poodle Healthy 14 Chapter 2: Unwrapping the Whole Poodle Package 15 Walking through the History of the Breed 15 In the beginning, there was dog 15 The appearance of Poodle varieties 17 The Poodle’s modern rise in popularity 17 Picturing a Poodle’s Physical Traits and Personality 19 Measuring up sizes 19 Scoping out a Poodle’s anatomy 20 Taking a look at temperament 22 Surveying Breed Standards 22 The American Kennel Club 23 The United Kennel Club 26 Chapter 3: Deciding Whether a Poodle Is Right for You 29 Asking Yourself a Few Important Questions Upfront 29 Does a Poodle fit in with your lifestyle? 30 Do you have room for a Poodle? 30 How will a Poodle respond to your children and other pets? 30 Considering the Costs of Poodle Ownership 31 How much is that doggy? Money matters 31 The clock’s ticking: Time issues 32 Chapter 4: Choosing the Best Poodle for You 33 Selecting the Traits You Want in a Poodle 33 Puppy or adult? 33 Toy, Miniature, or Standard? 35 Male or female? 35 Which color? 36 Deciding Where to Find Your Poodle 36 Beginning with breeders 36 Considering shelters and rescue groups 42 Wondering about pet shops 44 Choosing a Healthy Poodle 45 Registering Your Poodle 46 American Kennel Club registration 46 United Kennel Club registration 47 Perusing a pedigree after you register your Poodle 47 Part II: Living Happily with Your Poodle 49 Chapter 5: Preparing for Your Poodle’s Homecoming 51 Outfitting Your Home with Crates, Gates, and Ex-pens 51 Crates 52 Gates 54 Ex-pens 56 Buying Comfortable Bedding 56 Staying Attached with Collars and Leads 57 Shopping for collars 57 Looking at leads 59 Securing Proper ID for Your Poodle 60 Beautifying Your Poodle with the Right Grooming Tools 61 Hair care 61 Nail care 62 Self-grooming considerations 62 Savoring the Details of Food and Bowls 64 Getting the Scoop on Cleanup Tools 65 Finding Toys for Toys (And, Yes, Miniatures and Standards) 66 Following a few toy guidelines 66 Gnawing on chew toys 66 Rollicking with retrieving toys 67 Settling on squeaky toys 68 Getting creative with homemade toys 68 Poodle-Proofing Your Home 69 On the inside 69 Out in the yard 70 Choosing Special Spaces for Your Poodle 72 The eating spot 73 The sleeping spot 73 The potty spot 74 Scheduling a Checkup with Your Vet 74 Chapter 6: Welcoming Your Poodle Home 75 Picking Up Your Poodle 75 Selecting the right day and the right time 75 Taking home other items besides the Poodle 76 Traveling home safely 77 Giving Your Poodle the Grand Tour 78 Meeting Other Family Members 79 Kids in the house 79 Other pets 80 Surviving the First Night 82 Anticipating Possible Problems and Planning Sensible Solutions 82 Avoiding bad habits from the outset 83 Handling food issues 83 Getting used to grooming 84 Chapter 7: Providing Your Poodle with a Nutritious Diet 85 Knowing the Nutrients that Your Poodle Needs 85 Dishing Out Main Meals 87 Choosing among dry, canned, and semi-moist foods 87 Doing some home cooking 89 Getting the scoop on raw foods 90 Steering clear of table scraps 91 Keeping water, water everywhere 91 Giving Snacks and Treats Smartly 92 Giving out snacks 92 Trying treats 92 Establishing a Feeding Routine 93 Feeding at set times 93 Having food available all the time 94 Knowing how much food to feed 94 Changing Your Poodle’s Diet as He Grows 95 Avoiding Certain Foods 95 Chapter 8: Keeping Your Poodle Clean and Attractive 97 Drawing Up a Grooming Schedule 97 Deciding between Professional and Personal Grooming 99 Grooming in your personal Poodle salon 99 Ushering your Poodle to a groomer 101 Getting to the Root of Hair Care 102 Brushing and combing 102 Bathing and drying 104 Clipping Your Poodle 107 Keeping it simple with pet clips 107 Showing off with show clips 109 Fresh from Head to Toe: Tackling Other Grooming Tasks 113 Trimming your Poodle’s nails 113 Keeping an eye on your Poodle’s eyes 115 Examining the ears 116 Doing some dental work 118 Part III: Training and Having Fun with Your Poodle Pal 121 Chapter 9: Housetraining Made Easy 123 Littering Your Brain with Housetraining Basics 123 Setting up a housetraining schedule for your Poodle 124 Staying consistent (yet flexible) in your training routine 126 Speeding up the training process 126 Recognizing the telltale “I gotta go!” signs 127 Mastering Effective Housetraining Methods 128 Sleeping the day away: Crate training 128 Putting pee to paper: Paper training 129 Scratch and sprinkle: Litter training 131 Surveying additional indoor training options 132 Getting the Scoop on Cleanup Duty 134 Cleaning up inside 134 Cleaning up in the great outdoors 136 Chapter 10: Instilling Good Manners in Your Poodle 137 Getting a Grip on Some Disciplinary Basics 137 Handling a Collar and Lead 138 Collaring your Poodle 139 Leading on 141 Training Your Poodle with Basic Commands 142 Come! 143 Sit! 145 Down! 146 Stay! 147 Leave it! 148 Heel! 148 Overcoming Common Canine Behavior Problems 149 Barking at the mailman, at neighbors, at squirrels, at 150 I beg you — no begging! 152 Chewing on everything 152 Nipping and mouthing 153 Digging up some trouble 154 Jump, jumping around 155 Aggression against others 155 Finding Professional Help 156 Attending classes 156 Taking private lessons 157 Seeking out animal behaviorists 158 Chapter 11: Socializing Your Poodle 159 Acclimating Your Poodle to New Faces 159 Meeting the neighbors 159 Setting up play dates 160 Enrolling in puppy kindergarten or other classes 161 Handling Strange Situations, Objects, and Noises 162 Going for car rides 162 Adjusting to unfamiliar situations and objects 163 Easing a fear of loud noises 164 Chapter 12: Hitting the Road with Your Poodle 165 Checking Out Your Traveling Options 165 By car 165 By air 167 Taking Care of Other Trip Details 170 Packing it in 170 Carrying the proper ID 171 Staying at a Poodle-friendly place 172 Leaving Your Poodle at Home 173 Boarding your Poodle 173 Picking a pet sitter 175 Chapter 13: Showing Off and Enjoying Your Poodle’s Talents 177 Passing the Canine Good Citizen Test 177 Preparing for the test 178 Taking the test 178 Looking Good: Conformation Shows 179 How can you and your Poodle get ready for conformation shows? 179 How does a conformation show work? 181 Testing Skills: Rally Events 182 Oh, Behave! Obedience Events 183 Staying on Course: Agility Events 185 Surveying an agility course 185 Looking at rules and levels 186 On the Prowl: Hunt Tests 187 Equipping yourself and training 187 Hunting at different levels 188 Earning qualifying scores 188 The Nose Knows: Tracking Tests 189 Sharing the Love: Therapy Poodles 189 How a therapy dog helps 189 How to become certified (and other considerations) 190 Part IV: Maintaining Your Poodle’s Health 191 Chapter 14: Taking Basic Care of Your Poodle’s Health 193 Choosing the Right Veterinarian and Setting a Schedule 193 Knowing what to look for in a vet 194 Asking a potential vet important questions 195 Setting up regular checkups 196 Surveying Alternative Healthcare Choices 197 On pins and needles: Acupuncture 197 Back to basics: Chiropractic medicine 199 Doggie day spa: Massage treatment 199 All-natural: Herbal treatments 200 Homeopathy 202 Taking a Shot at Good Health with Vaccinations 202 Checking out available vaccines 202 Scheduling shots 204 Nip and Tuck: The Basics of Spaying and Neutering 205 What happens during spaying and neutering? 206 When should you spay or neuter your Poodle? 207 Keeping an Eye on Your Poodle’s Health at Home 208 Exercising your Poodle 208 Checking your Poodle regularly 210 Giving medications 210 Chapter 15: Considering Common Poodle Conditions 213 Ouch! Treating Everyday Illnesses and Injuries 213 Cuts and scrapes 213 Lumps and bumps 214 Skin problems 214 Tummy aches 215 Ear issues 215 Internal parasites 216 External parasites 217 Limping 219 Surveying Other Common Poodle Health Issues 220 Bloat 220 Epilepsy 220 Hormonal problems 221 Orthopedic issues 222 Vision conditions 223 Von Willebrand’s Disease 224 Chapter 16: Staying Prepared with First-Aid Basics 225 Stocking the Essentials in Your Canine First-Aid Kit 225 Traditional medicines 226 Holistic medicines 228 Performing Basic First-Aid Techniques on Your Poodle 228 Taking your Poodle’s temperature and pulse 229 Muzzling your Poodle 229 Moving your Poodle safely 230 Giving artificial respiration 230 Treating shock 231 Coming to Your Poodle’s Rescue in Specific Emergencies 232 Lacerations and bleeding 233 Different types of wounds 233 Broken bones 234 Heatstroke 235 Frostbite 236 Choking 236 Poisoning (including insect bites and stings) 237 Electrocution 238 Chapter 17: Easing Your Senior Poodle into the Golden Years 239 Instituting a Sensible Senior Diet 239 Exercising Your Senior Poodle 240 Handling Senior Health Issues 241 Potty problems 241 Arthritis 242 Hearing problems 243 Fading eyesight 244 Saying Goodbye to Your Beloved Poodle 245 Knowing when the time has come 245 Deciding whether to be with your Poodle at the end 247 Memorializing your Poodle 247 Dealing with your grief 248 Part V: The Part of Tens 249 Chapter 18: Ten (or So) Great Sets of Poodle Resources 251 Kennel and Poodle Clubs 251 Rescue Groups 252 Grooming 252 Training 252 Travel 253 Performance Events and Other Fun Activities 253 Therapy Dogs 253 Healthcare 254 Memorials 254 Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Help Your Poodle if Disaster Strikes 255 Stock and Store Necessary Supplies 255 A crate 255 Food and water 256 Medications and vaccination records 256 Identification 256 An extra lead 256 Make a List of What You Need 257 Consider Places Where You Can Go 257 Examine Your Transportation Options 257 Plan to Leave Your Poodle with Other Folks if Necessary 258 Succumb to Your Last Resort: Turn Your Poodle Loose 258 Index 259