We had a poodle when I was growing up. He was a "miniature", weighed 15 pounds or so, not real sure. After moving away from home after graduation, that was the first thing I did... bought my own poodle. I got a toy poodle (regular weight about 7 pounds). His registered color was "red". Gorgeous baby.... the color of a new copper penny! He was the sweetest, most laid back dog! I know this probably had a lot to do with my personality and my husband's because I have seen that they can be "yippy" dogs too. He was our "first-born" before having kids and the love of my life. Couldn't have asked for a better friend. He did have a slight luxating patella problem that showed up when I was living next to my grandparents. The main problem there was that he stayed with them during the day when I was at work and my grandpa fed him like royalty.... off the table, along with the big dogs... never sticking to the feeding regimen that I would have preferred. When we moved away from there (when Dax was about 2 yrs. old), he weighed about 12 or 14 pounds..... way too much! His knee would pop out of joint occasionally and I learned how to massage it back in. Once I got him on a strict diet and he lost that excess weight, his knee was fine.
Poodles have a tendency to have some of the same problems that Yorkies do (healthwise) and like Yorkies, they are all different. So much depends on how you raise them and what your homelife/lifestyle is like. I found training and obedience to be very easy with him too. Supposedly, they are one of the smartest breeds of dogs!
We had to put Dax down at the age of 15 when he had a stroke. It was a horrible time for me. Tatum helped ease a lot of the pain but I will ALWAYS remember my "first-born".
And Jenn218..... I was originally looking to buy a black one too but then I came across these gorgeous red ones. I was told by a few breeders that it's a little difficult to tell if a black one will stay that way or turn silver. One of the tricks they told me is that if there are any white hairs on the pads of the feet, that's a good sign that they will turn. Don't know how accurate that is but apparently it's not very predictable until they are a little older... maybe 12 weeks or so. Can't really remember what they told me that long ago. But if you're really set on a black one, do some research.
And good luck to both of you!
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~ Angie |