About Poodles
There three legitimate registries in North America.
The United Kennel Club(UKC) based in Kalamazoo MI,
The American Kennel Club (AKC) in New York
The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) from Canada as the name implies
Legally the Continental Kennel Club is supposed to use only ConKC but some folks will use CKC for it so always double check which registry it stands for. While it may seem like nitpicking to some this actually is important. This registry is a well known as a puppy mill registry and no other registry will honor its registrations.
Officially in the US poodles only come in 3 sizes. The size of a poodle is determined by measuring the distance from the ground to the top of their shoulder. Toys are under 10 inches tall at the shoulder, Miniatures are over 10 inches to 15 inches tall and anything over 15 inches tall is considered a Standard. In Europe they also recognize a fourth size called a Medium that is between 15 1/2 to 17 1/2 inches tall.
In reality most Toys are between 8 to 11 inches tall, Miniatures are 12 to 16 inches tall and most Standards are over 18 inches tall with most show dogs in the 22 to 26 inch range. Small Standard is sometimes used to describe a dog who is 17 to 22 inches tall.
Moyen, Klein, or Medium may be used to describe a dog whose height is within the European standard ie 15 1/2 to 17 1/2 inches. The best of these dogs are from imported Moyen stock but some people will use the term for the smaller dogs produced from some Miniature x Standard crosses. These crosses, also called Inter-variety crosses can be very nice dogs but they can also be odd combinations of Standard and Miniature features. Such as my boy Cole who is 1/4 Miniature and 3/4 Standard according to his pedigree. He looks like a small Standard (he is only 20 inches tall) but sounds and acts more like a Miniature.
Marketing terms you may see on some websites:
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Tiny Toy or Teacup Poodle are often used to make their toys sound smaller. Extremely tiny Toys often have health problems and are more prone to suffer from bouts of low blood sugar. And honestly a dog only 8 to 10 inches tall is pretty small and with the elegant build of a good poodle they can be as little as 6 pounds!
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On the other end of the size range you will see terms like Royal or Giant Standards. Again these are simply terms used to make people think their dogs are larger then the norm and are therefore more desirable. The fact of the matter is poodles can reach up to 32 inches tall at the shoulder. That is the size of a Great Dane! Unfortunately many of these extra large dogs lose the graceful movement of their smaller counterparts and are more prone to bloat.
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As mentioned earlier there is a real size called Moyen/Klein but it has become a marketing ploy for some people. If this is the size poodle you want be sure to do your research and ask the breeders questions so you get what you are expecting. Some of those Standard x Mini crosses I mentioned earlier can get over 24 inches tall!
Colors
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Poodle come in a wide range of colors but they tend to fall into 2 categories. Solids which are one color only but may have different shades of that color , such as the darker ears on an Apricot or Cream. Multi-colors include Sables, Agouti, Phantom (the poodle term for the black and tan color pattern like a Doberman) and any other color with white. Dogs with white markings are called Parti-color if their color is at least 50% white or Abstract if they have less then 50% white. You will notice that I said nothing about the merle colored dogs. You can read about them here.
Coat
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Every body knows that poodles have extravagant fancy haircuts for the show ring but they don't have to be kept long. In fact poodles have been know for the wide range of hair cuts and hair styles they have sported over the years.
Look at our dogs in the photos. These are just a few ways to clip your poodles coat.
Jazz, in the back, was being shown in UKC as well as being a working diabetic alert service dog. Her coat in in a short version of the traditional show clip called a modified or Historically Correct Continental aka HCC.
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Apollo in the middle is shaved down to one length. This is how many working hunting dogs are kept. There is enough coat to provide protection but it short enough to see ticks and burrs for easy removal.
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Phoenix in front is in a nice compromise pet clip based on what is often called a German Style clip. He has a short body and legs, his ears were trimmed short, his tail hair is shaped into a rod shape that blends into his body coat. AND there is just a bit of a topknot.
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Twilight is in Cords a time consuming coat to grow but she will have wonderful dreadlocks in about another year...
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