The Toy Poodle

Appearance

Bright intelligent and happy with a coat that can be styled to suit his personality or your preference. The most precious things come in small packages and the Toy Poodles epitomizes this; however there are unscrupulous breeders who have tried to capitalize on this factor by claiming there is a 4th variety a tiny toy called a “teacup”. This is an American slang expression for the runt of the litter and has become a marketing tool to demand high prices for tiny toys who, due to their size often suffer bone deformities and are unsuitable for breeding.

History

The name Poodle comes from the German pudel or pudelin, meaning to splash in water. The Toy Poodle is the smallest of the three varieties and is usually 11” (28cm) or under at the shoulders. He comes in a wide variety of colors black, white, brown, cream, blue, silver, apricot and red. The Toy Poodle’s ancestors are believed to have been the smallest miniature poodles who were not suitable for field and game work but were the perfect size to train as truffle dogs. These dog were depended upon to paw the ground indicating the location of the truffle, an edible underground fungus considered a delicacy. Truffles commanded high prices and truffle hunting was a wide spread trade in certain areas of Europe. With his high intelligence and trainability, the Toy Poodle was a natural for this task.

Temperament

Toy Poodles are friendly and will adjust and fit in to any family situation around them. They are happy to be lapdogs for the elderly and infirm, to be playmates for children over the age of 6 or 7 and fashion accessories and companions for those in between. They are happy to play, chase balls or to just be couch potatoes. They don’t need to be taken for long walks and are happy to just run around a small back yard. A Toy Poodle can learn just about anything, for like his larger Poodle relatives, he is possibly the cleverest of dogs and one talented author describing a toy poodle says “he can do everything but speak and sometimes he even tries that”.

Care / Grooming

Toy Poodles do not shed and they do not have hair like some of the other breeds, it is more wool like and so they are non-allergic. However their coats are fast growing and will keep on growing as long as you let it but if you don’t brush and comb the coat it will become matted like a sheep.
You can have him professionally groomed every 4 to 6 weeks and in a style that suits the dog or you can have him clipped close. It is all a matter of taste so far as the owner is concerned.

Health

A Toy Poodle puppy from a reputable breeder will already be raised to be a healthy happy puppy, have had his first vaccination needles, been wormed and vet checked and come with a set of instructions on his diet and how to care for him. His parents should have been tested for hereditary problems such as PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) which causes blindness and for patella luxation which is a knee joint problem which causes the tendons to stretch and the kneecap to slip out causing the puppy to limp. Not only can this be a painful hereditary problem but rough handling, jumping or falling or even through the puppy becoming overweight can cause knee problems. This is one of the main reasons breeders will not sell their toys to homes with young children as tiny bones can easily break and be very costly to mend. The long flowing ears can also cause problems when the ear canals get yeast infections or ear mites so attention has to be paid to keeping the ear canals free of hair

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