9781422279380

early as the 15th century. Poodles are shown in the works of German artist Albrecht Durer. In the 18th century, Francisco Goya’s paintings showed Poodles as favorite pets in Spain. Writers, too, have been inspired by the Poodle. In 1780, Goethe portrayed Mephistopheles as returning to earth as a black Poodle. Size matters Looking at early drawings of Poodles, it seems that there has always been variation in size—although certainly, the first hunting Poodles were larger, more akin to Standards. Larger dogs were pre- ferred in Russia, while France and Germany favored smaller dogs. The variety of size seems to have occurred naturally. The large Standard Poodle and a smaller dog, much like to the Miniature, are depicted in a print as early as 1516. The Toy variety may have come

11