9781422279380

and even tightrope walking!

Standard Poodles were also used in France as guide dogs, guard dogs, military dogs, and to pull wagons. Aristocratic and fashionable women carried Min- iature and Toy Poodles as ele- gant companions. The working water dog clip became accentu- ated and stylized, and there was a concerted effort by Poodle fanciers to perfect the smaller varieties. Curls and Cords The corded Poodle was a refashioning of a 19th century classic poodle coat. The hair on these corded Poodles was never combed out, but allowed to grow. It was continually rolled and twisted, caus- ing longer and longer curls, or cords, to form. Cords hung from the ears, tail, and body. The first Poodle to be crowned a champion in England was a corded dog named Achilles in 1890. He became a leg- end in his time and was described as standing 23 inches (58 cm) at the shoulder, with cords that hung down 30 inches (76 cm). Poodles in America The first Poodle registered with the American Kennel Club was Czar in 1886. He was a black Standard, and was imported by W. Lyman Biddle of Philadelphia. But the breed had actually been in America for some time before that as a working hunter. In his 1891 book American Book of the Dog, W.R. Furness wrote that the Poodle had extraordinary power in the water and “excels all his race in that element, at least, being able to distance the strongest water spaniel and swim round and round a Newfoundland.” The Poodle Club of America was formed in 1896, and in 1931 it Poodle history

13