And You Thought Poodles Were Foo-Foo. Would You Believe The Iditarod?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is no lie! In 1988, John Suter's Iditarod team icluded three standard poodles!

Mushing Poodles in the Iditarod! Turn your volume up when you click this link, so you can hear the catchy tune: The Poodle Man Song" by Dave Reno http://home.gci.net/~poodlesleddog/

Alaska, where women win the Iditarod and men mush poodles!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Poodles are only foo foo if you have them cut foo foo. The dog is not foo foo unless it's treated foo foo. They are smart, loyal and loving dogs, foo foo or not. Real men should become "real men."

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

1992 Jr. Iditarod

John Suter's daughter Esther ran the 1992 Jr. Iditarod, a 154 mile sled dog race with poodles. Esther still holds the track record for rookie of the year and placed 3rd with a completion of 10.5 hrs. Esther and her poodles were shown on ABC Wide World of Sports in 1992.

[LINDA & TEDDY]

Great picture of the poodle Iditarod Doggies! I was not aware of the poodle mushers.

The poodle really is not a Foo-Foo. Dog. The poodle was originally bred to be a water dog -- retrieving game fowl trapped or shot down by its owners. The name "poodle" is a derivative of the old German extraction "pudeln" which translates roughly as "to splash in water." The poodle is also related to the famous Portuguese water dog -- a working dog with a long curly coat, renowned for its intelligence, speed, agility and ruggedness both in and out of the water.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of poodles is why they are clipped in such an array of seemingly bizarre styles. The fact is that the distinctively shaved areas and tufts of hair - the unique poodle "look" -- are a direct result of the poodle's working and sporting heritage.

In order to protect the poodle's vital organs and joints from the biting cold of constant water retrieval, certain areas were shaved for added mobility and to lessen the chance of snagging while other key areas were left densely covered for warmth. The ribbon commonly found tied into a poodle's topknot, is believed to have originally been a means of finding and identifying the dog when it was working in water.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Many people also do not know that water dogs from Portugal, probably PWD's, were used in developing the Labrador retriever. So there are already poodle genes in labs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You really should listen to that song on the website. I can't get it out of my head:

"Jokin' and laughin' and havin' fun,
watchin' the fancy poodles run...
This is the story 'bout John the poodle man"
ROFLMAO!!!!!

[Debbie and Thomas]

Would love to see a picture of him in his show trim. They are sooo beautiful !

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's one of the things I love about you, Ann. I am always so surprised at how many breeders didn't know about or even like poodles before they started breeding doodles. YOU are a poodle person!

[Janie]

Did not know this but am not surpised!

[Stella]

Thats awesome. I feel so bad for poodles, they are so misunderstood. When people hear how big my doodle is, they are confused, 'cos so many people only think of toy poodles when you say poodle. Many people don't seem to know standard poodles even exist. They are amazing dogs too, and look pretty cool when left with their coat looking more natural instead of "foo foo"!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Also, they think all poodles are white, lol!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think those dogs in the second photo are wearing booties, maybe. The daughter's dogs do have shaved feet, though.
I would love to see your show photos. One thing that I do like about the show poodles, you can see those gorgeous muscles in their back ends & legs. I love the lines.

[Pamela-Pambriella Goldendoodles]

This is soooo awsome!! I just lost an adoptive family this weekend because they didn't want a dog with curly hair like a poodle and when I told them I couldn't guarantee what the coat would turn out like they didn't want to take the chance of getting a dog that looked like a poodle. I tried all the good arguments about not having it cut like a poodle and so forth, but to no avail. I wish I had known about this ! I could've shared it with them!! Poodles WHAT A DOG!!