You say "Poodle" Like It's a Bad Word!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

So many times I see people mention that they don’t want their Doodle to look like a Poodle.  I often want to say back, “then why did you pick a dog with Poodle in it?”  My two dogs, in looks, are as different as night and day.  I have never had a Poodle before, but I have had Labrador Retrievers, so I guess that makes me expert enough to say that Fudge is definitely our more “poodley” dog.  Of course, I could pick up a book and read all about Poodles and educate myself with actual facts, but that goes against everything I believe in and just isn’t my way.  No, I prefer to compare what our Labs used to do to what Fudge and Vern do and declare anything the Doodles do that is different than what our Labs did a Poodle trait and move on. My kids will tell you that I am an expert on many topics, if only in my own mind.  Our Fudge is just built differently than any of our Labs.  She is slender and regal and graceful and prances when she walks or runs and all of these traits make her all the more endearing to me.  She could be groomed to look exactly like a show Poodle, but Vern, even on a good day, could not.  Even if I had to sneak him out of the country and his life depended on it, he could not pull off any other look than the Vern look, which so far, seems to be more oversized, dirty mop than anything else.  Sometimes, after Fudge gets groomed, I call her Fifi for a bit, but I never worry that she looks like a Poodle. She is, after all, more Poodle than Lab and the Poodle part has given her lots and lots of beautiful qualities. 

Poodle, Doodle, or Mop??

My niece is Caucasian and her husband is African American.  When they were getting ready to have their third child, a boy, their middle child had lots of questions about the color of babies and how it all works.  He kept wanting to know how a peach lady could have a brown baby and they tried to explain the world of genetics the best they could to a six year old.  Shortly after he met his new little brother, he blurted out, “oh man, I just knew we were going to get a peach baby.”

Brothers sharing a moment!

The story makes me laugh every time I tell it, because he is the same little boy who still refers to Fudge and Vern as the brown dog and the white dog.  He had some of the same questions for me and mostly wanted to know what color their puppies would be and thought it would be fun if they got together and had some.  The kid is full of questions and asked to see my muscles the last time I saw him and when I flexed my arm, he was not impressed and said, "Noodle arm!" which I think I like even less than "Peach lady!"  Anyways, I think I told him that Fudge and Vern couldn’t have babies, but I figured if I went into a lengthy discussion about spaying and neutering all he would say when I was done was, “oh man, I just knew you would say something long, Aunt Laurie.”  Some things are just better left to parents to explain and preventing Fudge and Vern from having puppies and the colors babies come in just seems to fall in those categories.

 

When our daughter told us she was dating a man named Doc, I never thought to ask about his nationality.  My first question was, “Does he hang out in the woods with a woman named Snow White and six dwarfs?” and my second question was my standard, “Is he prepared to marry you and support you, so Dad and I can have a break?”

Turns out, the answer to the first question was his name is actually Doc-Lap and he is Vietnamese and the second answer was no, because she wasn’t completely done depleting our savings for her college education.  Actually, I may be exaggerating just a bit on the last answer, but we did have to explain to her several times while she was in college that the slot she kept trying to insert her ATM card into was our mouth and no money was going to come out when she finished. That lecture was usually accompanied by another that there was a place called a grocery store where supplies could be purchased and that we A) did not offer rebates or refunds B) We did not have shopping carts or baskets C) we didn’t know when the Cheerios would be restocked D) we didn’t have enough plastic or paper bags to bag up all her “purchases” and E) we did not employ a grocery stock boy to carry her bags to the car.  She usually got mad and asked to see the store manager.

 

What does all this mean concerning Poodles and Doodles?  The part about my daughter and her college days absolutely nothing, but it is always fun to re-tell those stories.  The other part about peach babies and my daughter marrying a wonderful man who is Vietnamese a lot. Genetics is all very cool stuff and it makes life unpredictable to some degree.  In the words of my nephew, “peach ladies can most definitely have brown babies,” and in my words, “tall ladies can give birth to children who grow up to be short.”  My daughter has every possibility of having a child that looks nothing like her and everything like her husband.  The same holds true to any dog with the ending of oodle behind their name.  Sometimes, your Doodle may look more like a Poodle, or a Retriever, or a Lab, or maybe a big old mop, but how can that be a bad thing when you picked a dog from two wonderful dog breeds? Personally, I like the unpredictability of babies and puppies, because life could be very dull if we always knew what to expect.

I'll take the one on the  second row, third from the left!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Doris!! You know I love you, too, AND you are beautiful inside and out :)

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

For me, beauty has nothing to do with how you look on the outside and that includes people and dogs.

Just one reason I love you so much!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Joanne, It was so obvious when you saw that mustard colored shirt that you have issues with anything mustard. LOL

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I do hate mustard! As much as I hate Olives ;) ( insert sparkles here).
How did you know?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Lisa, Why aren't you WORKING?? Thank you....Joanne has taken to calling me Peaches :) I love to watch Fudge run, too....she looks like a little reindeer. Of course, Daisy is your favorite!! That just makes sense to me :)

Rodney, Thank you!! I try to use humor in all things. Sometimes, it works...sometimes, with my kids, not so much. LOL

Nancy, Thank you!! I do think Fudge and Vern would have had magnificent puppies, but then I would have kept them all and that would not have worked :) I have seen that adorable granddaughter...what a gift :) My kids need to get busy. LOL

Joanna, I know the cut you are talking about and I don't like it much either, but more because it looks too girly to me and like it would be a lot of work. To each his own. I am sure there are some people who do not like Vern's "I have the whole yard in my hair" look either.  LOL

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Hi Laurie (aka Peach Lady), loved this blog, no surprise there. Also your nephews are adorable.

Daisy, like Fudge, walks on air...I love the day she comes home from the groomer because it looks like she may floating. The neighbors all say "she prances, she doesn't walk".

I know longer have to say she is a doodle, everyone already knows, they just ask golden or labradoodle. That's quite sad really. I preferred when they were not on every corner.

DH always use to say "poodle mix" when doodles were less popular because he didn't want to explain everything. To think that was just 3 short years ago, wow have things changed.

We love ALL breeds but Daisy is my favorite dog.

[a.k.a. Rodney]

Very entertaining & thought provoking! You managed to raise an awareness question & do it artfully.i think most of us here understand that what counts is NOT what is on the outside, but what is on the INSIDE!!
Whether dogs, humans or anything else in life.....nicely done!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so glad that I looked specifically for a new blog when I got back from our trip!  Loved this one, peach lady. Just think you could have had little brown mops  moppets muppets running around your yard if Fudge and Vern were not neutered!  I have a blue-eyed quarter Thai granddaughter with reddish hair - how did that happen?????

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

hmmm... the first thought I had when I saw your blog title was that I just don't like the poodle cut.  But I read through all the comments and I guess there are people out there that don't like the poodle personality for whatever reason.  I for one always thought poodles were very regal and beautiful.   Zoe acts like a poodle sometimes (very much how you described Fudge or Fifi LOL), and Ben is 3/4 poodle and doesn't act anything like a poodle (he's a mop too).  Ben DOES have a poodle snout...which I adore and get to see every time he is wet LOL!  

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jane, Thank you! Yes, the idea of perfection has always bothered me, too, and I always wonder what happens to these people if their kids do not turn out like they expected. For me, beauty has nothing to do with how you look on the outside and that includes people and dogs.