| When I first started my cartoons, I was thinking of | | | | poodle was first standardized as a breed in France, |
| dogs. It was going to be a totally dog cartoon. but the | | | | hence the French poodle. Later came the regular |
| more dog cartoons I created, the more I wanted to do | | | | poodle and even much later the miniature and toy |
| cats, and relationships, and people, and science, ad | | | | breeds. The AKC began registering poodles in 1886. |
| nauseum. Oddly enough, after I opened my gift and | | | | Until this day, in France, Poodles are used for |
| collectible store, and tarted getting more and more | | | | everything from truffle hunting to entertaining the royal |
| emails from poodle owners and lovers wanting to | | | | court, not to mention duck hunting. |
| know if I could kindly put up more poodle-oriented | | | | The UK received the poodle in 1874. For 36 years |
| merchandise I finally did, but first, I felt compelled to | | | | they were all shown together and in 1910, changes |
| learn the history of the poodle. Though I'd owned dogs | | | | were made to the way they were shown; put in |
| all my life, and my first cousin owns and loves her | | | | different classes according to size and appearance. |
| standard poodle, I knew very little about the breed. I | | | | The foundations that were developed in England |
| was surprised at what I learned. | | | | became the cornerstones of the breed in the United |
| Nobody really knows the origin of the poodle though | | | | States. Precisely when the Poodle was imported to |
| we do know it was in Germany, not France. The | | | | the United States is not known. The American Kennel |
| Germans called them, and still do, pudles, which means | | | | Club registered its first Poodle in 1886. The Poodle Club |
| to "splash in water". Poodles were bred to be hunting | | | | of America was originally founded in 1896. Shortly after |
| dogs and remain proficient hunters, though most | | | | its establishment it was disbanded, and then |
| Americans prefer other breeds for this sport. The | | | | reorganized in 1931. |