Poodles For Dummies Book

Introduction     1
About This Book     1
Conventions Used in This Book     2
What You're Not to Read     3
Foolish Assumptions     3
How This Book Is Organized     4
Picking the Poodle of Your Dreams     4
Living Happily with Your Poodle     4
Training and Having Fun with Your Poodle Pal     5
Maintaining Your Poodle's Health     5
The Part of Tens     5
Icons Used in This Book     5
Where to Go from Here     6
Picking the Poodle of Your Dreams     7
Making a Match with a Poodle     9
Understanding the Poodle Breed     9
Strolling through a brief history     9
Reviewing sizes and personality traits     10
Considering breed standards     11
To Poodle or Not to Poodle: Is One the Best Dog for You?     11
Selecting the Perfect Poodle for You     12
Adjusting to Life with a Poodle     12
Training and Enjoying Your Poodle     13
Keeping Your Poodle Healthy     14
Unwrapping the Whole Poodle Package     15
Walking through the History of the Breed     15
In the beginning, therewas dog     15
The appearance of Poodle varieties     17
The Poodle's modern rise in popularity     17
Picturing a Poodle's Physical Traits and Personality     19
Measuring up sizes     19
Scoping out a Poodle's anatomy     20
Taking a look at temperament     22
Surveying Breed Standards     22
The American Kennel Club     23
The United Kennel Club     26
Deciding Whether a Poodle Is Right for You     29
Asking Yourself a Few Important Questions Upfront     29
Does a Poodle fit in with your lifestyle?     30
Do you have room for a Poodle?     30
How will a Poodle respond to your children and other pets?     30
Considering the Costs of Poodle Ownership     31
How much is that doggy? Money matters     31
The clock's ticking: Time issues     32
Choosing the Best Poodle for You     33
Selecting the Traits You Want in a Poodle     33
Puppy or adult?     33
Toy, Miniature, or Standard?     35
Male or female?     35
Which color?     36
Deciding Where to Find Your Poodle     36
Beginning with breeders      36
Considering shelters and rescue groups     42
Wondering about pet shops     44
Choosing a Healthy Poodle     45
Registering Your Poodle     46
American Kennel Club registration     46
United Kennel Club registration     47
Perusing a pedigree after you register your Poodle     47
Living Happily with Your Poodle     49
Preparing for Your Poodle's Homecoming     51
Outfitting Your Home with Crates, Gates, and Ex-pens     51
Crates     52
Gates     54
Ex-pens     56
Buying Comfortable Bedding     56
Staying Attached with Collars and Leads     57
Shopping for collars     57
Looking at leads     59
Securing Proper ID for Your Poodle     60
Beautifying Your Poodle with the Right Grooming Tools     61
Hair care     61
Nail care     62
Self-grooming considerations     62
Savoring the Details of Food and Bowls     64
Getting the Scoop on Cleanup Tools     65
Finding Toys for Toys (And, Yes, Miniatures and Standards)     66
Following a few toy guidelines     66
Gnawing on chew toys     66
Rollicking with retrieving toys     67
Settling on squeaky toys     68
Getting creative with homemade toys     68
Poodle-Proofing Your Home     69
On the inside     69
Out in the yard     70
Choosing Special Spaces for Your Poodle     72
The eating spot     73
The sleeping spot     73
The potty spot     74
Scheduling a Checkup with Your Vet     74
Welcoming Your Poodle Home     75
Picking Up Your Poodle     75
Selecting the right day and the right time     75
Taking home other items besides the Poodle     76
Traveling home safely     77
Giving Your Poodle the Grand Tour     78
Meeting Other Family Members     79
Kids in the house     79
Other pets     80
Surviving the First Night     82
Anticipating Possible Problems and Planning Sensible Solutions     82
Avoiding bad habits from the outset     83
Handling food issues     83
Getting used to grooming     84
Providing Your Poodle with a Nutritious Diet     85
Knowing the Nutrients that Your Poodle Needs     85
Dishing Out Main Meals     87
Choosing among dry, canned, and semi-moist foods     87
Doing some home cooking     89
Getting the scoop on raw foods     90
Steering clear of table scraps     91
Keeping water, water everywhere     91
Giving Snacks and Treats Smartly     92
Giving out snacks     92
Trying treats     92
Establishing a Feeding Routine     93
Feeding at set times     93
Having food available all the time     94
Knowing how much food to feed     94
Changing Your Poodle's Diet as He Grows     95
Avoiding Certain Foods     95
Keeping Your Poodle Clean and Attractive     97
Drawing Up a Grooming Schedule     97
Deciding between Professional and Personal Grooming     99
Grooming in your personal Poodle salon     99
Ushering your Poodle to a groomer     101
Getting to the Root of Hair Care     102
Brushing and combing     102
Bathing and drying     104
Clipping Your Poodle     107
Keeping it simple with pet clips     107
Showing off with show clips      109
Fresh from Head to Toe: Tackling Other Grooming Tasks     113
Trimming your Poodle's nails     113
Keeping an eye on your Poodle's eyes     115
Examining the ears     116
Doing some dental work     118
Training and Having Fun with your Poodle Pal     121
Housetraining Made Easy     123
Littering Your Brain with Housetraining Basics     123
Setting up a housetraining schedule for your Poodle     124
Staying consistent (yet flexible) in your training routine     126
Speeding up the training process     126
Recognizing the telltale "I gotta go!" signs     127
Mastering Effective Housetraining Methods     128
Sleeping the day away: Crate training     128
Putting pee to paper: Paper training     129
Scratch and sprinkle: Litter training     131
Surveying additional indoor training options     132
Getting the Scoop on Cleanup Duty     134
Cleaning up inside     134
Cleaning up in the great outdoors     136
Instilling Good Manners in Your Poodle     137
Getting a Grip on Some Disciplinary Basics     137
Handling a Collar and Lead     138
Collaring your Poodle     139
Leading on     141
Training Your Poodle with Basic Commands     142
Come!     143
Sit!     145
Down!     146
Stay!     147
Leave it!     148
Heel!     148
Overcoming Common Canine Behavior Problems     149
Barking at the mailman, at neighbors, at squirrels, at...     150
I beg you - no begging!     152
Chewing on everything     152
Nipping and mouthing     153
Digging up some trouble     154
Jump, jumping around     155
Aggression against others     155
Finding Professional Help     156
Attending classes     156
Taking private lessons     157
Seeking out animal behaviorists     158
Socializing Your Poodle     159
Acclimating Your Poodle to New Faces     159
Meeting the neighbors     159
Setting up play dates     160
Enrolling in puppy kindergarten or other classes     161
Handling Strange Situations, Objects, and Noises     162
Going for car rides     162
Adjusting to unfamiliar situations and objects      163
Easing a fear of loud noises     164
Hitting the Road with Your Poodle     165
Checking Out Your Traveling Options     165
By car     165
By air     167
Taking Care of Other Trip Details     170
Packing it in     170
Carrying the proper ID     171
Staying at a Poodle-friendly place     172
Leaving Your Poodle at Home     173
Boarding your Poodle     173
Picking a pet sitter     175
Showing Off and Enjoying Your Poodle's Talents     177
Passing the Canine Good Citizen Test     177
Preparing for the test     178
Taking the test     178
Looking Good: Conformation Shows     179
How can you and your Poodle get ready for conformation shows?     179
How does a conformation show work?     181
Testing Skills: Rally Events     182
Oh, Behave! Obedience Events     183
Staying on Course: Agility Events     185
Surveying an agility course     185
Looking at rules and levels     186
On the Prowl: Hunt Tests     187
Equipping yourself and training     187
Hunting at different levels     188
Earning qualifying scores     188
The Nose Knows: Tracking Tests     189
Sharing the Love: Therapy Poodles     189
How a therapy dog helps     189
How to become certified (and other considerations)     190
Maintaining your Poodle's Health     191
Taking Basic Care of Your Poodle's Health     193
Choosing the Right Veterinarian and Setting a Schedule     193
Knowing what to look for in a vet     194
Asking a potential vet important questions     195
Setting up regular checkups     196
Surveying Alternative Healthcare Choices     197
On pins and needles: Acupuncture     197
Back to basics: Chiropractic medicine     199
Doggie day spa: Massage treatment     199
All-natural: Herbal treatments     200
Homeopathy     202
Taking a Shot at Good Health with Vaccinations     202
Checking out available vaccines     202
Scheduling shots     204
Nip and Tuck: The Basics of Spaying and Neutering     205
What happens during spaying and neutering?     206
When should you spay or neuter your Poodle?     207
Keeping an Eye on Your Poodle's Health at Home     208
Exercising your Poodle     208
Checking your Poodle regularly     210
Giving medications     210
Considering Common Poodle Conditions     213
Ouch! Treating Everyday Illnesses and Injuries     213
Cuts and scrapes     213
Lumps and bumps     214
Skin problems     214
Tummy aches     215
Ear issues     215
Internal parasites     216
External parasites     217
Limping     219
Surveying Other Common Poodle Health Issues     220
Bloat     220
Epilepsy     220
Hormonal problems     221
Orthopedic issues     222
Vision conditions     223
Von Willebrand's Disease     224
Staying Prepared with First-Aid Basics     225
Stocking the Essentials in Your Canine First-Aid Kit     225
Traditional medicines     226
Holistic medicines     228
Performing Basic First-Aid Techniques on Your Poodle     228
Taking your Poodle's temperature and pulse     229
Muzzling your Poodle     229
Moving your Poodle safely      230
Giving artificial respiration     230
Treating shock     231
Coming to Your Poodle's Rescue in Specific Emergencies     232
Lacerations and bleeding     233
Different types of wounds     233
Broken bones     234
Heatstroke     235
Frostbite     236
Choking     236
Poisoning (including insect bites and stings)     237
Electrocution     238
Easing Your Senior Poodle into the Golden Years     239
Instituting a Sensible Senior Diet     239
Exercising Your Senior Poodle     240
Handling Senior Health Issues     241
Potty problems     241
Arthritis     242
Hearing problems     243
Fading eyesight     244
Saying Goodbye to Your Beloved Poodle     245
Knowing when the time has come     245
Deciding whether to be with your Poodle at the end     247
Memorializing your Poodle     247
Dealing with your grief     248
The Part of Tens     249
Ten (or So) Great Sets of Poodle Resources     251
Kennel and Poodle Clubs     251
Rescue Groups     252
Grooming     252
Training     252
Travel     253
Performance Events and Other Fun Activities     253
Therapy Dogs     253
Healthcare     254
Memorials     254
Ten Ways to Help Your Poodle if Disaster Strikes     255
Stock and Store Necessary Supplies     255
A crate     255
Food and water     256
Medications and vaccination records     256
Identification     256
An extra lead     256
Make a List of What You Need     257
Consider Places Where You Can Go     257
Examine Your Transportation Options     257
Plan to Leave Your Poodle with Other Folks if Necessary     258
Succumb to Your Last Resort: Turn Your Poodle Loose     258
Index     259