Those crazy haircuts you see on Poodles parading around the show ring actually had a purpose. Poodles were originally bred to be water dogs and shaving their hindquarters helped them swim more effectively; patches of hair were left over joints to protect them from the cold.
Poodles are the second smartest dog, after the Border Collie.
The Poodle Skirt got its name for its most memorable applique© motif, that of a Poodle. This wide swing skirt, though, often had other motifs, such as ice cream or a flamingo.
In the movie, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the main character, Elvira, a struggling TV hostess inherits a crumbling house, a recipe book (that turns out to be a book of spells) and a Poodle named Algonquin from a long lost great aunt. Elvira gives the dog a gothic makeover and renames it Gonk.
Both Schopenhauer and Beethoven owned Poodles.
"Weird Al" Yankovic had his Poodle, Bela, pose on his head for the cover of his 2003 album, Poodle Hat.
John Steinbeck and Gertrude Stein owned Poodles; the latter owned three together with her lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas.
Miss Piggy had a pet Poodle named Foo-Foo on The Muppet Show.
Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann owned a prized Poodle by the name of Josephine who was the inspiration for her 1963 novel, Every Night, Josephine.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill owned a Poodle by the name of Rufus.
In Faust Part One, a stray poodle follows the main character, Faust, home. In reality, this Poodle is the devil, Mephistopheles who made a bet with God to corrupt Faust, God's favorite human. Meanwhile, Faust is contemplating suicide because he feels that his attempts at gaining infinite knowledge are unsuccessful; he decides against this drastic act and goes for a walk. It is on the way home from this walk that the Poodle follows him home. Faust takes the dog in and it transforms into Mephistopheles, who offers to do everything that Faust wishes in exchange for Faust's servitude in hell.
A common news hoax floating through the net involves unhappy Japanese dog owners, Poodles and sheep. The story goes that unsuspecting consumers bought what they thought to be Poodles from a Japanese company that instead gave them sheep. The scam was exposed when a famous Japanese actress went on a talk-show and complained that her new Poodle would not bark and refused to eat dog food. Another couple reported taking their Poodle to the vet to get its claws trimmed only to be informed that their pet did not have claws but hooves. The story claims that the Japanese were fooled because sheep are quite rare in the country and so not everyone is familiar with what they look like.
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