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STILL (maybe permanently) under construction!
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Hey, wait a minute. I wanted to tell you something about
ALL of our poodles. |
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I first became aware of how special it is to share
one's life with a standard poodle in 1965. That spring, Peter and I set
out to find the "right" dog for our daughter for her second birthday.
We read everything we could find about choosing a breed and decided that a standard poodle was "it". Natasha kept saying, "She is woolie," NATASHA'S WOOLIE was the obvious name. Perhaps we were really buying a dog for ourselves -- yet, she was always our daughter's dog. When she had be given medication, she would clamp her jaw shut for me -- but, she would sit up and beg for the pill if Natasha offered it. Woolie eventually had a collection of names, including "apple" -- she responded to whatever Natasha called her. |
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I realized that acquiring a poodle meant acquiring some extra dog "maintenance"
chores. Poodles have to have hair cuts!!! Well, that didn't seem like such a big deal!! I purchased a clipper set and tried to groom Woolie myself. I even eventually learned to keep her "more-or-less" presentable. Still, I always felt at least a bit like I felt when I took a sculpture class -- hopelessly inept! If we had kept her coat well brushed but I hadn't "butchered" the clipping job too recently, she came home from the professional groomer looking like a "work of art". Someday I was going to have to come to terms with this "renewable" sculpture medium! |
But Fancy was basically lazy. If the cat didn't run, Fancy didn't chase it -- she gave it a bath! When Hadji, an older Korat kitten, joined our family, Fancy became his "mother" and they shared the couch. |
I finally a my chance in the summer of 1990 when Fancy,
aka "Couch Potato", (TELLERS WILD FANCY, CDX) joined our family. Fancy was then 8 years old. We had been told that she liked to chase cats! |
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Fancy loved to "strut" and she loved being told she was a beautiful poodle.
She also loved to be brushed and "fussed over" - grooming her was "loving" her.
These attitudes, combined with 8 years of experience being groomed, meant that I had acquired the perfect "poodle sculpture medium". I also acquired a "tutor" of poodle grooming -- Fancy's previous owner offered suggestions and demonstrated some of the techniques she used. So I decided that buying a "real" clipper and blades was worthwhile. Over the next few months, I gradually became somewhat skillful with clippers and scissors.
Fancy had found success in the Obedience ring, and she had raised 3 litters of
puppies. But, life had become boring -- and if there wasn't anything special going on, why not sleep on the couch? Yet, she quickly learned to enjoy the daily walks with Peter and made friends with everyone in the neighborhood.
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We lost Fancy to bloat in June of 1996. She was 14 years 4 months old. |
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In February 1992, we succumbed to the well known "one (poodle) is not enough" syndrome. A smallish standard poodle nicknamed 'Gator' and of indeterminate color, maybe blue, maybe black -- officially HONEY OF SKYLINE LANE joined our household. We call her "Raccoon" or "Racky". |
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Raccoon may look and act like a "clown" poodle -- with her "flop top", her "raccoon" face mask, her sometimes "wild" eyes (seen in the picture at the top of the page), and her delight in instigating poodle "riots" around here -- but she is precious to all who know her. She soon decided she is "Peter's dog".
That summer she was certified as a Therapy Dog and joined Fancy in visiting the kids in the hospital. (She recently obtained a Delta Society Therapy Dog certificate as well, and will soon be meeting new "clients".) It is always rewarding to see the joy our dogs can bring to those who "need" a furry friend.
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And then there are the other three poodles you met at the top of the page. "My" poodle is "Toto" (TOTO FILLE DE BEAU RACCOON). She is Raccoon's daughter. She was one of nine puppies, and the one Racky sat on as soon as she was breathing. I still haven't scanned the good pictures of her. :-( |
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"Café" (CAFÉ RUBIO DE BEAU RACCOON) is Toto's son. He is big and brown (like his grandfather, Toto's father, "Beau"). "Viva" (RAVING CREST'S JOIE DE VIVRE) is the puppy who joined us last December. She was born September 16, 1996. |
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I've got still more pictures, and more to talk about! I will have to return to this construction project!
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