Quick Facts
Origin: Germany
Height: 10”-15”
Weight: 10-15 lbs
Color: Apricot, Black, Blue, Brown, Café au lait, Cream, Gray, Red, Silver, Silver beige, White
Lifespan: 10-18 years
Temperament: Intelligent, Loving, Spunky
Overview
The standard poodle can trace their lineage back over 400 years. They were used as hunting dogs in Germany. It wasn’t until early in the 20th century that the toy and miniature poodle came to the scene. People found they loved the temperament of these pups and wanted one as a companion not as a hunting partner. Miniature poodles remain one of the most popular dogs in the world.
Mini poodles have lots of energy. They need both physical and mental stimulation each day. They are hypoallergenic, so owners with allergies can snuggle up to this pup all day and night. They make excellent family pets, provided your children know how to be gentle with little dogs.
Celebrity Owners
Princess Grace Kelly, Barbara Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Priscilla Presley, Betty Grable, Debby Reynolds, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Rihanna, Joss Stone, Marilyn Monroe, Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres
Fun Facts
- Poodles are over 400 years old, while miniature poodles are much younger, around 200 years younger.
Health
Miniature poodles are generally healthy pups. Some of their main health concerns include:
- Hip dysplasia: This condition is when the socket joint in the hip isn’t large enough, or more often too shallow, for the femoral head.
- Tear Staining: If you are seeing a red/brown discoloration under your dog’s eyes, you are most likely seeing tear staining. This is caused by porphyrins, which carry iron and are the by-product of red blood cells being broken down.
- Cataracts: A dog develops a cataract when the lens in its eye clouds. The clouding is caused by changes in the water balance or proteins in the lens.
- Progressive retinal atrophy: Atrophy is a wearing or wasting away of a body part. In this case, it is the retina in the eye, which eventually leads to blindness.
- Optic nerve hypoplasia: This congenital disorder is when the optic nerves of the eye are underdeveloped.
- Epilepsy: The most common neurological disease in dogs, seizures affect about 1% of dogs.
- Sebaceous adenitis: These are mostly harmless, slow growing bumps under the skin.
- Addison’s disease: Addison’s disease results from the body not producing enough specific hormones. It occurs in the adrenal glands above the kidneys, producing too little cortisol and aldosterone.
- Von Willebrand’s disease: Caused by a deficiency of von Willebrand factor, a protein in the blood that helps platelets, this disease is a bleeding disorder.
- Patellar luxation: Luxating simply means out of place or dislocated. Patella is a kneecap. A Luxating patella is a kneecap that chronically moves out of its normal position.
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: This disease occurs at the head of the femur (the ball and socket joint in your dog’s hips. Here, the femur degenerates which can cause the hip to collapse and can cause arthritis.
- Stomach bloat (GDV): Gastric dilation and volvulus (GDV is a condition when a dog’s stomach becomes distended with gas.
Always request health screenings of both parents from potential breeders.
While you always hope your pet will live a long and healthy life, it is always a good idea to invest in pet health insurance.
Keeping your dog’s mouth clean and problem free goes a long way to your pup’s overall health. Dental hygiene can be the cause or can be the byproduct of other serious health issues.
Visual inspections can be performed to keep track of the signs of potentially waning oral health. These signs can be anything from bad breath to abnormal chewing to loss of appetite.
Keeping ahead of these warning signs can pay dividends. A preventative approach can delay and stop many of the common dental problems from arising.
Oral health can be tackled in five basic steps:
- Brushing your dog’s teeth to prevent an undesirable buildup of plaque
- Feed your dog a diet where the high quality dog food has dental benefits
- Regularly give your dog dental toys and treats
- Use mouthwash, to help where brushing misses
- At the sign of any abnormalities, consult a vet. You can even do it virtually, from the convenience of your home.
Dogs are just like humans in that they can experience anxiety. The degree to which they are susceptible to anxiety and how they deal with anxiety is breed specific. Left unchecked, initial signs of anxiety could give way to an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety disorders can lead to a myriad of behavior issues.
Knowing the signs and symptoms will best equip you to keep ahead of it and to nip it in the bud at the earliest signs. There are options available to help with anxiety.
Grooming
Miniature poodles’ hair does not shed, it just keeps growing. Many owners chose to keep their pup’s hair short to minimize grooming. If you keep you pups hair longer, you will need to brush it, down to the skin, daily. If you do not make sure to brush it completely, your pup’s hair will eventually matt towards the roots and need to be completely shaved off.
Some owners learn to clip their pup into a fancy style while others prefer taking their dogs to the groomer. Bathe you mini around every 4-6 weeks or as needed. Keep your pup’s eyes and ears clean and clear of debris. Trim your pup’s nails regularly. Brush they teeth at least several times per week.
Cost
$2,000
Exercise
These high energy pups will need at least an hour of physical activity per day. Take your pup on leashed walks or play fetch in the yard or park. This breed also loves to swim so that can be an excellent outlet if you have access to calm bodies of water.
Minis love to be the center of the show so you can always consider entering them in pup competitions.
Nutrition
Miniature poodles are prone to bloat. This can be a life-threatening condition. Your mini poodle will eat around.
We’ve taken a look at some premium dog foods, high in nutrition here.
Training
Like all dogs, Minis thrive when they are socialized early on with humans and other dogs. Mini poodles will excel in training. Keep your sessions consistent and long past when you pup gets the basics.
Quitting training early because your mini is excelling will cause you pup to backslide into undesirable behavior.
Proper training is essential to ensuring the safety of your dog and those around you. Having your dog come when they should, and in general having them listen is something you want to address early in your pup’s life, as it will pay dividends down the line. There are many tried and true training programs to accomplish this training – faster and better than you might think!
Unless you’re living on a farm, or have the space, a yipping dog, or one that barks all day when you are gone could be an issue with the neighbors and/or landlord. Historically, dogs would bark to communicate with the rest of the pack when hunting and bark as a warning shot to predators eyeing up their flock. Barking is deep rooted in dogs and manifests itself in many ways and for a variety of reasons.
Just like any habit or instinct, there are effective ways you can train this issue away.
Supplements
A solid Glucosamine Supplement for hips and joints will go a long way to helping your furry friend.
Other helpful supplements include full-spectrum hemp oil or CBD oil. Fish oil skin and coat supplement.
Ensuring a comprehensive preventative vitamin and mineral plan is essential to keeping your dog healthy. Truth is, there are vitamins and minerals that your dog needs, but doesn’t produce naturally. While many of these vitamins and minerals can be found in your dog’s current diet and dog food, the question becomes, are there enough vitamins to ensure they aren’t deficient.
Poor nutrition can lead to some of the most common health issues, such as weak joints, compromised immunity, increased allergies, and low energy.
Vitamins play a vital role in your pet’s health and overall life expectancy. Here are some multivitamin and joint relief options.
As regulations around marijuana have eased, the emergence of CBD oils for humans and dogs have sprung up.
Just to begin to dispel the negative stigma, CBD extract comes from Hemp, marijuana’s cousin. Unlike its cousin, there are no psychoactive qualities in CBD oil. An emerging number of clinical and institutional studies have shown the wide variety of healing qualities in CBD, including pain management, and the containment of seizures and epileptic episodes.
Explore this remedy further to see all the health benefits that have transformed the lives of so many dogs to date.
The Good
Hypoallergenic
Low maintenance grooming if hair kept short
Easy to train
The "Ruff"
Needs lots of exercise
High maintenance grooming if hair kept long