Standard poodle or mini

My family and I are looking to adopt a dog. It willeither be a standard poodle of the miniature poodle. We have two children who are very good with animals and have helped us with fostering as we foster homeless and hurt cats. Anyways, I am really torn which one. We went to look at some standard puppies and I loved them, but we have never had a big dog before. Then today went to look at a mini, and he seemed so small and delicate compared to the standards. Anyone have any advice, I just dont' know which breed we would like...I gather standards would need alot more exercise??

My family has had medium to small right now I have a puppy 3.5 months and his weight is 3.5lbs pretty small in my standards and I can't wait for him to get bigger small dogs are cute really cute we get stopped alot when we are out, one of the disadvantages with a smaller dog is not only are they small and they love to be around legs and they get stepped on alot by both young and old. I think just because of there size shouldn't mean the less excersise I believe it would have to be the energy of the dog it self, King gets really hyper at night around 7 so I am outside with him for edleast two hours trying to get him to calm down by the time we come back in I am more tired and he is on his second wind.....gotta love him!!!!!!!!!

all dogs need exercise; smaller/bigger is not the key

the key is the type of dog.

a working dog/sporting dog type (lab, rottweiler german shepherd) will need far more exercise than a toy dog.

i think any poodle, regardless of size would require the same amount of physical activity.

that shouldnt be the determining factor in getting the dog. if you arent willing to walk a dog (which is perfectly fine! not everyone has the time to dedicate to it) research a breed that doesnt demand a great deal of exercise. i will check on poodles on www.dogbreedinfo.com -- good site by the way for all kinds of doggy info.

i just checked it out

both sizes need a daily walk according to the site, but all dogs need that. it does not mention either having extraordinary requirements outside of that. so what other factors are going to sway you either way?

You better not look at toy poodles then because you would really be confused!! :D Poodles, even toys, are high energy dogs and require lots of play time. They love going for walks and are very easily trained to do just about anything you would like them to. They are a very highly intelligent dog. Mine learned very quickly to fetch her sponge ball when she wanted to play. She would bring it to me, drop it, and bark until I threw it. Last year at 13 she figured out how to pull the string on those toys that vibrate by watching me do it twice. She put her paw on the toy and used her teeth to pull the string and then barked the whole time if vibrated. So funny!! :cloud9:

One of the most important thing about owning a Poodle is grooming. It is an ongoing, every day thing. This is not just for looks, it is for their health. I am including a couple of sites for you to check out. It may help in your decision.

http://www.poodlesavvy.com/poodle-care.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/poodle-grooming-how-to-brush-your-poodle.html

HI there, thanks for replying everyone...just to clarify, of course all dogs need walking, that goes without saying and our dog will be walked. I didn't mean we would choose a smaller dog thinking we woudln't walk it. We take care of animals very seriously, my whole family volunteers with rescues and we do foster care and have nursed sick cats back to health who were abused...anyways, just to clarify, we are choosing a poodle because of allergies and the low shed. I guess my main concern with the standard is the big size, we have a fairly small house. We do have a fenced yard though. Another concern is that I've never actually had a big dog so I actaully feel a bit nervous about it. My last dog was a poodle cross rescue and weighed about 15 pounds. She was great but was a bit yappy and wasn't the greatest with other dogs. This time aruond I would like to do better, more training etc.

Good luck with your choice......

i have a VERY big dog in a small townhouse condo and he does fine given the daily hr long walk.

a big dog is of course more of a concern with kids because they are stronger.

but since youve had doggies before and know how to train them and stuff i would think that you should just get whatever one you like best when you see some available pups.


good luck.

If you have small children I would consider the standard poodle instead of the miniature. Just thinking of the safety of the dog, also...small dogs sometimes feel more intimidated by active children and can get a little bit snippy and defensive. If your kids are really rough and tumble, get the bigger dog. Standard poodles really aren't THAT big...more of a med-large size dog. :thumbs up

My parents have a female standard,who is a sweetheart.She's a pretty high energy dog,but great with kids and really trainable.I've got a few that come into kennel who are also great dogs,males are a bit more dominant and less mushy than the girls in general.

HI thanks for the replies. We have adopted a standard poodle, a boy. It is so strange becuase I have always had small dogs, and always had girl dogs, but this guy just kind of fell into my lap. So we will see how it goes. We picked him up yesterday and he cried alll night, so I haven't had any sleep. He is also not a small puppy, he is 5 1/2 months old. So thanks all, and if anyone has any tips, pass them along. We will be starting puppy training for older puppies in a few weeks.

Congratulations on your new puppy :lovestruck: ....sure would like to see some pics. :cloud9: