STATEMENT ON MERLE: Merle is not a naturally occurring Poodle pattern. Therefore, breeders selling "Merle Poodles" are selling mix breeds, as this is the only way to introduce the Merle pattern into the Poodle by breeding a Merle breed dog such as Australian Shepherds to a Poodle, then breeding the mix breed dog back to Poodles for a few generations until they look like poodles and test as purebred poodle. These breeders are fraudulently registering these dogs with AKC using false color choices. Merle is not a pattern accepted by any registries for Poodles.

The problem with introducing Merle pattern is that the Merle gene can hide in several solid colors of Poodles which can cause unknowing breeding of Double Merles. Doubles merles have poor health including blindness, deafness and other  serious health concerns. There are breeders that will claim it is okay because they are careful to color test to not produce double merles; however, registering Merle poodles as purebred is dishonest and one has to wonder, if they are willing to lie about their dog's color to AKC, what else are they willing to lie about?

About the Standard Poodle

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Grooming Your Standard Poodle
https://standardpoodleowner.com/poodle-grooming/

Poodle Club of America
https://poodleclubofamerica.org/

AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB BREED INFO
https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/poodle-standard/

UNITED POODLE ASSOCIATION
https://unitedpoodleassociation.org/poodle-info/

Better Bred Standard Poodle Breed Page
https://www.betterbred.com/breedpage/?link=8

Versatility In Poodles Education Page
http://vipoodle.org/education/

Poodle History Project
http://www.poodlehistory.org/

Recommended OFA Health Testing For the Standard Poodle

OFA Recommended Tests for Standard Poodles

  • Hip Dysplasia (One of the following)
    OFA Evaluation
    PennHIP Evaluation

  • Eye Examination by a Board Certified ACVO Ophthalmologist

  • Health Elective (One of the following tests) 
    OFA Thyroid evaluation from an approved laboratory
    OFA SA Evaluation from an approved dermapathologist
    Congenital Cardiac Exam
    Advanced Cardiac Exam


    Our Dogs are tested to meet or go beyond the recommended health standards.

    We aim to do both Pennhip and OFA evaluations and both Thyroid and Heart. We do our best to update Heart and Eyes annually. We submit for OFA Dentition, Patella, and have also begun doing Elbows.

Standard Poodle Breed Health Concerns

https://poodleclubofamerica.org/health-concerns/

The common diseases in the Standard Poodle include Addisons, Bloat, Epilepsy, Hip Dysplasia, Hypothyroidism, Patellar Luxation, Sebaceous Adenitis, Von Willebrands, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, and Neonatal Encephalopathy.  

Our dogs are tested for DM, NEwS, PRA, VwD. prcd4 and other genetic disease test available for Standard Poodles.

Although there is not a genetic test for Addisons, Sebaceous Adenitis, and other autoimmune conditions, we participate in VGL testing through Better Bred and consider diversity in all breed plans to lessen the risks of these autoimmune disorders in the puppies we produce.

BLOAT

Every Poodle Owner Must Educate themselves about Bloat.

http://vipoodle.org/fact_sheet/gastric-torsion-bloat/