THE POODLE 535 



went so far as to give a picture of the old Water-dog as a Poodle 

 proper. They also agree that the Small Water-dog was one of the 

 progenitors of the smaller Poodles. 



Though the writer is disposed to concur in this opinion, yet, at 

 this length of time, it is not possible to decide what other variety of 

 dog was used to produce the Poodles now seen, for it must be 

 admitted that although he had some family connection with the 

 modern Curly-coated Retriever and the Irish Water-spaniel, as well 

 as the Poodle, the old Large Water-dog mentioned and drawn by 

 early writers was much shorter and thicker in head and muzzle. 

 In fact, he was a coarser and heavier dog altogether, and he was 

 never clipped, trimmed, or made a pet of, as are his modern 

 prototypes. 



In a rough and general way Poodles may be divided into three 

 sections Corded, Non-corded, and Toys. In the first named 

 (Fig. 1 08) the coat hangs in long strands, or ringlets, often more than 

 reaching to the ground, requiring much care and attention to prevent 

 the matting or felting sure to attend neglect of the necessary grooming. 

 The Non-corded may be subdivided into Curly and Fluffy. The 

 former is shown with a quasi-natural coat composed of small curls, 

 something like those seen on Curly-coated Retrievers and Irish Water 

 Spaniels, but not usually so tightly curled. The latter is shown with 

 the hair combed and teased out till little of the curl is apparent, 

 but the parts unshorn are a mass of soft fluffy hair on head, ears, 

 shoulders, etc., giving that leonine aspect so much admired by 

 many fanciers. Toys have come more into vogue of late years, and 

 with them may be found all the variations of coat named Corded, 

 Curly, and Fluffy ; but, as with their larger brethren, the last two are 

 far more numerous than the first named. 



With this chapter is given two typical specimens (Figs. 108 and 

 109) ; these will convey better ideas of the animals than any detailed 

 descriptions of them in writing. 



In the several varieties of Poodles the colours are numerous, 

 although when first the writer was asked to judge them at some of 

 our largest shows whites were in the majority. At present the 

 preponderance is much in favour of blacks ; but there are also 

 browns of various shades, blues, greys, reds, as well as parti- 

 coloured specimens. Amongst those shown with corded coats, the 

 colours are mostly confined to black and white, any variation from 

 these being exceedingly rare. The greatest number of those other 

 than black or white are found amongst the Curlies, Flurries, and 

 Toys. Many persons interested in the breed consider that black 

 and white are the only proper Poodle colours. Be this as it may, 

 many beautiful browns, greys, blues, and reds are occasionally seen. 

 The parti-coloured ones, on the other hand, have somewhat the 

 appearance of freaks of nature, and are not so worthy of encourage- 



