The Poodle. 163 



The poodle is certainly a dog of foreign extrac- 

 tion, but when he was first imported to this country 

 from France or from Germany there is no record. 

 But his sagacity, docility, amiability, and all the 

 other complimentary " tys " applicable to a dog, 

 .and which had made him a great favourite on the 

 continent, acted in a similar manner here, the 

 poodle soon made a domicile amongst us, and 

 as it were became one of ourselves. In France 

 he had been used, and is still used in some locali- 

 ties, as a sporting dog, in much the same manner 

 as we utilise a spaniel or a retriever; but with us 

 he has always come under the non-sporting section, 

 hence his appearance in this volume. 



It has been said that the larger variety of the 

 poodle (not the Russian monster) had been found 

 useful in crossing with our water spaniels, especi- 

 ally the Irish variety. Whether this was so or 

 not it is difficult to determine, but we have the fact 

 that in the " Sportsman's Cabinet" (1803) there 

 is an illustration of the " Water Dog" as totally 

 distinct from the water spaniel, and which is 

 neither more nor less than an ordinary curly-coated 

 poodle, a black or brown with a white muzzle and 

 four white feet ; his coat is untrimmed, but the 

 tail is cut. The letterpress tallies very much with 

 Reinagle's excellent engraving, and there are 



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