POODLES 33 



black ; neck fairly long ; tail set up high and well carried, 

 not curled up nor carried over back ; loins and legs muscular ; 

 fore legs quite straight, hind legs fairly bent ; coat thick and 

 strong; but there are two kinds, one closely curled all over 

 and the other with very long rope-like ringlets ; the colour 

 jet black or else pure white. There are two sizes, large 

 and small. The larger sort are mostly preferred. Poodles 

 should be clipped when about ten or eleven months old by 

 a professional poodle-shaver, and then kept in order by 

 means of a proper brush and a pair of Clarke's dog clippers 

 (similar to the sort used for horses). The face is clipped 

 bare, with the exception of the eyebrows, mustachios, and a 

 small goatee. The body above the ribs is clipped bare, and 

 the legs and stomach, except that tufts are left on the top of 

 the rump and a fringe round the hocks. The fore legs are 

 clipped, except a fringe round the knees. In ' Sala's Journal ' 

 there is a capital description of the shaving of a poodle, 

 given by a professional lady poodle-clipper, who advises 

 ' a muzzle on the dog and a good dog-whip in view, with a 

 piece of sweet cake to calm him in case he is inclined to 

 be troublesome, and then decide how far up the back he 

 should be cut. The middle of the body is the prettiest, at 

 the exact position of the round tufts of hair on the hips. 

 Marking the line with white chalk, leave a frill of fur, 

 beginning at the root of the tail and coming low on his 

 thighs ; leave two ruffles or bracelets of fur on each leg, with 

 a distance of two inches between each bracelet, and a large 

 tuft on the end of his short tail will complete the pioodle's 

 frilleries. Begin shaving him on the back, taking care to 

 press well against the skin and going against the hair and 

 not the way it grows. After having shaved him on back 

 and stomach you come to his legs. Here the scissors will 

 be needed, especially for the hind legs, the skin not having 

 sufficient resistance for the clippers. For the paws the 

 dog is troublesome, as the scissors tickle the soles of his 

 feet. In cutting out all the long hair between the round, 

 pad-like flesh and between his toes, be most careful ; this 

 part of the operation must be well done, as on that deriends 



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