RIDGEFIELD — Poodle owners know the stereotypes about their dogs: They’re froufrou. They’re snooty.
But James Rader’s 1-year-old standard poodle Charlie is a rugged outdoors pup. On a recent fishing trip, Charlie, with his white, curly fur, barked excitedly as Rader reeled in a catch, and when the fish came off the hook, Charlie jumped in the lake after it. Charlie didn’t nab the fish, but he sure tried.
“They’re the ultimate guy dog,” the Salem, Ore., resident said, adding that poodles have stamina, agility and are “spooky smart.”
Rader and other proud poodle owners gathered Sunday for Poodle Palooza at dog breeder Paula Morgan’s Ridgefield-area home. More than 15 poodles — standards, minis and toys — participated in the get-together, which raised money for poodle health research and the National Animal Interest Alliance. Morgan said she hopes to make it an annual event.
For Rader, Charlie is more than a fishing buddy. After Army deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Rader said, he was in a dark place. His sister and her husband owned a couple of standard poodles. Rader befriended one of them and soon decided to own a poodle of his own.
“We fell in love instantly with each other,” Rader said about Charlie. While his sister’s poodle “saved my life, Charlie has given me back my life.”
Charlie is learning to become a service dog, and Rader said his dog has the smarts for it. He recalled a time when he was watching a political speech on television and it triggered a combat flashback. Charlie grabbed the remote control and began stepping on it, Rader said.
“Then he jumped on me, and brought me back to here,” he said.
It wasn’t the only reference at Poodle Palooza to the sensitivity and intelligence the breed seems to possess.
Bobbie Anne Schroering drove from Corvallis, Ore., for the event with her black standard poodle Cece. Schroering’s first poodle came into her life when she was a girl. Her father died suddenly, and some of his employees gave the family a black poodle as a gift.
“It was my best friend,” she said.
Cece is her third poodle. The dogs require regular grooming, but they’re beautiful and they make great pets, she said.
“I think she would have been a wonderful therapy dog,” Schroering said of Cece. “They put their heart and soul into everything they do. … They’re very loyal.”
While poodle owners talked up the breed’s traits, a few poodles bounded in a nearby field, gracefully engaging each other in play.
Dr. Elaine Rude, a veterinarian, gave a talk about pet vaccinations, then led the dogs and their owners in a series of games dubbed Poodle Olympics. The dogs jumped hurdles and walked alongside their owners in an egg-and-spoon race and a variation of musical chairs.
“These are agility dogs in the making,” Rude said.
When the games were done, some poodles were pampered at a grooming station and posed for a professional photo.
The idea for the event came from a poodle party Morgan and her husband hosted when they lived in the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon.
“It was a great time and a lot of fun,” she said, and they raised money for an animal shelter.
Perhaps most fun of all is seeing the poodles interact.
“Poodles like to play with other poodles,” Morgan said. “They have their own play behaviors. They communicate with each other much more quickly. It’s so much fun for the dogs.”
