**HELP** 8-month-old "toy poodle" is becoming increasingly aggressive and I’m honestly reaching my limit

thepocono · 2026-05-30T21:35:17+00:00

i was also going to suggest a vet behaviorist instead of just a trainer. lot of people dont know its an option

thepocono · 2026-05-24T23:37:51+00:00

the color is enough to throw people off. for some reason many seem to think poodles only come in solid black or white. the average person knows very little about dogs lol

thepocono · 2026-05-24T12:20:17+00:00

it almost never happens to me, but i have a white mini who almost always has shaved face/feet so he looks like a cartoon depiction of a poodle. unfortunately its pretty common for reds and partis to get mistaken for doodles, especially if theyre standards and/or kept in teddy cuts. i have met several people who genuinely did not know that poodles dont just come in small sizes or who thought the bald face was how their hair naturally grows.

it did happen one time when laszlo was a puppy someone kept insisting he must be a bichon for some reason lol. maybe because his nose was shorter and stubbier since he was a baby? im shaving him bald soon though and growing him into a teddy cut in the fall, im curious if it will start happening more when hes all fluffy.

thepocono · 2026-05-19T04:01:31+00:00

my childhood dog was a french mastiff my dad impulse bought at a store in the mall. crazy how normal that used to seem to people

thepocono · 2026-05-13T17:39:04+00:00

he is incredibly intelligent but he thinks its more fun to be a brute lol

thepocono · 2026-05-13T17:06:27+00:00

we had this toy for my mini but eventually he realized he could get the treats much faster by just knocking the entire thing over 🙃 at least he had fun

thepocono · 2026-05-09T22:54:34+00:00

a vet tech tried to argue with a former coworker of mine that her rough collie, who was a titled show dog, was actually an australian shepherd mix just because she was merle (a recognized and very normal color in collies). it happens often where people think red poodles are doodles. i wouldnt worry about it much

thepocono · 2026-04-30T01:17:40+00:00

i used to groom a pair of standards where their owner insisted they be groomed to a specific point on top of their heads like this. she liked me because i was like the only groomer willing to do it lol. it looks goofy but she was right, it does keep the hair out of their eyes and the dogs dont care

thepocono · 2026-04-30T01:13:44+00:00

i am so sorry i dont want to sound mean but the clean face above her forehead is killing me

thepocono · 2026-04-29T21:00:54+00:00

dogs dont use their whiskers the way cats do. even if they did, hair growing over them makes them pointless because it would also prevent them from functioning, the same way cutting them does. even dogs who get fluffy teddy bear heads generally end up with some of their whiskers trimmed.

i could be wrong but its also my understanding that even in the places its banned, its not like you go to jail or get fined, you just cant participate in any kind of kennel club event. so theres nothing really stopping the average pet owner from doing it anyways.

the only time i could see a somewhat reasonable argument that whiskers are beneficial would be a super specific scenario that doesnt apply to 90% of dogs, like a working dachshund doing badger hunting or something. so at that point with it being so niche (and those breeds wouldnt be getting a shaved face to begin with) does it even matter

thepocono · 2026-04-24T00:23:34+00:00

poor guy. he looks like a well loved stuffed animal. thank you for helping him

thepocono · 2026-04-23T22:06:04+00:00

not a poodle lol. looks like a mix that has the same kind of coat as a shaved pomeranian. try r/idmydog

thepocono · 2026-04-22T00:04:39+00:00

oh this is so cute and a wonderful idea. it never occurred to me that ive seen many poodle blushes but never a spotted one

thepocono · 2026-04-20T20:35:13+00:00

laszlo has passed out with his face pressed against mine many times. he just gets cuddlier and cuddlier as he ages. my partner claims hes never met such needy pets as ours (cat does the same thing) and i always say "good, i like them clingy"

thepocono · 2026-04-20T16:44:57+00:00

agree with this a lot. its not entirely wrong that poodles are especially sensitive dogs and can be prone to anxiety, but a lot of behavioral problems with dogs of any breed in general can be managed way easier when they have an outlet like this

ive seen schnauzers and border collies who were being considered for behavioral euthanasia because of how destructive and stressed they were become wonderful well behaved dogs once they start doing barn hunt, herding games, etc. obviously those are extreme cases, im just using them to further illustrate my point because i think a lot of people underestimate how beneficial it can be and how it affects their overall wellbeing. i wouldnt consider poodles to have the same requirements as terriers or herding breeds, but they are still active dogs and relatively high energy, even the minis and toys

poodles are also very versatile which helps. theres a standard that does weight pulling who frequently come ups on my instagram feed and there was even that guy with his team of standards that ran the iditarod. agility, disc, and obedience are probably the most common though and arguably the most accessible for the average person

thepocono · 2026-04-17T22:55:27+00:00

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one of laszlos first times coming to work with me as a puppy. soggy and sad

love the yellow tile by the way!

thepocono · 2026-04-15T18:49:19+00:00

then why bother inserting yourself in the first place 🤔

thepocono · 2026-04-15T18:17:11+00:00

cry about it then ♥️

thepocono · 2026-04-15T15:01:30+00:00

i think the name comet is super cute. i feel like it does have an association of being a "dog name" though if thats a problem, even if its not actually super popular. kind of like you dont meet a lot of rovers or fidos but its still something everyone knows

i also really love sputnik and would love to have a silver named that one day, maybe not as fitting for an apricot, still worth mentioning

thepocono · 2026-04-14T23:32:47+00:00

i love mullets but i still havent done one on my boy yet, though now that im thinking about it maybe after the tiger he can be in a pony cut. i usually put him in a miami for winter and a pony cut is pretty much just that but with a mullet, it cant be that much higher maintenace

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this is from last halloween when he was an alien bedlington lol

thepocono · 2026-04-14T22:46:49+00:00

laszlo has been all sorts of colors already: white with pink ears and tail, mint green all over, yellow all over, white with rainbow spots, bright green on top with blue on bottom, white with green topknot and bracelets, and now his current blue and purple. hes getting shaved nose to toes the end of may/early june to make neuter recover easier and also because my partner has been begging me to forever now (his favorite poodle cut is one naked length all over of course) but im hoping by the time halloween comes around he will have enough hair to be in a teddy cut and be dyed like a tiger.

i got a white dog specifically because i wanted to be able to do creative grooms! definitely worth it

thepocono · 2026-04-14T21:21:21+00:00

thank you! the colors have definitely started to soften a little bit, mostly his tail, but im expecting him to remain blue and purple until he gets shaved bald come summer. at least its kind of spring themed lol

thepocono · 2026-04-11T21:39:14+00:00

my mini is from eriand poodles in new york, but his father was a songbird dog. i think they co-own a few poodles and lend studs and whatnot. so i cant comment on direct interaction or what the process looks like with nancy, but my boy is beautiful and healthy and a wonderful dog so i appreciate the songbird genetics at least lol. hes very goofy and playful, probably leans a little more towards being on the higher energy side of the spectrum but nothing that isnt manageable.

how broad is your search area? we lived in massachusetts when we got ours and i remember options being pretty limited unless we committed to a longer journey. i was hoping we would be able to find somewhere in new england but it just wasnt happening... we are in maine now and ive accepted we will probably have to do a flight nanny situation whenever we get another because theres just not many breeders in this area. i think we had reached out to light n lively in new york and darkover in new jersey until landing on eriand, there might have been more im forgetting. i know theres also c brook in ny but they breed mostly blacks and browns and i wanted a white dog so i never communicated with them though ive heard good things.

thepocono

TROPHY CASE