Thursday, April 17, 2008 

Toy Poodles - Cute and Loving, But Demanding Dogs Requiring Clipping

Toy poodles easily melt the hearts of dog lovers with good reason. They're cute, loving and extremely devoted to their owners. Despite their size, a toy Poodle is surprisingly sturdy. However, they do require special treatment and training. In this article, we'll show you how to build a relationship with your dog so that you an enjoy having this pint sized pooch in your home.

The distinct clips of Poodles make them one of the most recognizable dogs in the world. Your pet can begin receiving clips as early as six weeks old. To make the process easier on toy Poodles, introduce them to it slowly so that they realize that it is not a threat to their safety. Don't rush your dog. Some Poodle puppies will become accustomed to the clippers faster than others. It's very important that you remain diligent about the care of your dog's coat. Without daily brushing and frequent clips, the hair can become matted.

Tiny toy Poodles are very sensitive, yet extremely intelligent. They are quite demanding for attention and play time, but they are delightful and happy overall. They can be quite reserved with strangers, so Poodle puppies should be socialized from an early age. This trait does make them particularly good watch dogs. It is not uncommon for a toy Poodle to be timid and high strung, so owners need to make an effort to teach them not to snap when they are startled or teased. A toy Poodle is therefore a great dog for families with older children who understand how to be considerate of dogs.

Poodle puppies should be trained as soon as possible and it should be done gently. This breed can be very stubborn to train, but like most dogs, they enjoy pleasing their owners. The trick for successful training lies in patience and consistency. Four of the worst mistakes a dog owner can make when training are teaching a dog too many commands at one time, moving on to another command before a dog has successfully mastered the previous lesson, having more than one person train the dog with different training methods, and not refreshing the dog's memory with commands that have been learned. To effectively train your dog, teach one command at a time and don't train for more than 10 minute at a time. Be sure to give lots of praise when he performs a command correctly.

Dogs from the toy group have become extremely popular. Toy Poodles have become especially chic, and you can regularly see them in the company of the rich and famous. This is partly because of their beauty, but they truly are wonderful companions. You don't have to be a member of the elite to enjoy the company of one of these fantastic little dogs. All you have to do is commit yourself to their care. Once you do, you'll have a companion who will love you forever.

Steve Evans is a regular contributor of dog breed related articles at the Dog Breeds Compendium.

There are more essential details for the poodle dog breed and many others at The Dog Breeds Compendium - Poodle Page.

We also thoroughly recommend the Dog and Puppy News blog site for its regular Newsletter articles to which you can subscribe for free. (Just add your email to the Subscribe box at the blog.)

Every dog lover has a favorite photo of their pet. It might be a photo of a comical situation, dressed in raincoat or sweater, frolicking in the snow, striking a noble pose, or just plain cute.Photos are shown in alphabetical order of dog breed name, and you can read an informative article about the breed