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From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

A poodle is a member of one of the best known dog families. Poodles are extremely intelligent and versatile; they are gun dogs, specifically, retrievers, but because of their popularity in dog fancy, particularly showing, they are not usually thought of as such by the general public.

The constituent breeds are the Standard Poodle, the Miniature Poodle and the Toy Poodle. The Poodle's curly or corded coat does not shed to the extent of many other breeds' and so the Poodle is considered largely hypoallergenic.

History and orgin

Poodles were originally called "French Poodles" because France was thought to be their country of origin, and some people still refer to them as such. The French word for the breed, Caniche, is also used. Nowadays, it is argued that Poodles originated in Germany, but, as with most dog breeds, this is hotly debated.