Poodles as Hunting Dogs

In this week’s episode of the Good Dog Pod, host Laura Reeves is joined by Jaci Bowman to talk about the Poodle as a hunting dog. Jaci has been an owner, trainer, and handler of hunting Poodles for over two decades. 

How is the Poodle becoming more widely recognized as a hunting dog? The Poodle is well loved in the show ring, and in recent years, its popularity in the field has grown as well. The breed was originally bred to hunt in marshes for waterfowl, but they are new to field trials and certifications. In the 1990s many Poodle lovers pushed to get the breed involved in retriever and spaniel hunting tests, in which they now excel. The dog is very intelligent and is not hard wired to carry out any one hunting method, so they leverage their variety of skills to become master hunters. 

Can a dog excel in both the show ring and field trials? Jaci talks about having dogs go from the show ring to the field. The Poodle’s specialized haircuts make it relatively easy to have a dog compete in the field one day, and the show ring the next. Despite the notion that the Poodle’s cut is very ‘showy,’ it is actually very practical for hunting dogs to swim and retrieve waterfowl. There are many dogs that are exceptional at both tasks. 

Listen to this week’s episode to hear more about the Poodle’s history as a hunting dog, the differences between the Poodle sizes, and how the Poodle Club of America is advocating for the legacy of the breed to better reflect the latter’s origin.