Walkies

Today was lovely and so we took the dog for a long walk through and round town - lots of new things for him to sniff. He was mostly well behaved and was off the lead most of the time. Here he is by the water's edge so he was on the lead in case he got any silly ideas.

He is a toy poodle, or caniche, and very smart. If you ignore the silly hair cuts people give them they are very clever general purpose hunting dogs. Not as good as retrievers at retrieving etc, but more rounded and flexible. The smaller variants are good in small spaces and he loves exploring undergrowth.

I would never in a million years have picked a poodle, but for some reason my mother-in-law commented about them once, and he turned up as a gift shortly thereafter! Whenever my mother-in-law is here, so is he, and I get to take him for a walk. He is very good natured, and hasn't developed small dog syndrome, which can be a problem with small breeds, and he is no trouble to have round the house at all.

My grandmother had a small black poodle (not sure if he was a toy or miniature), and he could be nippy and was very protective of my grandmother. While he wasn't trimmed like a show dog, he did look more like a poodle that this fellow! I don't remember him all that well, but I know he liked to fight with gloves and usually they would end up in the fire!

Still back blipping!