OF THE NILE
OUR TOY POODLES
First of all, let's be honest, everything we say is biased. We see our puppies with the eyes of a father and mother. The truth is that it is a wonderful breed, it does not lose its hair, it is hypoallergenic, intelligent, affectionate... they have it all.
It is undeniable that we are in love with the breed and that therefore we cannot be completely partial. It must be said that until we discovered the toy poodle we had always been a large breed: we have had Great Danes, Weimaraners, Boxers, Goldens, Labradors... also iguanas, snakes and even some hamsters... we love animals, but toy poodles They are... another level. Being able to take them with you always, plane, boat, car, bike... Plus that combination of calm when you want and playful makes them very easy dogs. We always say that they are cat-dogs, because they are very clean. In fact, people have the feeling that they need a lot of attention, but we calmly go to work first thing in the morning and if we don't return until the evening on the webcam you see them playing alone with their hundreds of toys, plus they have a artificial grass that filters urine into a tray, so if we go at midday we know they don't have to be suffering. In fact, when your puppy comes home, it is important to leave him alone for several hours a day, so that he learns to be alone.
Being a little less emotional, what stands out most about the toy poodle is:
The first is the coat , not losing hair is wonderful, at home, on clothes, in the car, the level of hygiene of these dogs is wonderful. It allows you to take them everywhere and enjoy them in an unmatched way.
The second is intelligence , they are the second most intelligent dog only behind the border collie, although the first in emotional intelligence, that allows you to educate them, as you know, some of our people even talk to us and they can be educated wonderfully. You can see some videos in the gallery or on our Instagram, or better yet come see them in person.
The third is the size , traveling by plane, train, putting them on the couch, even cradling them and cuddling them in your arms... it is an ideal size to be able to fully enjoy your furry friend. A very important element is that the toy poodle is not a smaller toy poodle. They are different races, with similarities, but with differentiated genetic lines. Beyond size, the toy poodle has a short nose, a long ear, a smaller head... while the dwarf poodle is more robust in the thorax, has a sharp and long nose, and the ear is more rounded and shorter. Perhaps the biggest difference lies in the character, much calmer in the toy.
An essential aspect is that the toy poodle, when it is a real toy, that is, when it comes from a toy line, is a calm dog. A toy poodle is not a small toy poodle, they are different breeds, lines.
The toy poodle was a hunting dog, which took prey in lakes. The toy poodle was a favorite of the French aristocracy. The same thing happens between toy poodle and toy poodle, similar, but not the same. The toy poodle has a shorter nose, curlier hair and a much calmer character. Of course, as with any animal, owners mark the character of their pets and we will help you guide them along the right path so that they can be your dog, friend and faithful companion.
We invite you to our house whenever you want to see how they behave, they are playful of course, but they know perfectly well when it's time to play, when it's time to sleep, or when it's time to vacuum and they can't go near the carpet. As for destructive things and so on, our experience is impeccable. In our house, only one sofa suffered a mishap, but it was not caused by a poodle, but by a cocker spaniel that we took from a shelter.
As for morphological characteristics, the toy poodle according to the standard is defined not so much by weight as by the height at the withers, which must be between 24 and 28 cm. It is true that there are toy poodles taller than that, just as there are some shorter ones, like people. In our case, ours are on the small side, in fact in many cases there are those who would call them a cup of tea, although we try to avoid those terms such as microtoy, nanotoy, which emerged as marketing and also from the massive sale of miniature or mixed poodles by making them pass by toy. Our moms are usually 22-24 and dads are 24-26 but the truth is that we have some males under 22.
After many years in the canine world, what we can best tell you is that the issue of size and weight is like people. There are tall parents with short children and shorter parents with children of outstanding size.
Many times you ask us about height prediction in adulthood. It's almost impossible. The normal thing is that it is the average of the parents, both in weight and height, the genetic study helps us to know what load they have, but when they recombine there may be variations. They are usually small, but just as we have a male that is already three months old and weighs 550 grams and should be 880, we have had one that at three months was at a kilo and a half. It is also true that in adulthood they tend to balance out, it is like the adolescent growth spurt. The issue of weight is especially influenced by a balanced diet, not giving treats that are very fatty, and the level of activity. Again, like people, if you eat a thousand calories and burn five hundred you will gain weight. In any case, our puppies are quite homogeneous and we can say that roughly the females are usually 23 with withers and two kilos in weight, and the males around 24 with withers and two and a half kilos in weight. For those who want something smaller, the only way to ensure this is to wait for 3-4 months in those who are little and see their development.
Another aspect to demystify is that they are weak dogs. Nothing is further from reality. They jump, play, run... Every two or three generations we introduce black genes because they provide more bone density, otherwise they are generally very healthy dogs.
In any case, to delve deeper into this topic for more information, we have placed a specific section on the weight of the toy poodle!
The topic of poodle color deserves a separate chapter or book. In fact, we have created an entry with more exclusive information about the color of the toy poodle where we explain it in more depth. For years we have been learning from our experience when carrying out crosses, from talking to many breeders and especially from geneticists. On the one hand we have that there are two pigments. Eumelanin that would give a black tone, and pheomelanin that produces a reddish tone. The combination of these gives the entire range, up to white. Black is dominant, so whenever I have black a black tone will appear, however for it to not be black, that is, to be red or chocolate or apricot, I have to have two recessives. Once in this scenario, the intensity of the color will depend on the genes that mark the hyperpigmentation and those that cause it to persist.
We analyzed the variable of having a double pheomelanin gene and some known pigment intensity genes, but not all the genes are known.
Currently there are about eleven coded. Specifically, we are very interested in Locus I and the DNA SNP. We also analyzed the presence of the recessive silver gene.
This, regardless of whether we have a good previous combination, causes the dog's color to lose intensity, both in the coat and in the nose in adulthood. We do not reproduce if they have this gene because it is a shame when they lose color, but despite this we have some cases in which the loss of color still occurs. The reason is that there are other minor genes not yet studied that also affect the intensity of the pigment. To give an example, in people with vitiligo, areas without pigment appear and the cause is autoimmune, but also genetic.
It is somewhat more difficult to discover with genetic analysis. The important thing is that we do everything in our power to try to keep them healthy and have an excellent color. Another gene that is analyzed is merlé, as well as those that generate white pigments, not only because of the final color of the animal but because puppies with this gene in their DNA should not be crossed; if it is present in both parents, it is linked to deafness. , etc. The truth is that to date we are very happy with our studies, in fact our veterinarian is preparing a scientific publication about it, because so far we have never had any genetic alteration in our babies and during these years we have ruled out more than one daddy to raise. with the main objective that what you take home is to enjoy!
Anyway, if you are interested in this topic, we can talk about it as many times as you want, it is super interesting and we never stop learning. In fact, with the genetics laboratory that we work with, we have the Nile toy poodle profile, which is a whole battery that we do for all of us who stay when they turn six months old and that even includes racial classification to make sure that we do not introduce genes from another breed. . We insist above all to avoid health problems.
Before leaving this topic and related to color, size, etc. We must understand the difference between genotype and phenotype. The latter being the real expression of the dog's genetics. That is to say that the same exact genetics in two different environments generates two different dogs. We see this in the apricot, which can be from Champagne to cherry red and that in different animals, even siblings, can vary. But what's more, in our experience throughout the dog's life it also changes, not only can it be clarified, but it can also be intensified.
Surprises such as cutting your hair and having the root tone raised are the most fun. This is especially common during development because pigmentation is progressive. In females it can also be seen with a hormonal relationship, just like women with pregnancy melasma or menstruation pigments.
As you can see, the poodle world contains the most magical elements. In the end, what we always say, we want them to be beautiful, for their touch to be velvet, for their faces to be like a bear, but above all: for them to be super healthy!!