BIJOU STANDARD POODLES

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When I was first looking for a "forever" breed to have as a pet I looked at the BREED STANDARD
AKC Standard Poodle Breed Standard
UKC Standard Poodle Breed Standard
CKC Standard Poodle Breed Standard
Based on the BREED STANDARDS I considered and eliminated several different breeds.
I was looking for a non-shedding structurally sound square working dog
I also had to have a short tail that would not whip around (having had a visiting lab's tail knock over my lit candles)
I have seen my friend slam the door on her American Bulldog's Tail causeing great injury.
I have seen another friend's doberman hit the wall so much with wagging that it was always injured and bleeding.
ANWAY...there are options for a short tailed breed and I choose that breed based on the breed's standard for my
desires to do safe pet therapy (not knocking over people and kids and also not to get caught in wheel chairs).
I also wanted a warm, loving, empathetic, happy sweet nature.
I found when reading the BREED STANDARD that the breed that most suited my lifestyle was a Standard Poodle.
Humans refined various breeds to fit into their lifestyles to fill a human need such as hunting or protection or companionship.
Standard Poodles have had their tails docked to fufil their purpose of therapy dog, companion, protector and retriever since 1642
as seen in Prince Rupert of the Rhine's Poodle "Boy" which is said to be the earliest illustration of the Standard Poodle with docked tail
To all of sudden in the 1990's, 300 years later, to say that the Poodle is lost without their tails seems a ludicrous to say the least.





(using a white legged dog to show clearly the dewclaw)

Dewclaw Removal:


Dewclaw removal is most often performed in puppies around 3-5 days of age.
Bijou Standard Poodles removes dewclaws to prevent future serious injury.
We have had our poodles dewclaws greatly injured at groomers who didn't expect a dewclaw to be there
and almost amputated it when clipping.
We have had our dog's themselves almost pull their dewclaws off when caught in carpet while running.
We have also seen dewclaws gotten forgotten for months and not been clipped.
Dewclaws will wrap around itself and inbed into the leg causing great discomfort and needing a great deal of care to clip if not surgery.
Dewclaws do not get worn down on their own like other nails as they do not touch the ground.
An injured dewclaw has a major amount of blood loss and excrutiating pain to the dog.
As a result of all of this we now routinely remove the dewclaws to ensure our pups are injury free.
Often people as me why I don't go to the Vet for this proceedure so below are two videos,
One of a Breeder removing dewclaws simular to the way we do them
(we use a sterilzed scaple instead of our finger nail)
and one by a Vet doing the proceedure in a clinic where sick animals are waiting to be seen
or already in cages you must pass to get to the Operating room
(notice they use sutures which along with being more intrusive, must be removed in 5-7 days).
risking young pups and mom to exposure to disease at the clinic (where do sick animals go..?)
I believe these videos will speak Volumes to showing how much safer and easier the proceedure is done by the "breeder".
~ Dewclaw Removal by Breeder
~ Dewclaw removal by Veterinarian in a clinic

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Puppy Dewclaw before

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Preparing for Dewclaw removal clamping around the dewclaw with a locking hemostat
Next we use a scaple to remove the area exposed.

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Dewclaw removed





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(tail docked and tail as it would appear if it were left long)


Tail Docking:
Tail docking is performed when the puppy is between three and five days old.
It takes seconds and mom is in the same room and nurses them directly after.
Here are a few methods:
Elastics where you take an elastic band wrapping it around the tail which becomes numb after a very
short time and the tail shrivles up and falls off after a week. You can see instructions for this method in Muriel Freemen's
book the Complete Rottweiler a book which is ideal for any first time breeder to read for loads of tips.
However using elastics is a more complicated method as you need certain size bands
certain way of tieing off and works better with two people and takes time.
Shears which is one quick clip, over fast and dip the end into Kwick stop to stop any bleeding, done.
This proceedure takes seconds and we have never had infections or problems with this method.
Banding is using a Puppy Tail banding Elastrator in which a tool applies a special rubber band is placed on the tail,
it constricts the blood supply to the rear of the tail. You can see and read more on Banding *here*
The puppies do not feel irritation or discomfort when sitting or being athletic activities. After about 3 days, the tail will fall off.

We will ONLY leave a natural tail if the puppy you wish is the ONLY sex or colour (ie mismark) in the litter,
puppy is paid in full at 3 days of age.
Video of tail banding (*video from Council of Docked Breeds)
There are a variety of reasons given for docking tails, aesthetics and adherence to breed standard being two of them.
At Bijou Standard Poodles we dock tails because a majority of our pups go on to be Service Dogs or Pet Therapy Dogs.
After seeing several injured tails from being run over or caught in wheel chairs, and the agony that our dogs experienced,
we decided it is in our pup's best interest to avoid any chance of injury,
which will only lead to surgical amputation performed as an adult and under general anesthesia (major surgery).
We also feel that the purpose of our Poodles as pets, is also benefitted by shorter tails as our dogs will not
knock over small todlers or the elderly with their long whip like tails or clear any coffee table drinks.
While these may sounds like a trivial reasons, you just have to see a child with their head bleeding or face burnt from hot liquids
or a hip operation done on the ederly to put everything back into perspective.
Our dog's are born with a purpose and tail docking helps them best perform that purpose be it Loving Companion or a Service Dog.
While tail docking costs Breeders a more money at the Vet, (hense the popularity of tails being left natural), our priority is the welfare of our pups.
in 2010 there have been some Provinces now prohibiting Vets to perform the "cosmetic" proceedure on puppies.
We fully expect this to be overturned soon as sanity returns.
THere is a huge double standard and claims of prevention of animal cruelty should be applied equally to include
no declawing of cats and of course no docking in livestock such as what is done on sheep and draft horses then.



Puppy Tail before docking


Puppy Tail after docking using shear method and kwik Stop


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Puppy Tail at 3 weeks of age.......Puppy Tail at 3 weeks of age showing the tip and the scab hanging onto the hair, ready to comb off


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Puppy Tail at 8 weeks of age

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Puppy Tail at 8 weeks of age at the tip
(I had difficulty showing the tip as there was just so much hair and minimal scar)






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