Why poodles haircut

Beware, however, that Poodles require regular grooming! Poodles are water dogs and their hair gets very heavy when it gets wet.

So to make swimming easier, owners learned to shave the hair on their backside. They were partially shaved because their dense hair would weigh them down in the water, and they would sink. Groomers left hair around the joints, neck, head and chest so that the vital organs and joints stayed warm, and the faces were shaved so that the dogs could more easily retrieve things with their mouths. And you thought those haircuts were just froufrou.

As time went on, poodle owners realized that they could shave their pooches artistically. Poodles have hair, not fur, and it grows in very densely. Because of that, skilled doggie barbers started experimenting with poodle cuts, sculpting intricate designs out of the dense, curly hair. In 18th century France, for example, poodle haircuts were particularly en vogue -- stylists would even sometimes cut the dog's hair to match the owner's.

Indeed, the scissoring and blow-drying that has become so prevalent in many coated breeds — including supposedly natural ones — can be considered just as over the top within the context of their breed.

But it is the Poodle that seems to draw a disproportionate amount of criticism from those outside the show world. Some Poodle exhibitors — especially those whose dogs compete in performance events — have begun to experiment with a less intensive trim called the Modified Continental.

Not as elaborate as the traditional Continental clip seen on Siba and most other show Poodles, the Modified Continental basically shortens the length of coat. Will this more restrained cut catch on? In the earliest dogs — as in this baroque-style self-portrait of the painter Rembrandt and his Poodle — the rear half was shaved and the front half covered in longer hair. The theory is that for a dog retrieving ducks in cold water, the hair left on the body keep the shoulders and internal organs warm while the shaved areas free the dog up to swim better.

Gradually the hair left on the joints gets longer as well. Big leap forward, with better grooming products and electric hair blowers and dryers. Owners shaved the top halves of their poodles but left the bottom halves unshaven so the dog could float better in water. When the poodle breed became more popular in France, elaborate styles of cut evolved. Two of these cuts are required of every poodle competing in the Westminster Dog Show to this day.