The Poodle, while a contemporary little dog by assumptions standards, has quite a long history, and comes in many shapes and sizes. This surprises many, as it is assumed that they are the cute little fluff ball at your neighbors house. The truth is quite the opposite with these dogs. In fact, they were very hard working dogs in the last 1700′s, and were brought to the United States, for the mere purpose of working for sailors fetching goods, or shipmates that had fallen overboard. Poodles are known for their amazing swimming skills, and have been ranked one of the smartest breeds on the planet.  They come in four different sizes, teacup, which weigh about two to three pounds, toy, which weigh five to seven pounds, mini, which weigh around 10-15 pounds, and then finally the standard, which can get up to 60 pounds. The size variations were all intended to have a purpose, as the breeders in France needed them.

During the days of rats going crazy in France, and the rest of Europe, people were desperate to get a grasp on how to handle them. Cats were helping, but there were times that the rats were bigger than the cats. People started noticing that terriers, which are renowned ratters, were doing a good job, but not getting rid of the population. Poodles, which had a modest start on cargo ships, were found to be quite dominant with the rats. The different sizes even helped to located different sizes of rats and mice, and were then able to help eliminate much of the population. This came as a great comfort for a continent that was being annihilated by the plague. It was later discovered that the heaping mounds of trash in the streets were the primary culprit. The Poodle however was regarded as a work dog after that, and then was transported to other countries to be used in labor projects.