Quote Originally Posted by MacMillan of Rathdown View Post
Standard poodles make excellent gun dogs, don't shed, and don't smell too bad in the wet.
I have a prejudice against any dog breed that gets shown a lot (something that really annoys some of my dog showing friends, ie, "really, you've told me many times that you want brains over beauty, so why are you asking for my advice on _____ ?" but that's based on first and second hand experience with dogs with breeder-induced congenital problems like epilepsy and deafness. A standard poodle MIGHT be great but a lot of the original qualities of the breed have been bred out without a second thought and they are such a show breed that I would fear getting some congenital medical problems as well. One big reason for wanting a griffon is that they are not at all popular with show dog people, and also their coat is plain homely by their standards and I don't expect the breed ever will become popular (I did see the one in the Westminster show but thankfully it lost Best In Show). As I say, show dog people do dislike my anti-show tendencies... we try to keep it impersonal, but- don't tell anyone I said so- their dogs are pretty stupid.