A LITTLE ABOUT THE RARE AND BEAUTIFUL PARTI POODLE

Picture
None are available at present, but watch this space
 HERE IS A PREVIOUS, VERY STUNNING LITTER OF PARTI POODLES BABIES
WE ACTUALLY HAD A SUPER RARE YELLOW AND WHITE BOY! CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO BE TAKEN TO THEIR PAGE



Particolour Poodles 
 Miss Ann Cambray Coppage - Vulcan

Having been asked to write an article on the parti colour Poodle, It would be well to begin by explaining what is meant by the term - because the true parti colour is by no means a Harlequin. The latter label is used to describe the black and white Great Dane, and its markings in no way resemble the perfect markings of a parti colour Poodle.

A perfectly marked Parti will have a coloured head and ears  with a white blaze a coloured saddle and colour over the rump continuing part way down the tail, which ends in a white tip,  and of course, the characteristic spotting of the skin.

"Particolour" comes in black and white, brown and white, blue and white, silver and white, and lemon and white.


Many of the early prints depicting Poodles show them as parti colour and having descended from the "Waterdogge" the truffle hunters. In Hutchinson's Dog Encyclopedia there is a reference to the Truffle Poodle and a letter is quoted from Miss Jane Lane of the famous Nunsoe Kennels which relates that a friend of hers in Scotland had some interesting photographs with particulars of the old original Truffle Poodle.

Apparently these dogs were imported into England at the end of the nineteenth century. The photos (alas, none were reproduced) showed white Poodles with black spots on the body.

Miss Lane's friend showed the particolours on more than one occasion with great success. Special classes were out on fro them, and they were in great demand. Their owner was just getting them established when the war came and he was unable to keep on with his breeding and importing.

The dogs were medium-sized and in colour black and white, brown and white, and - very rarely - lemon and white. They were remarkable for their tremendous coats of exceptionally harsh texture. Miss Lane saw a photo in an old book of these black and white Poodles hunting truffles, aided by a Dachshund-type dog. The Poodles found the truffles and the Dachshund dug them up.

That parti colours were accepted for exhibition in the early days is borne out by a reference in one of my books called Dog Shows and Doggy People, published in 1902. The author writes about the Curly Poodle (the other writes about Corded Poodles) and how the colours have been extended. When he first judged the breed, white was the prevailing colour whereas now there were black, black and white, blue, blue and white, grey, fawn, brown and red-coloured specimens.

There is an excellent illustration in William Youatt's book The Dog, published in 1854, showing the Poodle as a curly, unclipped animal with black patches very similar arranged to those of Polka's. No colours mentioned in the text.

The late Hon. Mrs Londies had a very soft spot for the particolour - even to the extent of having a flock of the black and white Jacobs sheep at Buxted Park!

Miss Jane Lane bred many parti colours, and as most of the Vulcan champagnes were descended from Nunsoe lines, the parti colour blood was strong at the Vulcan Kennels. With many breeders ashamed to admit that their dogs and bitches threw these attractive Poodles, many pups must have been put down at birth. The ignorant novice breeder and owner were told that only solid colours were permissible and that the parti colour was a mismark - a totally untrue statement - a mismarked Poodle being any solid colour with touches of white - eg., white toes, a white spot on the front, etc. Thus sadly, the particolour Poodle was ostracized, except for those few breeders like Mrs Lonides and her partner Miss Shirley Walne, who continued to breed them for sheer pleasure.

The character of the partic colours was always unique; somehow they had an extra dimension - just that bit more clever, amusing or intelligent than their solid-colour litter mates. Naturally enough, it was always they which caught the eye of prospective purchasers - and often there was a waiting list for the next ones expected in a litter.