Sunday, December 16, 2007

Professor

is not a poodle.
When Chris and I rescued him from Animal Control they told us he was a poodle. He looked a lot like a poodle... a funny looking poodle but still a poodle.
His main flaw?
His tail.
No big deal as we weren't planning on having a "show dog" anyway... but his tail is curly. Long and curly. It flips up over his back which is not considered good form for a poodle. Oh well.
But I'd also noticed his muzzle is shorter than most poodles.
And his body is a bit stockier.
However, I'm no poodle expert.
I dog sit for two families on occasion and one family has two poodles. The other has one poodle and a poodle mix.
I'd recently begun to wonder if perhaps Professor was a mix as well.


So Chris took Apple to the groomer on Friday and he saw a dog there with white curly fur. She had a haircut that Chris really liked and thought would look good on The Professor once his fur grows out a bit more. So he asked the owner if her dog was a poodle. Oh no. Not a poodle. A different dog.
Chris comes home and tells me about this dog's haircut and then goes online so he can show it to me because he wants to have Professor's hair like that.


This was one of the photos he found. The haircut is cute... well... other than that funny tail.
But look at him.
Chris had several shots pulled up on google. I just stared.

This is a bichon frise'.

So is this:

And this:

Oh geez! Professor Plum is a bichon frise'!!! He's very similar to a poodle because bichons were bred originally with a poodle and a water spaniel. But now they are their own breed.

Look at Professor and look at Rhett, who is a true poodle (thanks to Scarlett Lillian for taking photos of their playdate!):


And the final nail in the poodle coffin is... the bichon blitz! It's something that bichons do when they play. Chris found several videos of them on YouTube. It's crazy. Here's The Professor doing the EXACT same move (pardon the video... I took it with my point and shoot camera):


So now we know why Professor is a funny looking poodle. He's not!

: )

12 comments:

Elsa said...

Professor is adorable - no matter what breed he is!!

Tracy said...

Aw, thanks Elsa!
He's a cutie!
Now I just gotta post more photos of Apple... she's a doll too!!

Scarlett Lillian // Jacksonville Senior Photographer said...

So funny! I can't believe he wasn't a poodle all this time. It's like when I found out that Rhett wasn't a toy poodle, he was actually a miniature poodle. Gotta love how pet stores sell you the wrong breed! :-) Either way, Professor is still adorable!!

Anonymous said...

I had a cat once I thought was a girl, but he turned out to be a boy :) It's happened to the best of us. At least it doesn't change his cuteness.

Tracy said...

It's harder to notice gender on cats I think. Teresir's original name was Teresa because he lived outside my dorm (Teresa Hall) and everyone thought he was a girl.

Anonymous said...

I just found out that MINE isn't a poodle mix either. I got her at the shelter, and same thing. I just assumed she had poodle because of her curliness, but I was told yesterday she was a bichon mix. Except for the color, Shirley looks a lot like Professor! (she's on dogster.com as CurlyShirley)

Anonymous said...

I just read Tracys comments and had to laugh it was deja vu all over again . We rescued two "poodles" from Hurricane Katrina Two lovely girls Sugar and Spice and the Humane society told us they were poodle sisters and if we didnt take care of them both they would never see each other again so..... We now have four dogs two Lapsos Billie and Trooper and two BIJONS NOT poodles thanks to our groomer who breeds Bijons and laughed when we said they were funny looking poodles , The are the sweetest dogs we have ever had and get along great with our Lapsos .. We were only planning on being a foster home for a little while and baby sit them till they found a new owner That was four years ago You could not take them away from us with a cannon . They are our babies Bart and Bsrbara Peluso Cooper City Florida

Tracy love to hear from you my address Bart@everythingtrdeshows.com

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I found this page! I, too, had two "funny looking" poodles (or so I was told) Turns out they weren't poodles at all but Bichon! I'm so happy to have finally found out their true breed! And they too do the "Bichon Blitz!!"

linda said...

professor looks a lot like my boodle--that's a poodle/bichon mix. whatever they are they are the best!

Paul S said...

Professor is a cutie, as all Bijons are!!! You got to let his fur grow out, sure you have to put in time at least every other day to brush them out, but there really in all their glory with their fluffyness.
BTW, there alot of Bijons running around with no tail they are mistaken for poodles and then they cut the tail off.

Tracy said...

If you are finding this post... you should go check out my other blog - www.furriefotographie.blogspot.com
If you want to see Professor now, you can click on his name over on the right hand side of the blog in the list...
: )
He's so darn CUTE!

Unknown said...

I got my Benny from a rescue group. They said he is bichon poo but I think hes more bichon than poodle! They lop his tail off, so when hes ready for grooming, I am going to have her try to give him a poof on his tail. Hes a cutie pie nevertheless and now we are a one poodle and one bichon-poo household!
Loved the video of Professor, and yes Benny does the same thing..its amazing how FAST he can run! The squirrels in our yard are terrified LOL