Moonshadow Standard Poodles

13/07/2023

It's official. Aladdin aka Minion aka Mingo is now a Grand Champion. He had not even turned 11 months old. He greeted each judge with a "smile" and a wag of his tail, listened very carefully to his handlers Nick and Chelsay, and managed to keep his puppy attitude to save a bit for me when he got home. Still a thief, still loves the ladies.

23/05/2023

An excellent little guide.

At a recent dog show, an owner with a dog showing approached me after one of our class dogs; a 13-month-old female had been awarded a Best Of Breed.

The owner of the dog couldn’t understand why her dog was not winning its class and yet this 13-month youngster had just taken a Best Of Breed over champions.

Looking at her dog, I did my best to explain one of the things that seemed the most obvious with her dog.

I told her the following: Her dog’s Front End Assembly was very much off from the dictums of the breed standard. The shoulders were very straight and not at the desired 45-degree layback.

The withers were not over the elbows; instead, they were two inches forward towards the neck. The upper arms were much shorter than the shoulder blades, where ideally they should be equal in length.

When moving, the front reach was short and choppy, with the straight shoulders; the dog’s head would drop below the withers when in movement.

She kept looking at the Best Of Breed winner I was holding trying to compare and see what it was I was describing. I don’t think she could visualize what it was I had just gone over.

So, in case others have had a hard time with the correct front-end assembly, this Bud’s For You.

Front End Assembly.

Let’s establish some points from the photo.

A) Point Of Shoulder (where the shoulder blades form the fore chest)

B) Withers (where the shoulder blades meet at the top most position on the back)

C) Elbows (the medial line of the elbow)

D) Ground forming a perpendicular vertical line with the withers

E) Midpoint of the height of the dog

Using the photograph with the highlighted areas and designated attributes, let's read the breed standard. The exact wording of the Labrador breed standard will be encased by double hashtags # #.

Point A is a 90 Degrees formed by the shoulder blade meets the upper arm.
# # Shoulders-The shoulders are well laid-back, long, and sloping, forming an angle with the upper arm of approx 90 degrees # #

A-B is the shoulder blade and A-C is the upper arm.
# # The length of the shoulder blade should equal the length of the upper arm # #

Line B-C-D, where B is the withers, C is the elbows and D is the ground.
# # Viewed from the side, the elbows should be directly under the withers, and the front legs should be perpendicular to the ground and well under the body # #

Line E is half the height of the dog at the medial line of the elbow.
# # Distance from the elbow to the ground should be equal to one-half of the height at the withers

15/05/2023

" Aladdin " Moonshadow You're a Da'Minion in the Ruff (Minion)) AKA Minion, got his first major, Winners Dog, at Evansville Kennel Club Show in Louisville, Kentucky on March 18, his first weekend out with handler Nick Grubb. Thanks to Judge Dr. Adam Stafford-King and to all of Aladdin’s fans, but most importantly Paul-Grubb who picked him out of the litter. He left home at 7 months to work with Chelsay and her husband Nick Grubb in Ohio. A few weeks later, the little thief stole some hearts. Thank you, Nick and Chelsay, and Dr. Adam Stafford King

05/11/2022

I truly believe we create gentle poodles by teaching them, as we would children, to snuggle, follow, understand words, speak, obey, express themselves, solve puzzles, learn how to calm themselves. Puppy culture is a seriously good model for raising children and pups. BUT, the important part of this message is ALL THE TIME. We need to care for our young, but occasionally give them a chance to care for themselves.

22/10/2022

I keep falling in love with my last two pups. I know someone will need their love more than I do! Cucumber and Blueberry, affectionate boys.

26/07/2022

Juno gave birth on July 16th to nine beautiful puppies. The sire is a magnificent standard poodle, CH Kaylens Chaseton Mr. McGehee, chosen for his superb pedigree, kind temperament, size (relatively small for a standard these days) and his poodle-loving home, overseen by Jill Gilbert, a smart, longtime, knows her poodles breeder. No question these pups will have the best of both dam and sire.

19/03/2022

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/what-your-dogs-breed-says-about-you?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_Control_031822&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_term=tny_daily_recirc&bxid=5be9d99d24c17c6adf4050e0&cndid=50106905&hasha=e61af25a0fae118e51a4251f139ff263&hashb=bcf2cc131a3653a130a9062f517a49e61d80c8e6&hashc=16edab9f6f4f24955e27ef6c209110394a6d6f3f3da71c67062d799e9a2866f9&esrc=AUTO_PRINT

And what all these dogs say about me.

16/03/2022

Read all about it! Juno makes the front page!

04/09/2021

Feeling nostalgic! Each of these puppies had such a unique personality, all beautiful and sweet, but some were observers, some sleepyheads, some athletes, some love bugs.