Despite the common misconception that poodles are all the glam, the heritage of this breed is a versatile, independent thinking, proud breed of dog with an innate ability to hunt and retrieve.

His acute sense of smell, handed down from generations of water fowl retrieval is ideal for medical alert service work. His innate ability to zero-in on the exact location of fowl allows him to bring a high proficiency of scenting accuracy to his work.

While highly intelligent, the breed is energized by way of solving problems in the moment. Standard Poodles often present 3 solutions to any 1 problem – better be prepared to incorporate their ideas into your plans, or you’ll be left behind!

When given the freedom to make independent decisions, they have reliable reasoning skills, and are self-motivated.

Standard Poodles are inherently extrinsic, meaning, they source nearly all of their energy from their environment. The value they bring through independent thinking, and problem-solving skills is untouchable by other breeds.

​The distinct manner in which a Standard Poodle works the field is a key indicator of the breed’s Heritage and style. Take for example, their purpose of hunting – in a big open field, the standard poodle’s task is to locate the dropped fowl, and retrieve it – but how? The thicket is so tall, often above their head!

 Let’s dig deeper: Their natural coning movement, back and forth help the dog identify the movement of the fowl’s scent in space. From here, they can narrow down the scent’s exact location by working back and forth from the scent pattern (often called the cone or plume).

Consider this like a game of “hot/Cold”. The closer the radius of the scent, the stronger the scent becomes…closer…closer until the dog is right on top of its location. Many times, he also combines scent with memory – remembering where he last saw the fowl drop, enabling him to arrive at the location faster.

For Medical Alert – Biochemical Fluctuation occurs similarly to the scent pattern in the field.  When my body is in distress, chemicals are released in response to such an issue.  As my chemicals are fluctuating, the scent is stronger or weaker, based on the intensity of the imbalance. These distinct odors are released from my body – and most commonly identified by the dog under my fingernails, in my saliva or sweat, which he utilizes to gain the early warning information needed to alert me to the presence of the issue. See those problem-solving skills taking hold, here?

For Mapping – During a mapping pattern, the standard poodle uses coning much the same way as he would in the field.  Trained to identify designated landmarks, he uses both scent and memory to identify specific target locations that are important to help me remain oriented in unfamiliar (or, even familiar) locations. His ability to narrow down a specific location in a sea of distraction and visual obstructions is no match for him. Many times, a Standard Poodle will lead me on an abbreviated path, to arrive, more efficiently to the designated landmark.