The Complete Poodle Owner’s Handbook · Interactive

Fourteen years with a poodle, without the surprises

Toy, Miniature or Standard. The coat that never stops growing, the clever and sensitive mind, the crying when you leave, the barking, the knees, the eyes, Addison's and bloat. Everything we wish every poodle owner had on day one, with tools you tap, slide and tick instead of pages you skim.

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Written by the humans behind Nicole & Nora

The Complete Poodle Owner’s Handbook cover

Interactive

Sound familiar?

Tap the one that's happened to you.

A taste of what's inside

Flip through a few pages. Swipe on your phone, or use the arrows.

Chapter 9 · The coat

Brushing that works

A poodle brushed on top looks fine for weeks and is matted underneath. The comb tells the truth.

Line brushPart the hair, slicker from the skin outward, move the part up, repeat. Then a metal comb to the skin in every section.

The five mat zonesBehind the ears, armpits, groin, the collar line, legs and feet. Comb these daily; two minutes.

The groomerEvery 4–6 weeks for life, every 4 in the coat change. Face, feet and bottom every fortnight.

NeverBath a matted coat. Scissors under a mat. Six weeks between grooms at a year old.

A matted poodle is a poodle in pain. The routine is two minutes a day and a fixed monthly bill.

Sample page · The Poodle Handbook

Chapter 4 · The body

What each size is prone to

Same mind, three bodies. Know your size's list and most of it is caught early.

Size	Watch for	What it usually is
Toy and Miniature	A skip on a back leg; a honking cough; a worsening puppy limp; bad breath by three	Slipping kneecap; soft windpipe; Legg-Calvé-Perthes; dental disease
Standard	Off colour on and off; swollen belly and retching; silvery scale and a dull coat	Addison's disease; bloat (emergency); sebaceous adenitis
All sizes	Bumping into things at dusk; a seizure; bleeding that won't stop	PRA; epilepsy; von Willebrand's

The sign checker in this chapter turns the list into a verdict: watch, vet this week, or vet now.

Sample page · The Poodle Handbook

Chapter 8 · Alone time

The alone-time ladder

Start below the point where the dog worries. Return before the whine. Build in tiny steps.

Ten seconds behind a door, back before the whine, no fuss
Thirty seconds, a minute, three, five, ten, twenty, then real absences
A stuffed food toy that only appears when you leave
Keys picked up, then sit down. Coat on, then make tea
A camera to see exactly where the ladder breaks
Already panicking: vet for medication, behaviourist for the plan

Crying it out teaches a sensitive dog that nobody comes. The ladder teaches them you always do.

Sample page · The Poodle Handbook

Chapter 3 · Sizes

Toy, Miniature or Standard?

One breed, three bodies. The choice matters more than colour.

Standard · 20–32 kg90 minutes a day plus brain work. Bloat, Addison's, sebaceous adenitis, hips. Lives 11–13 years. Space, time and a fence.

Miniature · 5–9 kgThe sweet spot for most homes. Knees, Perthes, teeth. Lives 14–16 years. Sturdy enough for children with rules.

Toy · 2–4 kgFragile legs, soft windpipe, crowded teeth, blood sugar. Lives 15+ years. Adults and older children.

TeacupNot a size. A Toy bred under 2 kg for fragility. Walk away.

The breeder checklist in this chapter lists the health tests to ask for in each size.

Sample page · The Poodle Handbook

Sample pages are shortened for the web. The handbook goes deeper on every one, and every chapter has a tool to tap, slide or tick.

How urgent is a poodle's sign?

Poodles tell you things quietly before they tell you loudly. Tap a rung to see what it looks like and how fast to move.

What's inside

Twelve chapters, each with a tool. Tap a chapter.

1Is a Poodle right for you?

Honest answers before the puppy, the three sizes, the coat, the sensitivity and the real cost. Tool: the fit check.

2The first 30 days

What to do, in what order, from the day they come home: the brush, the ladder, the noise game. Tool: the 30-day checklist, ticks saved on your device.

3Toy, Miniature or Standard?

Heights, weights, lifespans, exercise, fragility and the diseases of each size, and the teacup warning. Tool: the breeder and health-test checklist.

4Knees, hips, eyes, Addison's and bloat

Patellar luxation, Perthes, the windpipe, Addison's, bloat, PRA, epilepsy, von Willebrand's. Tool: the poodle sign checker.

5Food, weight and the picky eater

The waist under the curls, meals by size, Toy blood sugar, the trained picky eater, teeth. Tool: body-condition slider with a portion calculator for 2 to 35 kg.

6Training the clever, sensitive dog

What motivates a poodle, force-free, the five skills including the table, house training by size. Tool: doesn't understand or doesn't want to? sorter.

7Adolescence and the coat change

Six to eighteen months, fear periods, the coat change, what to do, neutering by size. Tool: the motivation picker.

8Separation anxiety and barking

Anxiety or boredom, the alone-time ladder, the four kinds of bark, the Toy problem. Tool: the anxiety-or-something-else sorter.

9The coat: grooming, clips and the hypoallergenic myth

Line brushing, the mat zones, the groomer, ears, nails, teeth, sebaceous adenitis, allergies. Tool: the grooming map.

10Poodles with children, visitors, other dogs, and the doodle question

Which size for which children, the sofa rule, visitors, other dogs, doodles. Tool: safe or step in? sorter.

11Health by age and the senior years

Puppy teeth and neutering timing, the adult eye and endocrine years, the senior signs that aren't just age. Tool: the health-by-age slider.

12Quick-reference charts

Emergencies and early signs, care by size, the grooming routine and the six poodle rules, ready to screenshot or print.

★The poodle test and your certificate

Twenty statements about poodles: true, or a myth? Score 17 or more and a Certified Poodle Person certificate with your name appears, ready to print.

Who it's for

Get it if you…

are thinking about a poodle and want the honest version, including which size, first
have a new puppy and want the brushing, the alone time and the barking right from week one
have a poodle who cries when you leave or barks at everything
keep getting told the coat was matted and don't know what you're missing
want to know your size's health list, from knees and eyes to Addison's and bloat, before it costs thousands

Skip it if you…

have a poodle who is already panicking for hours when left. That needs a vet and a behaviourist alongside any book, and the handbook says so
want to read your dog's body language across breeds. That's The Dog Language Handbook
only want the free basics. Start with the poodle articles

A white poodle sitting on the grass beside a river

From the humans behind Nicole & Nora

We live with two miniature dachshunds, which taught us about small dogs, sensitive dogs, and dogs who would rather be on your lap than anywhere else. The questions in our inbox from poodle owners are the same ones every time: the mats, the crying when they leave, the barking, and the size-specific health scares nobody warned them about. So we wrote the handbook we'd want if a poodle came home tomorrow.

It's honest about the breed. Poodles need a comb to the skin and a groomer for life, they take a harsh word to heart, they hate being left, and each size has its own list at the vet. They're also the cleverest, kindest, funniest companions there are, in a size for every home. This is the handbook that lets you have the second part without being ambushed by the first.

Force-free, always. Educational content, never a substitute for your vet.

Which one do you need?

	Poodle articles	The Poodle Handbook	The Dog Language Handbook
What it is	Free blog posts, one topic each	The whole breed in twelve chapters, with tools	Reading any dog's body language
Best for	A quick answer	Living with a poodle, puppy to senior, in any size	Understanding stress, fear and illness signals
Price	Free	$24.99	$19.99
	Read the articles	Get the handbook	See the handbook

Questions

What format is the handbook?

An interactive HTML handbook you download straight after purchase and open in any browser on your phone, tablet or computer. No app, no login. Twelve chapters with tools to tap, slide and tick, flip cards, quick checks, a true-or-myth test with a certificate, and printable charts. Your progress and checklists save on your device.

Is it for Toys, Miniatures or Standards?

All three. The breed is one dog underneath, and the handbook says so; where size changes things, it says that too: bloat, Addison's and sebaceous adenitis for Standards, knees, the windpipe, teeth and blood sugar for the small sizes, growth plates, meals, exercise and which size suits children. The portion calculator runs from 2 to 35 kg.

My poodle already has separation anxiety. Will this fix it?

It will give you the ladder, the camera test, the cue-breaking and the honest line on when you need a professional. Mild cases respond well to the method. A dog who is already panicking for hours needs a vet, often medication, and a behaviourist alongside the handbook, and it says so.

Does it replace my vet, groomer or trainer?

No. The sign checker is a triage tool that tells you how urgent things are, not a diagnosis; the coat chapter makes you a better client for your groomer, not a replacement; and the behaviour chapters tell you clearly when to get a professional. Everything in the handbook is educational.

What if it's not for me?

Email us within 7 days of purchase and we'll refund it in full. Details in our refund policy.

Is it force-free?

Yes, and for a sensitive breed that matters. Nothing in the handbook uses fear, pain or intimidation. A poodle trained with pressure shuts down and barks more; the handbook works with the breed's intelligence, not against it.

Clever mind, soft heart, no surprises

Read the coat chapter tonight. Start the alone-time ladder tomorrow. The rest of the fourteen years gets easier from there.

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