Jackie McCall and Claudette Boudreaux are my “poodle sisters.” Jackie bred fantastic poodles at her Cabin Creek Kennels, and I was lucky enough to get two of them before she stopped breeding. Here she is the night she came over to help me take off dewclaws and dock tails. It was such a gift to me: she hates doing it but she had some skills to pass on. Afterwards, she asked me if I had any Bourbon in the house. It was that tough. Down the hatch!
AKC regulations require docked tails, and for a good reason. The poodle tail can break if he is in the rough bringing in a duck. It’s not about being “frou frou,” it’s about doing your job without injury.
Jackie was a family breeder: lots of kids in and out of the house, careful about health, a fan of the poodle as hunter and retriever, a loving mother, a loving daughter, and a generous soul who made me love poodles even more. I wanted to continue the line she had worked so hard to create. Gentle, beautiful, strong poodles. See the noses on my dogs? Jackie’s dogs have such pretty noses.
And then there is Claudette, of 5SistersStandardPoodles. I was so lucky to find this wonderful person. We sat in her kitchen in her big country house, where she taught me everything I know about breeding, and a few other things! Talk about a generous woman! Her sire, Vegas, is the reason these dogs stand out as classy and full of potential.
Here are the three poodles I have left from the FrostMoonLitter:
