Particularly Particoloured Poodle

Particoloured poodles are divisive.

The UK Kennel Club actually states "Any Solid Colour" in the poodle breed standard.  Which means that technically, particoloured poodles aren't "proper" poodles.  It goes on to say, as regards breeding and showing - "Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and on the dog’s ability to perform its traditional work." 

There are paintings from as long ago as the 16th century featuring particoloured poodles, in fact the colouring was once regarded as normal and was the foundation colouring of the breed.  But when the breed standard was written in 1886 (I think - if you know better then comment!) only solid colours were permitted, presumably due to the fashion at the time.  Consequently in the UK particoloured poodles in the UK have been, since then, regarded as "mismarked" or "abstract" in the US (their KC registration lists their colour as "not recognised").  Indeed for a long time they were regarded as seriously flawed and often drowned at birth.  Despite well over a century of breeding solid colours, particolours appear still, they are genetically normal poodles and not associated with any particular health problems (as can happen in other breeds - for example white boxers are more likely to be deaf than other colours).  Up until fairly recently "mismarked" poodles lucky enough to be bred by kind breeders and allowed to live would be sold off cheaply to pet owners not looking for a show dog, often unregistered.

Recently however, there has been a resurgence for the parti-poodle.  More and more people like how they look and want them.  This has led to a difficult situation - since they don't adhere to the breed standard many people will say, "any breeder breeding them is not a good breeder!" which obviously dissuades good breeders from breeding them.  In addition those who would breed an untested poorly cared for litter in order to make a fast profit WILL breed them, because they sell, and for higher prices than solids due to their relative scarcity.  Where there is demand there WILL be supply.  Luckily a few good breeders ARE breeding particolours, from well bred, health tested parents, but finding one is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In our case choosing a particoloured puppy was entirely by accident.  The breeder happened to have parti's she was planning to breed, and i happened to be especially drawn to them when i visited (much as i liked her show bitch, i fell in love with the parti's).  If i had set out to find a good quality partipoodle i wouldn't have known where to start.

Because of the KC breed standard many staunch "dog people" will say that a partipoodle can only have come from an unethical breeder, because "no GOOD breeder would breed one!".  That also means that those people see the dog and assume the owner is a fool who has been fleeced into buying a suspect pup of dubious heritage.

Personally i don't see how being a non-solid colours makes ANY DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER to the health or welfare of the dog, nor how it could possibly interfere with the dog's ability to perform it's traditional work, so in that sense the "solid colours only" KC line makes no sense to me.  They are beautiful dogs, just as clever and friendly as solid coloured poodles, and just as likely to be healthy and useful.  One could reasonably argue that the standard for the face of the pug dog, which contains the line, "muzzle relatively short, blunt, square, not upfaced," contributes strongly to the breathing difficulties common in pugs and similar dogs, and yet it is deemed perfectly correct and acceptable.  Yes the breed standard states it SHOULD NOT interfere with breathing, but we all know it can.  Similarly the "slight slope" of the back in a German Shepherd's correct standard seems to have become a shuffling gaited banana back in some show rings and that isn't seen unilaterally to be a problem either.  So i'm not very excited about breed standards, especially purely cosmetic arbitrary rules, and i'm also, with two autistic kids who act up relentlessly, not THAT interested in the general opinions on the matter of those i might meet!

So CHOOSING to seek a partipoodle might be a difficult path to tread, depending on how easy you find it to locate a good breeder, and how you feel about the debate surrounding them.  People who want to can start with The Parti Poodle Club (UK).