Until it’s explained to the uninformed that a Poodle’s trim has its roots in the dog used as a hunting retriever, Poodle haircuts are largely misunderstood. This isn’t to say, however, that there haven’t been times when history (and groomers) got really creative. Elaborate coiffures for dogs were especially popular in 18th century France under the reign of Louis XVI, and dog groomers fashioned dogs’ coats into extravagant styles that sometimes copied the ornate pompadours worn by French nobility – both men and women. Perhaps those styles weren’t as lavish as the hairstyle seen on the Poodle here, but maybe they were!

Poodles weren’t the only dogs to get such attention. Kathleen Kete writes in her book, “The Beast in the Boudoir: Petkeeping in Nineteenth-Century Paris:” “Other breeds, too, had hairdressers, either one who clipped ordinary bourgeois dogs (les toutous bourgeois ) on the banks of the Seine or a coiffeur pour chiens who made house calls for the more pretentious. Very large dogs as well as little dogs received this service. Mégnin reported that not only poodles had haircuts, but so too did Newfoundlands, Saint Bernards, and Pyreneans. Among little dogs, Havanas were sometimes coiffured in the lion or demi-lion cut. The Yorkshire terrier had a special hairstyle, “very fin-de-siècle,” popular at the resorts of Normandy, which consisted of tying its hair back from its face with ribbons of the same color as its owner’s dress.” 

Poodle image found on Pinterest we’ll happily credit it when that information is learned.