“Pomeranians speak only to Poodles and Poodles speak only to God.” – Charles Kuralt

We have no hard evidence that Poodles speak only to the Almighty because they won’t speak with us. There is, however,  an otherworldliness in the intelligence of the breed that makes us inclined to believe that if any dog has a direct line to God, it would be a Poodle. Also a Puli. Just saying.

There’s no graceful way to pivot from Poodles and the divine to a different angle, so we’re just going to plow into it. Back in the day in England, there was a type of dog called a Russian Retriever. Modern cynologists now suspect that the dogs were simply large black Standard Poodles, and there are enough hints to make it plausible.

It’s known that the Poodle was developed along the Baltic coast in the northern part of the German speaking world.

Or was it?

While some historians claim that the Poodle was introduced from Germany into Russia, and then from Russia to France, others claim that it was Russia that introduced the Poodle to Germany, and then German troops brought the Poodle into France.  We may never know with certainty, but if we stick with the version that has Germany as the Poodle’s country of origin, how did the breed end up in Russia?

Some theorize that after the Crusades of Western Christian orders, merchants began to trade with other dealers from this part of the world. In time, their business dealings formed a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds that came to be known as the Hanseatic League. Merchants now had access to opportunities in new lands, and one of them was in the inland Russian port of Novgorod where a trading post was established.  It’s entirely plausible that Poodles accompanied merchants on their trade routes to serve as companions, but especially to control vermin on ships. Once at port, the dogs were probably traded for goods and supplies. In Russia, the breed necessarily evolved into a larger and coarser dog to better cope with Russia’s harsh conditions.

Another way the breed may have found its way to Russia was through France. The Russian emperor, Peter the Great, was obsessed with all things French. He ruled that French would be the academic and intellectual language of Russia, and encouraged French customs in court.  This “French Connection” lingered in Russia for decades. Furthermore, Poodles were mascots in Napoleon’s army, dogs named Sancho, Barbuche, Magrita Buff, Moffino, Thoutou, Mohiloff, and Moustache. They were among the regiments that invaded Russia in the years before, during, and after 1812.

The connection being made, the “Russian Retriever,” as mentioned earlier, was a stockier, larger Poodle that stood at least 26″ at the shoulder, this to better withstand Russia’s rugged conditions. These bigger Poodles made their way back to the continnet which is where they became known as “Russian Retrievers.”

Presumably, Poodles being shown Russia today meet the FCI’s breed standard, but we thought it might be interesting to mention that at one time, big Standard Poodles were known as Russian Retrievers.