Poodle
What a standard, miniature or toy poodle costs to groom and insure in the UK, the health tests to ask a breeder for in each size, and the signs of Addison's disease.
What a Poodle costs to own
Insurance is unremarkable. Grooming is the cost people fail to budget for, and it never stops.
Insurance
Generally moderate, though it varies a lot between standard, miniature and toy: they are effectively three different dogs for pricing purposes, with different conditions behind each.
What insurers are pricing for
These are risks the breed is predisposed to, not things your dog will get.
- Bloat (GDV), standards
- Deep-chested, so the same emergency risk as other large breeds.
- Addison’s disease
- Seen more in poodles than most breeds. Very manageable once diagnosed, but it means lifelong medication and monitoring.
- Luxating patella, miniatures and toys
- Small-breed knees. Often surgical when it becomes a problem.
- Eyes
- Progressive retinal atrophy, with a test available.
Grooming
This is the headline number for a poodle. A coat that does not shed also does not stop growing, so it needs professional clipping every six to eight weeks for the dog’s whole life, plus brushing between visits to prevent matting. Skip it and matted coats become a welfare and veterinary problem rather than a cosmetic one.
Size, food and kit
Depends entirely on the variety. A standard eats like any large dog; a toy costs very little to feed.
The one people underestimate
The grooming bill. Over a poodle’s lifetime it can comfortably exceed what you pay in insurance, and unlike insurance it is not optional.
Getting a real number
We deliberately do not print premiums here. What you pay depends on your postcode, your dog’s age, the cover level and the month you ask, so any figure on a page like this is wrong for most people and out of date within a year. Get quotes from a few providers instead, and compare what the policies actually cover rather than the headline price.
What a poodle is like to live with
Poodles are bright, sensitive, quick to learn and more athletic than the show clip suggests. They are usually affectionate with their own people and often a little reserved with strangers. Most do well with reward-based training, and they get bored with repetition, so short, varied sessions work better than drilling.
They are also three dogs in one. The Royal Kennel Club recognises three sizes, measured at the shoulder:
- Standard: over 38cm
- Miniature: under 38cm but not under 28cm
- Toy: under 28cm
The temperament is broadly similar across all three, but the size changes almost everything else: what the dog costs to feed and insure, which health problems to test for, and what kind of home suits it. The cost section above covers the money side. This page covers the rest.
Origin
The Royal Kennel Club traces the poodle to Germany, where it was bred as a water retriever for duck hunters. The traditional clip started as a practical one: the hindquarters were shaved to help the dog swim, and hair was left over the joints and the tip of the tail to protect them from cold water.
It is worth remembering that history. A standard poodle is a retrieving gundog underneath the haircut, and many love water, fetch and long walks as much as any Labrador.
Exercise
The Royal Kennel Club lists all three sizes as needing up to an hour of exercise a day. Toys and miniatures are well suited to smaller homes and less mobile owners. Standards are big, fast dogs, and many will happily do more than an hour if you offer it. What all three need as well is something to think about: training, scentwork or puzzle feeders.
Grooming
The cost section explains why grooming is the bill that never stops. The part people underestimate is the work between appointments. The Royal Kennel Club lists poodles as needing grooming every day, and it is not exaggerating. A poodle coat mats close to the skin, starting behind the ears, under the legs and under the collar or harness, and it can look fine on the surface while matting underneath.
Brush right down to the skin with a slicker brush, then check with a metal comb: if the comb does not go through to the skin, the brush has not either. Ask your groomer to show you how. A shorter pet clip makes home care much easier.
Addison's disease in standard poodles
The cost section lists Addison's disease (hypoadrenocorticism) as a risk. For standard poodles it is a big one. A VetCompass study of UK dogs found standard poodles had 51 times the odds of Addison's disease compared with crossbreeds, the highest of any breed in the study.
Addison's is hard to spot because the signs are vague and can come and go. In that study, the most common signs at diagnosis were lethargy, loss of appetite and vomiting. A standard poodle with repeated bouts of being flat, off food or having an upset stomach is worth mentioning Addison's to your vet by name. It is diagnosed with a blood test, and once treated most dogs live normally on lifelong medication. Left undiagnosed, it can end in a sudden collapse.
Standard poodles are also one of the breeds most associated with sebaceous adenitis, an inherited inflammatory skin disease that causes scaling and patchy hair loss. Ask a breeder whether it has appeared in their lines.
Health tests to ask a breeder for
The tests differ by size, which is one more reason to know exactly which size you are buying. Ask for results for both parents, by name.
Standard poodles. The Royal Kennel Club lists:
- DNA tests for two forms of progressive retinal atrophy, prcd-PRA and rcd4, both of which cause inherited blindness
- a DNA test for von Willebrand disease type 1 (vWD1), a bleeding disorder
- an eye certificate under the BVA/RKC/ISDS Eye Scheme
- a hip score under the BVA/RKC Hip Dysplasia Scheme, where lower is better and the BVA advises breeding only from dogs below or close to the breed median
Miniature poodles. The Royal Kennel Club lists a DNA test for prcd-PRA, a DNA test for osteochondrodysplasia (OC, a skeletal condition causing short, malformed limbs), an eye certificate and a hip score.
Toy poodles. The Royal Kennel Club treats a DNA test for prcd-PRA as essential, and recommends an eye certificate and a hip score as well.
For miniatures and toys, also ask about knees. Luxating patella, where the kneecap slips out of place, is a known problem in small breeds, and a breeder should be able to tell you whether the parents have been checked.
You can look up registered dogs' results on the Royal Kennel Club's Health Test Results Finder.
Before you buy
Decide on the size first, then find a breeder who specialises in it. Be cautious with sellers offering "teacup" or "micro" poodles: neither is a recognised size, and breeding for very small size can bring its own health problems.
Ask to meet the mother, and ask the breeder how they introduce puppies to grooming. A puppy that has been handled, brushed and had its feet touched from early on is far easier to groom for the rest of its life.
If you are weighing a poodle against a poodle cross, the cavapoo page covers why a cross does not avoid either parent's health risks. Then get insurance in place from the day you collect the puppy; our UK pet insurance comparison explains which policies are worth having.