The next time you go to the circus, ask the clown what kind of dog he has for a working companion.
You know what his answer might be? A Poodle.
The reason clowns and stage performers prefer Poodles to other dogs is that they are easier to train, and they can be taught more tricks.
Because they are so easy to train, the Poodle is a favorite of people who live in big cities.
If you walk along Park Avenue or in Central Park in New York City, you'll see more Poodles than any other kind of dog.
And, even though most city people live in small apartments, the dogs they own aren't always small ones.
Their Poodles are all sizes ranging from the tiny toys that weigh only a few pounds to huge "standards" weighing fifty or sixty pounds.
It's strange that city people should like these dogs, especially when you consider how much Poodles like water.
Years ago, the Poodle was primarily a hunting dog, used mostly to retrieve water fowl for their masters.
In Europe, hunters still use the Poodle this way; in this country, he is mostly a pet.
It you think about the name Poodle for a minute, you'll see how much it is like the word puddle.
The similarity between the words is no accident.
The German word for Poodle is Pudel.
Pudel can mean either dog or puddle.
Through the years the spelling of the English word came out as we know it today - Poodle.