My Sister owned a Standard Poodle years ago, a black. She was a wonderful sweet mild mannered dog. She obtained all her obedience titles very quickly and was an eager willing student. The downfall is, there are wonderful laid back Standard's and then you can get genetically screwed up Standards...just like any purebred which has been overbred and suffers from a small gene pool. My Sister being a groomer has many Standards for Customer's, we have found...not that this is official or anything
the apriocots all seem very hyper and seem to be suffering from more genetically unstable mentalities than the blacks or whites...just a personal observation and by no means does this mean that the apricots are less stable due to our simple observations
I have seen such a range from wonderful self controlled Standards being very laid back...to some very hyper, whacked out Standard Poodles...and it's not the fault of the owner at all..far from it.
Our Poodle did suffer from bloat, she was also predisposed to poor tooth enamel which is common in this breed. She had kidney problems latter in life and suffered kidney failure at the age of 10...and yes she was on a great diet with plenty of water and some home prepared raw meals. They also can be genetically predisosed to bone cancer, a friend of mine just lost her wacky apricot poodle to bone cancer at the age of 6.
Do your research of all the possible genetic problems in this breed...I also know of a person who spent big bucks on her Standard due to surpressed immune system. The poor thing had to undergo a major blood tranfusion, could not be taken in public which it "may" come in contact with any disease. When the dog came into the vet clinic daily it had to be carried in as it was not allowed to walk on the outside ground and be attened to daily for about 1 year before the dog got better.