# Poodle Hands?



## northerndancer (Jan 27, 2011)

Is it just me or do poodles have more dexterity with their front paws than other dogs? When I watch Daisy play with some of her toys, she seems to be almost cat-like with her front paws the way she holds them and controls what she is doing with them. Also, when she rolls over on her back to have her tummy scratched, she holds your arm in her front paws differently than I remember any other dog doing.


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## Ennui (Apr 10, 2011)

I always thought they do. More than other dogs I have been around. I have no scientific proof, but just my own observation. The black lab I lived with seemed to have large paws without the flexibility of my poodle. The poodle had an easier time manipulating chew sticks and getting to things just out of reach.... 

Anyone with scientific data?


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

I don't think poodles are so much cat like, as human like!! Lucy uses her arms like a person and so does my son's goldendoodle, who is more poodle than golden.


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## 4Paws (Dec 11, 2010)

I've always thought that! Polo uses his poodle hands so well we joke that he doesn't even need thumbs to do human tasks. He has a rope he likes to chew and he will lie on his back and spin it all around with his hands while he chews it


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Both of mine hold chews and toys, but of the two I would say Sophy the Papillon is the more dextrous - she licks the side of her paws and washes her face with them, too! I have often wondered if it is partly because she still has her dew claws - she seems to be able to grasp things more easily than Poppy, who does not have them.


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## artsycourtneysue (Jul 21, 2009)

I always say mine is part monkey because she will hold everything with her paws, wrap them around things, hug her toys and bat at everything- really amusing


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

I have always thought spoos had unusual control of their front legs. I love the way mine sits with her legs delicately crossed. It may have something to do with how they have such a light bouncy step? The breeder left her dew claws, which I was thinking of removing if I have her spayed until I saw her rotating a stick and seeming to use them. They are attached dew claws. I thought it was wrong to leave them, now I am not so sure.

Poodles may be elegant and dextrous, but Bonnie, my Spoo, hardly ever cleans herself the way I think she should. Compared to my whippet Echo, she is a total slob! He spends a lot of time tidying himself up. A spoos life is one big bath, so it's okay. I guess you can't have everything.


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## northerndancer (Jan 27, 2011)

Daisy doesn't use her front paws to clean herself either. Just a few random licks from time to time is the best she does. But it is so interesting to watch her with a chew stick. She almost seems to curl her front paw to pick it up and then uses the other paw to brace it. Then sometimes when she is chewing it, she will hold it between her front paws.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes, I noticed that Nickel uses his front paws more …. efficiently than my schnauzer. Nickel plays soccer really well and of course, he wraps his paws around his toys and crosses his paws when waiting for me to come out of the shower. He's like a little human.


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## Rayah-QualitySPs (Aug 31, 2010)

I am not sure where I read it but somewhere I heard/read that Standard Poodles in the old, old, old days were bred to pull men off of horses in the days of knights.

My poodles do use their paws a lot when playing~


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## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

I think so. And it seems like they walk or run more upright on their toes, no?

Around our house I mostly notice it when she's done something wrong. She will roll onto her back, and I kid you not, put her paws up over her snout and cover her eyes.


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