Carlo is such a character. We know that we are proud parents, but it is amazing how many poodle people are also in love with Carlo and his precocious personality.
I have to tell you a story, which probably won't surprise you, knowing the intelligence of poodles. My intention was to have Carlo very well behaved and he absolutely would not be allowed on the furniture. Very early on, at about 6 months he started counter surfing...
We hired a personal trainer...and he had us try putting the sticky side of tape all around the counter and the table so that his paws would touch something sticky and then he would stop because he wouldn't like it. In about 10 minutes Carlo figured out he could just grab the tape in his mouth and rip it off. Besides that, the sticky stuff didn't really bother him.
So... next I ordered off the web, some devices... They are black long pads about 24 inches by 5 feet and an inch thick that let off a high pitch noise when your pet puts any pressure on them. I ordered two. I put one on the counter and one on the sofa. Carlo quickly realized he could just grab it with his mouth and throw it off the counter on the floor. He also figured out, he could jump up on the sofa and push it out of his way by sliding it forward and sitting right behind it against the cushions, or sticking his nose under it and tossing it off.
Okay, that didn't work. I packed them up and sent them back. I next ordered two small transmitters and a small receiver. The transmitters are electronic devices that can detect the receiver from 3 feet to a 12-foot span to keep pets out of specific rooms. The transmitter is placed in a specific room and the receiver is placed around your pets neck, hanging in front on a collar.
I put one in our master bathroom because Carlo loved to get into my brushes and makeup. The other one I put in the living room to keep him out of there and off the sofa. When I came home later that day it was pretty apparent he had been in the master bathroom. Later that evening, I was in the kitchen and wondered where Carlo was. I walked into the hallway and saw him sitting on the sofa. I thought the devices were set incorrectly or the batteries were dead. I tested them and reset them and then hid to see what the heck was going on and how Carlo was getting in these rooms. I knew he wasn't deaf because he follows commands very well.
Imagine my surprise when I caught him "backing into the room." He had figured out if he never faced the transmitter, the receiver would not go off. I packed up the devices and shipped them back. Every morning at 6:30 a.m., a group of poodle owners meet at the Sand Canyon Bark Park in Irvine. It is not unusual to see 10 to 15 poodles romping around the park. When I relayed this story to the other owners, they absolutely cracked up laughing. They are all very complimentary about Carlo's good looks and engaging personality.
Carlo is very bright, probably too bright. We have a hanging sleigh bell on our front door, which he rings with his nose when he wants to go out. If he rings it and I put his leash on, and grab a "poop-bag" he wacks the bag with his paw; if he doesn't have to poop, he just wants to go out. When he wants to go to bed, he barks at me, grabs his stuffed toy and goes upstairs and waits at the bedroom door for me to come up. If I don't, he comes down and snarls at me.
When we take him out for his last bathroom break at night, which he of course lets us know if he has to go, he immediately comes in the house, grabs his stuffed animal and goes upstairs.
He wears his "doggles" (dog sunglasses) when he rides in the convertible with my husband.
I don't know if these stories are unusual, but I know he is quite unlike any poodle anyone else has. Most of the time, I am quite convinced his is not a poodle but a person of royal decent and we are his subjects. But we would not trade him for the world.
