Portuguese Water Dog for everyone. Because of their intelligence and working drive, they require regular intensive exercise as well as mental challenges. They are gentle and patient — but not "couch potatoes", and boredom can cause them to become destructive. One theory proposes that some of the dogs left the Asian steppes with the Goths, a confederation of German tribes. Some, (the Ostrogoths), went west and their dogs became the German poodle, called in German the poodle-hund or puddle-dog—that is, water-dog. Others, the Visigoths, went south to fight the Romans, and their dogs became the Lion Dog, groomed in the traditional lion cut.
Poodle atypical and not how a poodle of any size is meant to behave. The most common serious health issues of Standard Poodles listed in order of the number of reported cases in the Poodle Health Registry (20 August 2007) are Addison's disease, gastric dilatation volvulus, thyroid issues (hyperthyroid and hypothyroid), tracheal collapse, epilepsy, sebaceous adenitis, juvenile renal disease, hip dysplasia, and cancer. Standard Poodles are also susceptible to some health issues usually too minor to report to the health registry. The most common of these minor issues is probably ear infection. Ear infections are a problem in all poodle varieties