Black-and-white poodle portraits in the Noir style

A German water retriever that became the dog of France

The poodle began more than 400 years ago in Germany as a duck dog, a retriever that worked in water. Its name comes from the German word pudelin, for splashing in water. France made it its national dog and calls it the Caniche, the duck dog, but the AKC is clear that there is no breed called the French poodle.

The famous show clip started as a working coat. Hunters shaved the legs, the neck and the tail so the dog could swim freely, and left hair on the chest, the hips and the leg joints against the cold. The round tufts that remain are called pompons. From the lake the breed moved into the houses of the French nobility, into the circus ring for its looks and its quickness to learn, and into the woods as a truffle hunter.

There is one poodle in three sizes. The Standard is over 15 inches at the shoulder, the Miniature was bred down from it and stands 15 inches or under, and the Toy, first bred in America early in the 20th century as a city companion, stands 10 inches or under. All three are judged by one standard, which asks for a squarely built, proud and very active dog with an air of distinction and dignity peculiar to himself.

The coat is dense and curly, of a naturally harsh texture. The standard asks for one even color at the skin, from black and white to silver, blue, cream, apricot and cafe-au-lait, and allows the coat to show shades of that color, most often a darker feathering on the ears. The ears hang close to the head with long, wide, thickly feathered leathers, and the eyes are very dark and oval for an alert, intelligent expression.

Noir on a poodle

Noir is one of the shop's own house styles: a black-and-white portrait of the head and chest, turned toward you, on a pure black ground that runs off every edge. One soft light falls from one side, so the near side of the dog shines and the far side sinks into the dark, and each eye holds one clean point of light.

Few coats suit it as well as a poodle's. The style draws the coat hair by hair, and on a poodle that means every curl is its own small coil of light and shadow. The rounded topknot stands out as a clean silhouette against the black, and the long feathered ears hang in loose ringlets down either side of the face.

Noir has no color at all. A white or cream poodle becomes the brightest thing in the picture, a silver keeps every shade of its gray, and an apricot or a cafe-au-lait turns into a mid or deeper gray.

A parti-color poodle reads strongly in it. The white patches take the light, and the black ones melt into the ground at their edges, so the markings frame the face.

For the poodle just back from the groomer

Poodle people know the day of a fresh clip, when the topknot is round and the ears are combed out and the dog seems to know it looks good. Most pet poodles are kept in a shorter trim, and many go to a groomer every four to six weeks, so that look never lasts long. A Noir portrait from a photo taken that day keeps it.

It suits a quiet room, a study or a hallway, where a black-and-white picture sits well beside photographs. It also makes a fitting keepsake of an old poodle, the breed the AKC describes as proud, active and very smart, in the coat its owner knew best.