APAW – Poodle Pups for Working Roles

Onyx is a big, strong, confident, laid-back dog and a bit of a goof-ball. He did well in his service dog training and worked for a number of years before retiring to more of a companion role for his partner. He was kept intact for breeding potential, and we did breed him once, unfortunately getting early cataracts in two of the 4 puppies (only 1 has actually lost any vision). There is no genetic test available yet for this disease so the general consensus is to treat it as a simple recessive which is carried by both parents – this means that breeding him again is risky until a test is available, at which point he could safely be bred to any clear female and never produce another affected pup. The plan is to keep him and two of his highly diverse sons intact unless neutering is needed, in the hopes of safely continuing the line once a test exists.