Cadeau Standard Poodles

"Nora"
GCH Improv at ByRequest X CH Cadeau Breakfast at Tiffanys
DOB 10/26/2020

     Nora came to me as a "puppy back"  from an all-black litter out of beautiful Tiffany. She was born at the end of 2020 and easily finished her AKC show career as a puppy with talented handlers Sarah and Matt Perchick. Nora's arrival and success came at such a hectic time in our lives. We were in the second year of Covid. While she was out showing, the area I worked in had a horrible hurricane, "Ida". While Ida did not directly hit my home, my work place was ravaged. As a nurse with leadership responsibilities, duty required me to remain engaged practically 24/7 to assist with the disaster response. It was an overwhelming time, coming off the heels of 2020 and the first half of 2021, and I was eternally grateful to have Nora safely tucked away with Sarah and Matt during the worst of it. 

     Nora was a delightful puppy. A frisky terror, she earned the nickname Honey Badger." Now, some of you may find nothing delightful about a honey badger, but it had been a couple of years since we had a puppy, around and Nora brought promising new life into our home after some very tough times. We eagerly welcomed her chaotic puppy period, knowing all too well how fleeting the puppy stage would be. We were endlessly entertained by her adorable antics, mischief, and silly personality. 

     Nora's arrival inadvertently marked a turning point for me as a breeder. In times past, I would have been looking for a guardian home to place her in after championship. This time, however, I didn't want to let her go. I had successful and unsuccessful guardian home experiences. I had lost access to dogs I should have been able to keep in my program, and I had felt utterly defeated by the stress of being a nurse during the pandemic.

      Additionally, with Covid times coming to a bit of an end, the rescue world was absolutely flooded with unwanted animals. We saw perfect poodle puppies in kill shelters. We saw the countryt absolutely inundated with doodles. There were entire litters being dumped at the shelter due to indiscrimate "breeding" practices and the resulting unwanted colors.

I decided to step back for a bit. Breeding more dogs not only meant adding to the numbers but also placing older dogs in my own home to make room for the next generations. I looked around at my dogs whose fluffy coats had absorbed so many of my tears during the unimaginable tragedies and stress of Covid, and I couldn't stand the idea of parting with a single one of them. 

So Nora stayed.