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 Calliope Poodles (713)870-6321

Richmond, Texas

Thank you for visiting Calliope Poodles! In doing so, you’ve chosen to pursue a quality Miniature Poodle as a companion or performance dog. Versatility is the poodle’s middle name as they compete in conformation, obedience, agility, hunting, therapy work and last and most importantly as your best friend. Please contact us with any questions you may have and visit the links for more information and educational sites.

We are making an effort to present you with as much information to assist you in your choice of pet or next show prospect. The emphasis of our site is on education of puppy buyers to make an informed decision about your potential family member.

Please visit http://www.poodleclubofamerica.org/health.htm to learn about the potential health issues of poodles.  Also find info about the “Greatest Poodle Show on Earth”.

When searching for a new puppy or adult poodle, don’t be fooled by flashy websites(although I do have a cute website!) with cute puppies, slogans and claims. These can easily be fronts for poor quality breeding operations that do little or NO genetic testing and whose main focus is making money quickly.

Claims of champion bloodlines can mean 1 champion five generations back. This has no bearing whatsoever on the quality of the puppies for sale.  Even a famous kennel name in the pedigree doesn’t mean that those puppies are good quality. It can mean that someone obtained a nicer dog a long time ago and it ended up being bred to someone’s Fifi.

Go to your local affiliate Poodle Club or Poodle Club of America websites to contact the breeder referral representative. You can be connected with passionate breeders who will take the time to talk to you and allow you to visit their homes or kennels to see living conditions, documentation of health testing, pedigrees, one or both parents, siblings, etc.

You can’t go wrong with a well bred poodle to keep you company!  I urge you to come visit a Bluebonnet Poodle Club meeting!  It’s not just for show people!  My local affiliate club, http://www.bluebonnetpoodleclubofhouston.org

About me:

My name is Dawn Zack and Calliope Poodles was created by my love of poodles. I’ve loved and lost a number of them since I was very young. My first poodle was a shelter dog my parents brought home for my 4th birthday I think.  He bit a kid at the party and went back to the shelter.  My first keeper was Sassy.  She was an oversized toy, phantom, black girl.  I’m sure she was “backyard bred” but she was the best companion, smart and very loyal and super trainable.  She lived to 13  and stayed in the States with my grandparents when we moved overseas and we didn’t want to subject her to a 6 month quarantine.  I was heartbroken to have to leave her.  When the parvo vaccine first came out, in the 70’s, she got the vaccine and then got parvo!  She did survive though.

I got involved with Poodle Rescue of Houston in 2005 and was instantly fascinated with exhibiting poodles in conformation. While living with rescues I acquired my first show prospect and co-owned her with Guinnette Peebles, the rest is history.   I’m indebted to several great poodle people and continue to learn from them.  All of my poodles live in the house and several sleep in the bed with us.  I feed raw food, treat them to regular dentals, although they don’t need it as often with them chewing raw meaty bones once a week and they get lots of exercise in our large yard.  I do not over vaccinate, but all of my dogs and puppies are vaccinated very conservatively for their age and health status.  I’ve been blessed with very healthy dogs and would like to think I have a little something to do with that!

I have managed to whittle down my poodle variety of choice to miniatures and will no longer be breeding toys or standards.  It’s not because I don’t love the sizes, I just can’t do it all.  I’ve lived with and love all 3 varieties.   I strive to create the highest quality poodles by taking advantage of all health testing available and socializing my puppies well.  I hope you will love my poodles as well!