You beauty! Training a championship poodle

The owner of Mr Menzies, the Royal Easter Show's prize-winning poodle, reveals what it takes to breed a champion.

Those who wrestle with unruly locks every morning can take heart they're not one of the pampered pooches on display at Sydney's Royal Easter Show.

Mr Menzies and his co-owner Margie Nottle-Justice were delighted to be awarded Best of Breed on Thursday in the Purina Sydney Royal Dog Show's poodle category.

Ms Nottle-Justice told AAP it takes a lot to groom a prize-winning poodle.

"You basically start as babies... we've been putting a lot of work into him, building up a rapport, exposing him to a lot of different things inside and outside," she said.

A lover of poodles from a young age after having rescued a toy poodle, Ms Nottle-Justice was hooked.

"I had to have one thirty years later... I had no idea what showing would entail, how much work it would be, but I love the breed."

As one of the more dynamic-looking pups at this year's show, you'd be mistaken in thinking a poodle's puffs and poofs were just for show, Ms Nottle-Justice said.

"They were bred as a German water retriever," she said.

"They have the big mane to protect their heart and lungs when they jump into the cold European water, and they keep the kidney area bald so that it'd dry out and they wouldn't catch a chill."

She says the judges take notice of a lot more than just their looks.

"How the dog is put together, how they move, and each breed has specific breed standards which they have to adhere to."

Grooming a poodle for show is not for the faint of heart, Ms Nottle-Justice warns.

"If you're going to have a standard poodle for show, you really need to be 100 per cent dedicated," she said.

"It's not just 'oh yeah, I'll give it a brush every now and then', it's constantly looking after the coat hair.

"They're lots of fun though!"


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Source: AAP

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