In 2003, poodles ranked as the sixth most popular breed of dog in the United States, according to registration statistics from the American Kennel Club (AKC), the country's premiere registry for purebred dogs. Over the last ten years or so, American tastes have run toward the less fancy Labrador Retriever, but that wasn't the case in decades past. In 1960, poodles hit number one on the AKC's registry charts, and they held that top rank for twenty-three years!

The poodle was a cultural icon in the middle part of the twentieth century. What pops into mind when you think about 1950s fashions? Why, it's the poodle skirt, of course — the symbol of the carefree innocence and frivolity of that decade.

U.S. presidents, for the most part, haven't jumped on the poodle bandwagon. However, President Nixon's daughter Julie had a small silver poodle named Vicky, probably a Toy, when Nixon was in the White House. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has a white Toy Poodle named Tosca.