Poodles are so clever and companionable they can make great working partners for people. If you can find a job for your poodle to do, he'll thank you for it. Working helps keep his brain occupied, and, depending upon the job, it might provide great exercise, too. As mentioned earlier, helping hunters is the original work of the poodle. If you don't enjoy the prospect of actually hunting, you can tap into your poodle's innate hunting skills by teaching him to retrieve a thrown toy. Poodles have also historically been performers, and they will love learning tricks to impress you and your friends.

Poodles were originally bred as hunting dogs and most are natural retrievers.

Poodles can even work as assistance dogs. Standard Poodles are large enough to assist the physically disabled. Smaller poodles (as well as Standards) can perform other assistance jobs, like alerting hearing-impaired people to particular sounds.

Poodles make terrific therapy dogs because they don't tend to be intimidating, they don't shed, and they aren't marked by that strong “doggy” smell. If your poodle is friendly, loves people, and isn't afraid of strangers or strange situations, you might want to look into training him to become a therapy dog. There are a number of groups out there that will evaluate your poodle, help you train him, and place you in an appropriate therapy situation.