# Poodle mauls former French president



## Mavrick6512 (Jul 9, 2007)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481426,00.html 

Crazy.


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## Branca's Mom (Mar 26, 2003)

Wow! What else can you say?


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

The couple's white Maltese poodle, called Sumo, has a history of frenzied fits and became increasingly prone to making "vicious, unprovoked attacks" despite receiving treatment with anti-depressants, Chirac's wife Bernadette said.


um, if it had been a large dog......... 

face it, dog is unstable.


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## maxsmom1229 (Apr 12, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Angela_W
> 
> 
> um, if it had been a large dog.........
> ...


^ i agree...what would have happened if it was a pit? a rottie? even a german shepherd?? im sure it would have been PTS ...if not already, then on a list to be...but this maltese poodle gets fed anti-depressants. i have nothing against poodles. DH had a really great standard poodle when we first met, its just the fact that its a small fluffy doggie that it can get away with what it has. its a shame really


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## HarleyGirl52874 (Jun 16, 2006)

> Quote:um, if it had been a large dog.........


Sadly he would have been put down right away.

I had more of a time with the little dogs then the big ones when I worked at the groomer.


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## Mavrick6512 (Jul 9, 2007)

i don't get why they dont make a bigger deal about small dogs like this biting people. People think just because they are small that they cant hurt anyone. 

They still have teeth. It makes no difference in how big the dogs body is.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

I never heard of a Maltese poodle. I have heard of a Maltese AND a Poodle, a Maltese Falcoln but Maltese poodle?? I also cannot say I have heard of a dog being treated for depression. Or is a Maltese poodle what I simply know as a Maltese?









I agree an unstable dog is an unstable dog. It seems to me that small dogs seem to GENERALLY be more unstable but they can get away with it.


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## Shandril2 (Nov 26, 2003)

A depressed poodle. All-righty then, there is a shocker !


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

If I was a poodle I would be dpressed too.


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## Shandril2 (Nov 26, 2003)

Good thing it can afford drugs ... a 'well off' pooch!








See? Money can't buy you happiness


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: Angela_W
> um, if it had been a large dog.........


Exactly. 

Unstable large dog is labled vicious. Bring on the BSL!

Unstable little dog is "clinically depressed" (I really want to know who put the dog on a couch, psychoanalyzed it and did rorschach ink blot tests with it to come to that conclusion) and is given anti-depresents. 

Next excuse will be "oh, we knew we should have done psychotherapy in addition to the pills... then Sumo would be fine!"


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: Chris Wild
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: Angela_W
> ...










I am SO glad I am not the only one with the mental picture of the white fuzz ball laying on it's back telling the therapist about how it was all his mother's fault......

I know it isn't funny but I do find myself snickering every time I glace at the titel in the recent topics column. 

Had it been a "dangerous" breed it would already be dead and new laws being passed to prevent ANY other breed that LOOKED like this one dog to be PTS because if one is vicious they all are.


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## Shandril2 (Nov 26, 2003)

Does France have the same tendencies to do bans on breeds?


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I know it isn't funny but the first thing I thought of when I read the topic title was the poodle saying "That'll teach you to call me FRENCH!"


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## Maedchen (May 3, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: Shandril2Does France have the same tendencies to do bans on breeds?


Oh yes, Europe is worse than the US, but of course a poodle or maltese will never be an that list.


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

Yrs ago my daughter's dog (a Toy Poodle, ironically!) was clearly depressed...Unhappy, lethargic, eating poorly, less responsive, less involved, mentally dull. It wasn't hard to see, even though he couldn't verbally describe this chronic free fall into the deep, dark blues. 

Simba could have been poster pup for 'Purebred isn't necessarily WELL bred'...He was a raggedly little 7yr old that we rescued from a local shelter when his 'devoted' owners dumped him after opting to move into an exclusive retirement community that didn't allow dogs. He thrived for several yrs & then declined in vigor, attitude, mental status etc. I thought it was senile dementia & felt just sick for the poor guy. Too often, there's just very little that can be done for that & his emotional world had clearly gone flat, gray, dreary. And then the vet said, 'underactive thyroid'!!! MyGod, but it was sweeeet to hear that diagnosis! (Such an easy, affordable, thoroughly satisfying fix!)

I've recently read that SAM-e has been given for canine depression. As with humans, canine depression can result from many causes, medical or social, & can be appropriate to circumstances (loss of a loved one) or not (no apparent cause). Anti-depressants would be the last thing I tried, not the 1st, but if nothing else worked I might try them.


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## geokon_2000 (Jan 25, 2005)

wonder how they decided he was clinically depressed? Did he go to a therapist and get diagnosed through the DSM IV? How did he answer the therapist. Did he fill out a personality profile? How'd he hold the pencil?


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## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

Well if you want to be able to tell if a dog is depressed, just go to a shelter. It should become obvious to you then but Ruby Tuesday hits it dead on.

I love poodles, grew up with them, they are incredibly intelligent, probably as smart or smarter than GSDs. And apparently, also as wacky. The smaller ones, toys, teacups, do tend to have mental problems I think are caused by dwarfing them. Give me a standard poodle any day. You want a tiny pet, get a guinea pig.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Weber1bIf I was a poodle I would be dpressed too.


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## LARHAGE (Jul 24, 2006)

I had a miniature poodle when I was a kid and he was one of the most beloved dogs of my life, he was incredibly devoted to me and if I went outside and left him home he would sulk and the minute a door opened he would take off and find me, his intelligence was off the charts and he could scale a wall or fence in a heartbeat, they are fantastic dogs. I have never had another since him because they are not conducive to my lifestyle, ie. horses and dirt and hay, those coats would be a nightmare, but if I didn't have horses, one would grace my home again.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

> Originally Posted By: Joanwonder how they decided he was clinically depressed? Did he go to a therapist and get diagnosed through the DSM IV? How did he answer the therapist. Did he fill out a personality profile? How'd he hold the pencil?


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## pamela berger (Jun 19, 2008)

Think how the ex President feels - mauled by a POODLE! I'm sure someone can be severly bitten by a poodle, but mauled? How can you not get away from a poodle? I associate mauled with a mastiff, GS, rottie, not a poodle.


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

I would imagine mauling was an overstatement. At least they are trying to help the dog.

I was raised with poodles and they are neat dogs.


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

It's good to see people defending Poodles. These great dogs are all too often judged by ridiculous haircuts that were most definitely never their preference. No poodle ever hit the beauty parlor, picture gripped in a furry paw, rapturously declaring, "I want to look like THAT!" Beneath the bad hair is a smart, athletic, handsome balanced, biddable dog with tons of charm & a devilish sense of humor

They're not a breed of mine b/c they're a bit too willing to please, & even keeping it sensibly short, (mebbe an inch), the coat grows far too fast for my tastes.

2 of the most seriously over protective dogs I've known were standard poodles. Both were probably a bit over standard & with dense shaggy ungroomed coats looked even larger. Both had full dentition they didn't hesitate to display. IMO, they had lousy temperaments, just waaayyy too aggressive & inappropriately so, but definitely dogs that nobody messed with.


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