Ridgefield poodle party fun for dogs, owners

RIDGEFIELD – Dozens of poodles converged at a home outside of Ridgefield Sunday for what might have been the best-groomed and fluffiest event of the summer: Poodle Palooza.

The soiree’s guest list counted at least 65 poodles – standard, miniature and toy – sporting festive dye jobs, bouffant puffs and otherwise curly coifs.

“These dogs range from pure house pets to the best of the best today. Champions,” said Bert Morgan, who, with his wife, Paula, hosted the event at their house near Tri-Mountain Golf Course.

They have big fields where the dogs could run and play, and seven poodles of their own.

They’re both members of the Columbia Poodle Club, the local affiliate of the national Poodle Club of America breed club. They’ve hosted the event – which has only grown, Paula Morgan said – at their home for three years.

Owners and dogs had a chance to get some glamour shots with a photographer, play games with prizes and, to the dogs’ delight, run around and meet new people and poodles.

“It’s a great, fun day for poodles and poodle owners, because poodles love to play with poodles,” Paula Morgan said. “They have their own way of playing, and there’s not really any way for poodle people to get together.”

Roughly 115 people came, by the organizers’ count.

There’s a lot of breed loyalty for poodles, Paula Morgan explained.

They’re highly intelligent, well-behaved and very adaptable.

Bert Morgan said they held their first poodle fancier gathering at their former ranch in Oregon. He’d hunt with poodles, and they’d happily follow him for miles as he’d go around their 400-acre ranch on horseback.

“People, once they get a poodle, they tend to stick with it,” Paula Morgan said. “They don’t go looking for some other breed.”

There’s a saying among poodle owners, she said: Once you have a poodle, the rest are just dogs.

The party also included a raffle and silent auction to fund club dog show and rescue activities, and the national organization’s foundation for poodle health.

Club member Angel Fernandez-Baker came with her 6-year-old standard poodle, Aria, who sported a multicolor dye job. (Aria was a champion show dog, but since retired, Fernandez-Baker said.)

The fundraising is a special part of the event, she said. Part of being a responsible breeder, or a responsible breed organization, is ensuring the breed’s health, she said.

The money raised goes to study genetic problems in the breed, with the hope they can be identified, addressed and bred out.

The party’s also a good chance for those interested in getting poodles of their own, or for enthusiasts to talk shop in person.

And again, she said, the dogs love it.

“They love people. They love to be around people, they love meeting new people.”