Spotlight on the Miniature Poodle: Reserve Best in Show at Crufts 2020

Many of the visitors and competitors that attended Crufts 2020 will spend the best part of the rest of the month resting their feet and recovering from what is, for dog lovers, an action-packed four day event that involves a lot of walking around!

Over the course of the ensuing year, the dogs that win the most coveted prizes of the event tend to become the focus of the public eye, as everyone wants to know about them, learn what makes a Crufts winner, and find out more, just as is the case when it comes to new human celebrities.

The dog breeds that win the prestigious Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show titles themselves tend to get a lot of attention, and interest from the general public; whether this be because they’re already common and popular breeds that many people know and love, or because they’re less common and coming into the public spotlight for the first time.

With this in mind, this article will shine the spotlight on the miniature poodle, which is the dog breed that won the Reserve Best in Show trophy this year at Crufts 2020.

We’ll provide a quick introduction to the winning dog itself, Frankie, and then provide some insights into the miniature poodle dog breed as a whole. Read on to learn more.

More about Frankie

Frankie’s formal name is “Minarets Best Kept Secret,” and he is a four-year-old miniature poodle hailing from Ramsgrave.

Frankie did incredibly well to win Reserve Best in Show, and the judge commended him on being an almost ideal example of his breed; but Frankie seemed to think that he was robbed of the Best in Show title itself, and demonstrated this by jumping up onto the podium meant for the Best in Show winner!

One really interesting fact about Frankie’s Reserve Best in Show win is that he actually won this exact same title at Crufts 2017 too, which may well be a record and is at least highly unusual!

What is a miniature poodle?

The miniature poodle is one of three recognised poodle size variants, which have a huge amount in common but that are each classed as separate breeds for showing purposes. The miniature poodle is not actually the smallest of the three variants; they’re the medium or middle option, with toy poodles being smaller and standard poodles being larger.

Poodles of all size variants are lively, energetic, and very quick-witted; in fact, despite being best known due to their unique appearance, it is the poodle’s intelligence that really makes them stand out.

The poodle is the second most intelligent dog breed in the world overall, and they’re highly versatile dogs that are capable of learning a wide range of different skills.

What do miniature poodles look like?

The poodle is of course one of the most distinctive-looking dog breeds of all, and one that even people with only a peripheral awareness of or interest in dogs can usually recognise immediately.

They are lean dogs with proportionately long legs, and their coats are incredibly dense and curly, which makes them both very low shedding (and sometimes incorrectly referred to as hypoallergenic as a result; whilst they may be less likely to trigger allergy symptoms than other breeds, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog) and versatile in terms of styling.

Poodles prepared for the show ring like Frankie display a very dramatic and high-maintenance coat design, but the average poodle in the street will usually be seen sporting something rather more practical! Poodle coats can be found in a variety of colours too, offering something for everyone.

How popular are miniature poodles?

The miniature poodle might be a very well-known dog breed, and they are certainly not rare in terms of numbers, but neither are they ranked among the most common dog breeds in the UK either.

Out of a total number of 244 different dog breeds and types advertised on Pets4Homes, the miniature poodle is the 42nd most popular breed overall.

However, many popular hybrid crossings involve one poodle parent, and so there are plenty of poodle crossbreeds of all sizes around too. Part of the appeal of including a poodle (of any size) in such a crossing is to try to emulate or combine the poodle coat, with its much in demand low shedding qualities.

How much are miniature poodle puppies?

The average advertised price for pedigree miniature poodles for sale here on Pets4Homes as of March 2020 is £903 per dog, which makes them a little more costly than the broad average across dogs of a similar size of other breeds. The comparative scarcity of them compared once more to more popular breeds around the same size can make them hard to come by, and so, contribute to their cost.

Non-pedigree miniature poodles for sale on Pets4Homes tend to change hands for around £680 each, which is once more a little higher than the all-breed average.