CH Philippe Le Beau of OZ
"Philippe"
November 29, 2003 - March 22, 2018
Philippe was our best dog.
He had a happy disposition and was always smiling.
Philippe loved to play and he could entertain himself if there was nobody to throw him a toy. He was tireless and could play for hours, while his brother and sisters were taking a nap. He would choose a game partner for the evening, and would play only with that person. He was so focused on his toy that once he went through the railing that separated different levels of the house; fortunately it was only 3 steps difference and the nails on two planks he pulled out did not do any damage to him thanks to his long show coat.
He liked to sit on a pile of freshly washed clothes that I was about to sort, no matter how clean or dirty he was! It was like a ritual: he would come and sit atop of clothes and put his paws around my neck and demand to be hugged! And we both enjoyed these moments...
Philippe was eager to please. He was very sensitive, he felt the tiniest changes in his owners' mood; he could not stand if somebody talked in high tone, or if a child cried. He would be sitting next to that person and look into the eyes, asking what's wrong. He was compassionate to the dogs, too. Here he is pictured later in life, helping granddaughter Irka recover after minor surgical procedure.
Philippe was not ready to be shown when he was a puppy. I showed him without much success, as you would expect from an inexperienced handler with a spoiled dog on the other end of the leash.
Michael Lobinske handled Philippe with much better results! Philippe though thought that he was special (indeed he was!) and that Michael has to devote all attention to him. He was jealous to see Mike handling other dogs to the point that if left unattended he would run into the ring, jumping over the fence, and demand to be shown again!
Philippe enjoyed being a dog in between shows. Philippe was not always behaving but was he beautiful!
It did put some pressure on people taking care of him, though. Thus, the day Philippe was expected to finish his Championship, he went outside in the morning, found a puddle of some gunk, rolled in it, was smelly and half black, so Michael had to re-bathe him, and tried to whiten his hair - but Philippe still had greenish sheen on his right ear; fortunately it was not the judges side! They were late to the show grounds and Michael barely had time to prepare the dogs for the ring but all the efforts paid off! The judge liked Philippe a lot!
Everyone was so happy when Philippe completed his Championship, including Philippe himself!
Philippe was shown as a special, winning Variety at Orlando Poodle Club Specialty, but his specials carreer soon ended. Once his daughter Taya had won for the first time, Philippe had retired so that Taya could get Michael's exclusive attention.
Philippe loved car rides, and enjoyed them immensely! He put his nose prints on all the windows. Living in Florida, he considered a rare sight of pedestrians such an anomaly that every pedestrian had to be barked at!
Philippe loved his brother Karl. Though they fought at times, like all brothers do, and Karl would always win since he was bigger, mentally Philippe was stronger and he maintened his alpha status. Karl however left a mark on Philippe's face for which Philippe was known as "scar face".
Philippe always carried a toy in his mouth. He would put a toy in his food bowl, sometimes a few toys at once. It was his signature mark. The last time Philippe played with a toy was a day Karl died. Till the end of his days he would never touch a toy. Philippe needed support of his brother to remain strong. Once Karl was gone, Philippe started to decline quickly. He did not have any obvious health issues, he was just lonely (with all the dogs around him) and lost a will to live. I tried my best to keep him in good spirits but Philippe was always a drama queen and he carried on that role to the end.
Philippe gave us 14 wonderful years of sheer joy of living with the best poodle ever, and the best gift of all - his daughter Taya.
