There is no
“Teddy” breed
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There is no breed called the Teddy. Teddy is a haircut. That curly, round-faced little dog that looks like a toy bear? Its real name is the Poodle. Teddy is just a look the groomer gives it.
Think of candied fruit. Candied isn't a fruit. It's a way of cooking. Candied apple, candied sweet potato. Swap the food, it's still candied. Teddy works the same way. Poodles get it, and so do Bichons and Shih Tzus.
So what were Poodles actually for? We have to go back a few hundred years. Back then it was a big dog, up to sixty centimeters at the shoulder. Its job was in the water. When a hunter shot a duck, it swam out and brought it back.
Even its name comes from a German word for splashing in water. But a thick curly coat gets heavy when it's soaked and drags the dog down. So people shaved its legs and rear, so it could swim faster.
They left puffs of hair on the chest and joints to keep out the cold. That odd pom-pom cut you see at dog shows came from this. It looks fancy, but it was work clothes. Later, people loved how smart it was and how little it shed, so they bred small dogs with small dogs.
Generation by generation it shrank, into four sizes: Standard, Medium, Miniature and Toy. The smallest, the Toy Poodle, is under twenty-eight centimeters at the shoulder, shorter than a sheet of printer paper standing up. Most of the Teddies you see in China are Toy Poodles, trimmed with a round face, round ears and a short muzzle.
So its real name is the Poodle, and you'll find it on the breed lists. Teddy is on the groomer's price list. It's a cut. The Poodle is the food. Teddy is the recipe. Candied fruit stays the way it's made. Hair doesn't. Skip a trim for a month or so, and it's a mop of curls again.
So where does the name Teddy come from? It's borrowed from the teddy bear. Over a hundred years ago, an American president went hunting. His men found him a bear that couldn't get away and told him to shoot. He refused. A newspaper drew a cartoon of it. A toy shop made a little bear and named it after his nickname, Teddy.
So your dog is named after a bear, and that bear is named after a president. What's the least like-itself haircut your dog has ever had?
“Teddy” is a haircut
The curly, round-faced dog that looks like a teddy bear is really a Poodle.
“Teddy” is a style the groomer gives it: a round face, ears blended into the head, a short muzzle. Official breed lists include the Poodle. None of them include a Teddy.
Like “candied” in a recipe
Candy stays set. Hair does not. Skip a trim for about a month and the Teddy cut grows back into a mop of curls, so owners visit the groomer often.
The strange show cut
was work clothes
Centuries ago the Poodle was a big working dog in the water: a hunter shot a duck, and the dog swam out to bring it back. Its name comes from a German word for splashing in water.
That is where the pom-pom show cut comes from. It looks like fashion. It was work clothes.
Bred smaller and smaller,
into four sizes
People liked how smart it was and how little it shed, so they bred small dogs with small dogs. Measured at the shoulder, the FCI lists four sizes: Standard 45–60 cm, Medium 35–45, Miniature 28–35, Toy 24–28.
The “Teddy” people talk about in China is mostly a Toy Poodle with a Teddy cut.
The name “Teddy”
came from a bear
In 1902, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt went hunting. His party tied up a bear and offered him the shot. He refused. Newspapers drew a cartoon of it, and a toy shop made a little bear and, with his permission, named it after his nickname, “Teddy”.
Your dog borrowed a bear’s name. The bear borrowed a president’s nickname.
Quick check
What is a “Teddy” dog, really?
Poodle is the ingredient, Teddy is the method: like “candied” apple or yam, any dog with this cut is in a Teddy cut.
