Poodles

Today I learned why poodles have those funny poufy bits on them and I thought I'd share my new-found knowledge.
Poodles were originally used in France as hunting dogs, they were used for retrieving because they are really quite smart in that capacity. The hunters cut their fur so that they wouldn't get weighed down by it when they went in water. The hunters left the poufy bits at all their joints to protect them from getting injured and also to keep the dog's joints warm in the winter (thus staving off arthritis). The tail poufs acted as indicator's to the hunters when the dog was swimming as to it's location. The most interesting part, you know the poufy bit sticking up on their head with the little bow? It was left there with a bow so the hunter's could determine who's dog was who's, each hunter had a different coloured bow for their poodle.
Neat huh?

Here's some more info on poodles, if yer dying to know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poodles