Breed Page

Toy Poodle — BetterBred Breed Page – BetterBred.com
BetterBred Breed Profile

Toy Poodle

Temperament: Alert, happy, and highly active. Toy Poodles are the smallest of the three Poodle varieties and share the intelligence and trainability of the larger sizes. They are devoted companions, sharp and quick to learn, with high grooming needs and a non-shedding coat often tolerated by people with dog allergies.
Height: 10 inches (25 cm) and under
Weight: 4-6 pounds (1.8-2.7 kg)
Life Span: 14-17 years
Outlier Index ?
0.31
Born before 2016: 0.34 Born after 2024: 0.28
Avg Genetic Rel. ?
0.00
Born before 2016: -0.02 Born after 2024: 0.02
Internal Relatedness ?
0.01
Born before 2016: 0.03 Born after 2024: -0.03
Toy Poodle
#NameGender OIAGRIR
1 Era F 0.37 -0.03 0.10
2 Mabilo Time to Remember F 0.40 -0.06 0.02
3 Silvabirch G8rcreek Major Distraction M 0.18 0.06 0.09
4 Silvabirch G8rcreek Add A Little Sweetness F 0.32 0.02 -0.05
5 GCH CH Silvabirch G8rcreek Song 'N Dance F 0.13 0.08 0.08
6 Silvabirch A Fine Surprise F 0.29 0.00 0.03
7 CH Dreem G8rcreek Temptress Walking BCAT F 0.37 -0.08 0.17
8 CH G8rcreek Sunsprite Shear Delight F 0.31 -0.01 -0.10
9 GCH G8rcreek Ain't No Rest For The Wicked M 0.21 0.03 0.07
10 CH G8rcreek Unchained Dreem M 0.28 0.02 0.07
Toy Poodles are the smallest of the three Poodle varieties. While they were the last of the three to be formally recognized, there is evidence they existed as a distinct small size well before their formal recognition - the first concrete evidence of Toy-sized Poodles dates to the 18th century. In AKC stud books, Toy Poodles were kept separately from 1918 until 1943, when the registry consolidated all three Poodle size varieties into a single stud book. All three varieties share a common genetic foundation but have been bred within variety for most of the modern era.
View Official Breed Standard →
Progressive retinal atrophy (prcd, DNA test available), patellar luxation, Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, and collapsing trachea occur. Periodontal disease is a significant concern given the small jaw. Addison's disease and other autoimmune conditions have been reported at lower rates than in Standard Poodles but still warrant attention.
VGL has reported Toy Poodles carrying an average of around 8.97 alleles across the 33 STR loci, with an effective allele count near 4.14. Those are among the stronger numbers VGL has reported for any breed and reflect the Poodle's broad historical foundation and large worldwide population. The gap between average and effective alleles still leaves room for redistributing rarer alleles through informed pairings. VGL testing has found Toy Poodles with observed heterozygosity very close to expected, giving a small positive inbreeding coefficient. That is a good breed-wide signal and reflects an active breeder community maintaining the breed's substantial diversity. Individual IR values vary and breeders should continue prioritizing less related pairings.

Average metrics by birth year for dogs with recorded birthdates in the BetterBred database.

A 3D genetic map of enrolled Toy Poodle dogs in the BetterBred database, based on allele-sharing distance across 33 STR loci. This is not a complete picture of the breed — it reflects only dogs whose owners have enrolled them. Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom · hover for dog names (public profiles only).

Historical founders — oldest 25% of enrolled dogs     Current gene pool — most recent 50% of enrolled dogs
Building plot… this may take a minute for larger breeds.

The Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) region controls immune function and is the most polymorphic portion of the canine genome. Every dog carries two sets of DLA haplotypes — one from each parent — which almost never recombine across generations. Frequency percentages reflect how often each haplotype appears across all allele copies in the breed, not the percentage of dogs carrying it.

Class I Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
1018
28.6%
1105
10.0%
1013
8.8%
1014
8.3%
1009
7.4%
1111
7.1%
1011
5.2%
1109
3.8%
1001
3.6%
1020
3.1%
1016
1.9%
1005
1.7%
1012
1.4%
1028
1.2%
1182
1.0%
1008
0.7%
1107
0.7%
1068
0.7%
1002
0.5%
1045
0.5%
1036
0.5%
1021
0.5%
1204
0.2%
1262
0.2%
1203
0.2%
1282
0.2%
1188
0.2%
1187
0.2%
1168
0.2%
1132
0.2%
1054
0.2%
1040
0.2%
1006
0.2%
1184
0.2%

Class II Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
2003
41.4%
2021
10.0%
2024
8.1%
2050
6.9%
2008
6.9%
2011
5.5%
2015
4.3%
2012
3.8%
2009
3.6%
2014
1.7%
2037
1.4%
2053
1.0%
2016
0.7%
2040
0.7%
2017
0.5%
2022
0.5%
2025
0.5%
2068
0.5%
2033
0.5%
2001
0.5%
2104
0.2%
2094
0.2%
2027
0.2%
2005
0.2%
2007
0.2%

Class I & II Combinations

Class IClass IIFrequency
1018 2003
28.6%
1105 2021
10.0%
1013 2003
8.8%
1111 2024
7.1%
1014 2050
6.9%
1009 2008
6.7%
1011 2011
5.2%
1109 2012
3.8%
1001 2009
3.6%
1020 2015
3.1%
1016 2014
1.7%
1005 2003
1.7%
1012 2003
1.4%
1014 2037
1.4%
1028 2015
1.2%
1182 2024
1.0%
1008 2003
0.7%
1107 2016
0.7%
1068 2053
0.7%
1002 2001
0.5%
1045 2040
0.5%
1036 2025
0.5%
1021 2017
0.5%
1009 2068
0.5%
1168 2003
0.2%
1282 2040
0.2%
1262 2011
0.2%
1204 2053
0.2%
1203 2027
0.2%
1188 2008
0.2%
1187 2104
0.2%
1184 2005
0.2%
1006 2007
0.2%
1040 2022
0.2%
1132 2033
0.2%
1009 2022
0.2%
1016 2094
0.2%
1054 2033
0.2%

The Canine Diversity Test from UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is the foundation of BetterBred’s breed management tools. Testing your dog adds to the breed database and gives you access to the full suite of breeding analysis tools.

Order from UC Davis VGL →
G8rcreek
Georgia, United States
Visit Website →
Silvabirch
New York, US
Visit Website →

BetterBred does not personally endorse or recommend any listed kennel. Visitors are responsible for conducting their own research, including verifying health testing records and speaking directly with breeders. List your kennel →

OI
Outlier Index

The Outlier Index (OI) measures how unusual a dog’s allele combination is relative to the tested population of its breed. A higher OI means the dog carries alleles at lower frequencies across the breed — genetic variants that are underrepresented in the population as a whole.

Dogs with high OI are genetically valuable because they carry diversity that most other tested dogs don’t share. Breeding them thoughtfully into the broader population helps redistribute lower-frequency alleles rather than allowing them to become even rarer over generations.

The breed average shown here reflects all dogs tested in the BetterBred database. The senior and youngster comparisons show whether diversity is trending up or down in recent generations.
AGR
Average Genetic Relatedness

Average Genetic Relatedness (AGR) measures how similar a dog’s DNA is, on average, to every other tested dog in the breed. It reflects the dog’s mean kinship — how closely related it is to the population as a whole.

A lower AGR means the dog is more genetically distinct from the majority of the breed. Dogs with low AGR carry alleles at lower frequencies across the tested population, making them higher-priority candidates for inclusion in a well-managed breeding program.

AGR is conceptually related to mean kinship used in conservation genetics for managed species populations. A declining AGR average in younger dogs suggests the breed is successfully redistributing genetic diversity across generations.
IR
Internal Relatedness

Internal Relatedness (IR) measures how much identical genetic material an individual dog inherited from both parents. IR is a useful indicator of inbreeding: lower IR generally reflects lower inbreeding, and it is widely used and reported in the scientific literature.

A high IR is not the cause for alarm it might appear. Elevated IR can often be resolved in a single generation by pairing with a dog whose ancestry is less represented in the breed. It is a signpost, not a sentence.

BetterBred reports IR for reference, but it is not our primary breeding guidance tool. OI and AGR together give a more complete and actionable picture of a dog’s genetic value to the population.

AGR tells you which dogs are genetically unusual relative to the population. OI tells you which dogs are most valuable to preserve. OI specifically weights mid-frequency alleles, identifying dogs whose ancestry is underrepresented in a way most likely to benefit the breed.