ever had was standard poodle. Super bright, trainable, intuitive, athletic, playful with the kids yet calm. Vet told me years ago that the breed was way underutilized as a family dog. I've hunted with my labs, spaniels, GSP and the poodle would retrieve like the dickens (outruns the retrieves which frustrates the heck out of them) but didn't have the birdiness of the others. Loved the water and would dive underwater to retrieve stuff. Crossing a standard poodle with most breeds just improves the outcome in most cases. However, some folks don't like the look of a poodle or they think they are foo-foo. Clip a well bred standard poodle short all-over and he's pretty cool looking and you'll have a great dog-one of the best.