Last Updated on 11/10/23 by wp_15467959
Poodles did not help humans only during hunting but also during one of the most stupid human activities: War. There are many historic events in which poodles are quoted.
Between 1638 and 1641, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a German general and admiral, was captured during the Thirty Years War and spent his imprisonment in Linz, Austria. Inside the prison, he was suffering of solitude. For this reason, the English ambassador in Wien (England and Germany were allied) gave him a white poodle named Boy.
Prince Rupert spent a lot of time with him. People knew him as a short-tempered man and were surprised to see the Prince playing with Boy. After he was released, he kept Boy with him until the battle of Marston Moor in which Boy died. This brave poodle was even portrayed in a painting with his owner (see next fig.).
During the 19th century there are many reports of poodles used as soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.
The most famous of them was Moustache, a black standard poodle which become an actual soldier of the 40th infantry regiment of the French army. On the 14th of June 1800, during the battle of Marengo, he signaled with his bark the presence of an Austrian spy. Five years later, during the Austerlitz battle, he stayed close to a young soldier wounded to death. The enemies were approaching to steal the French flag, but Moustache took it, and returned it to the French. After the battle, the French army gave Moustache the medal of honour and registered him as an actual soldier. Moustache died some years later, after he was wounded by a Spanish cannon ball.
Apart Moustache, historic chronicles talk about other poodles that fought during wars and battles. Barbuche was owned by Giovannino, a young Italian boy which was fighting in a regiment leaded by the French sergeant Fourgasse. During one battle in Italy, Giovannino was killed and Barbuche lost a leg while trying to save him. Sergeant Fourgasse, once he knew what happened, decided to adopt Barbuche.
Mouton was the name of a poodle adopted by a Napoleonic regiment in Spain in 1808. Mouton followed the soldiers in many battles until the final catastrophic campaign of Russia, in which he lost both of his front legs. French troops decided to not abandon him and carried Mouton on their shoulders all the way back to France.
Standard poodles used to escort their fellow humans during many wars, including the Second World War. U.S even decided to create a recruitment campaign for war dogs. Many posters showed the image of a poodle. In the next fig., there is a firemen squad of London in 1940, while the city was bombed by German planes. Poodles helped firemen to rescue people that were trapped under the collapsed buildings.
