Let’s unravel a myth that’s been spun tighter than a show coat in competition trim:
There are not five sizes of Poodles. There are not four sizes of Poodles in America.
There are three.
Say it with me: Toy, Miniature, Standard.

These are the only three recognized sizes under the American Kennel Club (AKC) and United Kennel Club (UKC):

•   Toy – under 10 inches
•   Miniature – over 10 inches and up to 15 inches
•   Standard – over 15 inches

That’s it. No “Moyen.” No “Klein.” No elusive size hiding in a Parisian café or a Bavarian forest. No matter how many times it’s hashtagged or dolled up in imported mystique, it does not exist in American registries.

Now, let’s turn our gaze to Europe for a moment.
The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI)—the European registry—does recognize a fourth size:
Medium.
That’s the word. In the official English version of the FCI standard, the category is Medium. Not Moyen, not Klein. Just… Medium.

So where did Moyen come from?
Well, Moyen is simply the French word for medium. And Klein? That’s German for small. Not even medium. Slightly off, and yet so confidently used.

Now if we were truly honoring multilingual accuracy for the sake of breed education, we’d be talking about:

•   Medio Poodles in Spanish
•   Médio Poodles in Portuguese
•   Közepes Uszkár in Hungarian
•   Średni Pudel in Polish
•   Střední Pudl in Czech
•   Or the precise German: Mittelgroßpudel

But we’re not. Because this isn’t about linguistic appreciation.
It’s about making an in-between-sized dog sound rare.
Slapping a foreign label on a dog that doesn’t fit the AKC chart doesn’t make it exclusive. It just makes it… mislabeled. And unfortunately, that label often sells.

Let’s be real:
An oversized Miniature or a smaller-framed Standard isn’t inherently bad. These things happen naturally in litters from time to time. But deliberately breeding for the space between and calling it something “fancy” isn’t responsible—it’s a marketing gimmick.
We wouldn’t call a slightly large Toy a “Petite Moyen.”
We wouldn’t sell a long-legged Miniature as a “Euro Klein Luxe.”
(Okay, someone probably would. Please don’t.)

Here’s why this matters:

Breeding deliberately for a non-standard size is not preserving the breed. It’s compromising it.

When you take a Standard and cross it with a Miniature—or breed oversized Minis together over and over—you risk:

•   Losing correct breed type
•   Producing unpredictable size outcomes
•   Disrupting structure, movement, and balance
•   Compromising whelping safety and orthopedic health
•   And confusing the heck out of future puppy owners

It’s not romantic. It’s not rare. It’s not in line with any legitimate AKC or UKC preservation goals.
It’s boutique branding dressed up in foreign words to make something that already exists look… exotic. Spoiler: it’s not exotic. It’s just “medium.”

Now—if you’re breeding within FCI standards, and you’re protecting the integrity of the Medium Poodle abroad, hats off to you. That size exists in the FCI, and it deserves correct preservation within that system. But if you’re in the U.S., breeding for a “Moyen,” registering it as a Standard, and then advertising it as something rare or better—you’re not honoring the breed. You’re rebranding it.

So for those learning to navigate all the Poodle terminology out there, here’s a simple linguistic rule of thumb:

If your breeding goals don’t match your registry’s standard, it’s time to reassess—not re-market.
And if you’re eager to learn a new language, let me offer this vocabulary starter kit:

•   Toy
•   Miniature
•   Standard

Those three words say all you need to say. Everything else?
Just marketing fluff dressed in foreign flair.

Preserve the standard. Don’t get lost in translation.

DanubePoodles #MoyenMyth #NoSuchSize #PoodlePurity #RareIsNotResponsible #KnowTheStandard #NotAKleinThing #PreserveStructureNotSlogans