About Us
We are two sisters who live in the cutest hundred-year-old house in Southeast Idaho with the two best cats in the whole world and an ever-growing assortment of dogs (yes, our family thinks we're a little crazy). Our standard poodle breeding program is a labor of love. Our goal is not only to produce show dogs that will excel in the conformation ring, but exceptional companion animals ready to live long, happy, healthy lives with their future families. We breed for health, temperament and conformation and do as much early desensitization and socialization as possible.
Rachel
I've loved poodles since I was a child in elementary school and first met a neighbor dog, Barbosa, a white standard with a french mustache (he has since passed away but I'm so happy to say that his family, still our close friends, now own one of our pups). I became a professional groomer in my early twenties and that love grew and grew. Standard poodles were always the smartest, most beautiful, easiest dogs to groom that came into the shop.
When I started competing in grooming expositions and became interested in the dog showing world I knew I needed to buy my own dog and wanted the best poodle I could find. I attended our local AKC show and just happened to meet the top ranked standard poodle of the year, AKC Lakeridge Kaylens Hey Big Spender. He was absolutely stunning and moved so beautifully in the ring that I knew I wanted one of his puppies.
A year later, at eleven weeks old, I brought home my foundation bitch, Iris. Little did I know that would be the same week my dad would pass away in a tragic accident. I can't imagine what that must have been like for her to join a grieving family, but she was the easiest, sweetest puppy I've ever had. I love poetry and literature and chose the title of the Robert Frost poem Nothing Gold Can Stay as her registered name to help express that chapter of my life; a bittersweet mix of joy and sorrow as I experienced new life and new death all at once.
Iris finished her championship easily, earning half of her points with me as a brand new owner/handler and half with a professional handler. As Iris and I competed, I was swept into the world of AKC Conformation and realized how much I truly love the sport. I was offered the opportunity to take some time away from my grooming to work as an assistant for esteemed poodle handler and breeder Daniel Chavez. It was the best decision I could have made. I grew so much in my understanding of the breed, learned how to present each dog to their best advantage in the ring, and gained so much valuable experience helping to whelp and raise several litters of his puppies.
Iris had her first litter of puppies in June of 2021 and I couldn't be more proud of her and the puppies we raised together. This is still the beginning of our journey at Elysee Standard Poodles, but we are committed to doing our part to better the breed and so excited to see what the future holds!
Chelsea
Hello! I'm Chelsea. I work full time in the Behavioral Health field, do professional photography on the side, and very happily but accidentally became one half of Elysee Standard Poodles the year our first litter of puppies was born. Rachel and I moved into a house together right before Iris was bred for the first time. I was so excited to be part of the puppy raising process and dived head first into the breeding world. I started reading books, watching videos, taking the AKC's breeder courses online, researching genetics and pedigrees and early socialization. Becoming more and more involved was a natural progression and I am now in charge of most of the early socialization and training of our puppies, do our record keeping, built our website, run our social media pages, and am the proud co-owner of Bridget, our newest show puppy. I love each of our puppies as if they were going to be mine until the day they die and my most important job is making sure each one gets at least 50 kisses a day.