poodle: [19] The ancestor of the modern poodle was a water-dog, used probably in the hunting of water-fowl – very different from the effete toy variety of today. Its name reflects its aquatic origins: in German it is pudelhund, the first element (a relative of English puddle) being from Low German pudeln ‘splash about in water’. This was shortened to simply pudel, the form in which it was acquired by English (and indeed other languages: in Swedish it is pudel, in Dutch poedel). => puddle
