Lamb Poodles

[llewtrah]

This was on a local radio station this morning (between 7 and 8 a.m.)

An internet company has been selling "poodles" to Japanese customers; poodles being popular right now. A Japanese woman who bought one of the poodles called in an "expert" when it refused to eat dog food. The expert identified the "poodle" as a lamb. Apparently numerous Japanese customers had been caught out by the scam.

This reminds me of several other ULs: the Leonberger puppies that turned out to be lions (the owners asked the vet why their puppies growled instead of barking) and the Shar Pei puppies that turned out to be piglets (identified by a dog show judge) and the infamous Chihuahua-rat!

Japan is far enough away that listeners can't easily verify themselves.

[llewtrah]

Dog owners Fleeced in Poodle Scam and Ewe've Been Conned Ladies

The Metro is not regarded as a reliable news source and the Sun is not regarded as a news source, period. The Sun's page does have a photo of a sheep with a poodle clip.

From the Metro (and pretty much the same in The Sun):

Thousands of people have been 'fleeced' into buying neatly coiffured lambs they thought were poodles. Entire flocks of lambs were shipped over from the UK and Australia to Japan by an internet company and marketed as the latest 'must have' accessory. But the scam was only spotted after a leading Japanese actress said her 'poodle' didn't bark and refused to eat dog food.

Poodles as Pets, sold the 'poodles' for £630, about half the cost of a normal poodle but is now understood to have been shut down.

From The Sun:

One couple found out the truth only after a dog beautician told them that she could not trim their poodle’s claws — because they were HOOVES.

Didn't she notice it didn't eat dog food and it didn't poop like a dog? The lambs are, supposedly, being donated to zoos and farms.

Can any Snopesters in the region verify or debunk this report?

[Hot Toast]

It has also appeared on the ninemsn homepage. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=263297

I don't whether it is true or not, but I thought that it was hilarious. Maybe Ganzfield can enlighten us.

[Dutch Angua]

And to think I rolled my eyes at people who couldn't tell tigers and lions apart...

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by llewtrah

Didn't she notice it didn't eat dog food and it didn't poop like a dog?

A baahed instead of barked? And didn't walk the same way a dog does?

For the love of Pete, why did she not notice the hooves before someone pointed them out to her?

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by Lainie

A baahed instead of barked? And didn't walk the same way a dog does?

For the love of Pete, why did she not notice the hooves before someone pointed them out to her?

Poodles: toes and claws, dog food, smelly sausage-like poo, bark, front-facing eyes for binocular vision, upright tail, body tends to tuck-up after the ribcage.

Lambs: cloven hooves, pelleted droppings a bit like large bunny poo, baah, eyes on side of head, tail absent or pendulous, tend to be timid unless socialised with humans and other animals from early age, somewhat greasy fleece (lanolin), body lacks the tuck-up.

Even if sheep are unfamiliar (and in the internet age they're not that unfamiliar), poodles are familiar and it's darned obvious that a lamb doesn't eat, act, smell or poop like a puppy

[Lainie]

And have you ever seen lambs gambol? No dog ever moved like that.

[kismet]

Two weeks ago, I would not have believed this possible. Then I went to lunch with several co-workers. In the car, Co-worker A picked up a magazine that was in Co-worker B's car. The magazine was a kid's magazine, and had a photo of a girl hugging a goat on the cover.

Co-worker A said "this dog looks funny." And we all laughed, thinking she was joking. She then said, "No, really, he looks almost like a sheep. What kind of dog is this?"

She really thought it was a dog. It was a goat, it looked like nothing other than a goat. Eyes, ears, nose, all goat-like rather than dog-like. It had horns! She owns a dog herself, so she is familiar with what a true dog looks like.

So now, I guess I have had to re-evaluate the possibility that people could be that clueless. I don't know if the OP is true, but I guess it is somewhat feasible.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by kismet

She really thought it was a dog. It was a goat, it looked like nothing other than a goat. Eyes, ears, nose, all goat-like rather than dog-like. It had horns! She owns a dog herself, so she is familiar with what a true dog looks like.

What kind of dog does she have? A horned terrier?

[Richard W]

The Metro says:

Poodles are famously used by the rich and glamourous on the continent but are extremely rare in Japan, with many people having little idea what they look like.

The Sun says:

Bosses took advantage of the fact sheep are rare in Japan and most people do not know what they look like.

Riiight... so they don't know what sheep look like or what poodles look like? That's very convenient for the perpetrators of the scam, given that it would have been a really stupid idea otherwise...

[Richard W]

All the other reports of this story I could find give The Sun as their source and have the same details.

[CSGirl]

I could see how a lamb could be mistaken for this dog. They always did look like sheep to me.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by Richard W

Riiight... so they don't know what sheep look like or what poodles look like? That's very convenient for the perpetrators of the scam, given that it would have been a really stupid idea otherwise...

Trawling the web I found various lamb toys/pics related to Japanese sites. I think the lamb toys fell into the "adorable" category with Hello Kitty. I really, really don't believe the average Japanese person doesn't know what a sheep looks like - that sounds like British stereotyping and playing on the ignorance of Sun readers to me. Especially as there is a Year of the Sheep and sheep farming including scrapie in japanese sheep and sheep ornaments (and loads loads more if you search for japan + sheep on Google)

I have one thing to say about the story: Freddie Starr ate my hamster!

[kismet]

Originally Posted by Lainie

What kind of dog does she have? A horned terrier?

She has some little breed of dog, I think a scottie or something. She claimed that the horns looked like background shadow in the picture, and she didn't see them at all.

It's true that Bedlington terriers do look a lot like sheep, but part of that is the haircut that obscures their dog-shaped head, eyes and nose. And still, once they bark or pant or make basically any noise, or if you glance at their feet, the illusion is shattered.

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by CSGirl

I could see how a lamb could be mistaken for this dog. They always did look like sheep to me.

That really does look like a dog/sheep hybrid.

(But I think it is actually a fox with mange.)

[Richard W]

I should have thought to email my brother about this story earlier, but I didn't... I'll do so later. (Can't on this computer.)

[ganzfeld]

I don't believe this story. A quick search of Japanese Google News in Japanese turns up nothing at all for poodles or sheep. It's just a funny story poking fun at Japanese quirkiness, as far as I'm concerned.

[ganzfeld]

Do Japanese really think poodles are sheep?

[llewtrah]

Cheers Ganzfeld. I've been telling friends it is in the rat/chihuahua category. Anything traceable to The Sun and no other sources is immediately suspect. If it wasn't urban legend before, The Sun and The Metro have ensured it's urban legend now.

The image of the sheep clipped like a poodle will stay with me for ages

[Hot Toast]

I can't edit my previous post, but I hope that this link to the ninemsn site works now. I stuffed up the url code. The picture wasn't in the article last night, so I'm not sure if they have changed any other parts of the article.