Poodle Living His Best 'Malibu Barbie' Life at Beach Spreads Joy

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One-year-old standard poodle Rarity is living her best life since moving from Texas to California, spending as much time as she can at the beach.

Rarity moved to San Diego in August with her canine friend Arwen and owner Ashley Lungwitz. After leaving landlocked Texas for their new beachside home, the poodles have found a passion for all things coastal—particularly hanging out at the beach.

In a post on Reddit's r/aww subreddit, Lungwitz posted a picture of Rarity and wrote: "We moved near the beach and my poodle is living her best Malibu Barbie life."

Without a doubt, the poodle loves her new home. "Rarity had never seen a beach before and only had a little experience with water," Lungwitz told Newsweek. "Poodles were bred to be water dogs, so clearly those natural water-loving instincts run strong."

The American Kennel Club (AKC) says the standard poodle is the seventh most popular dog breed in the U.S.

Poodle in the sea
Standard poodle Rarity enjoys going to the beach in San Diego. @evenstarpoodles/Instagram

With a curly coat and athletic body, poodles were bred in Germany as water retrievers, specifically for waterfowl hunting. They were used to retrieve ducks and other waterfowl that had been shot in the water. Poodle comes from the German word pudeln, which means "to splash in the water."

Poodles are excellent swimmers thanks to their buoyant bodies and webbed feet. The breed is famed for loving water-based activities and has been used to assist water rescue operations and in water-based dog agility competitions.

It's evident that Rarity is living up to her breed's reputation with her love of the water.

"You can't even say the b-word without her getting super excited," said Lungwitz. "We've been making it a weekly trip since we got here. She loves running along the shoreline, playing with other dogs and bounding through the waves like a gazelle."

The picture of Rarity on the beach shared on Reddit prompted commenters to share their reactions and joy at seeing the happy pup.

"She looks like those unicorns in the beach posters from the 80s," said one.

Another wrote: "Looks like a hornless unicorn. Just infinitely more majestic."

"I just love her smile in the photo and how silly and happy she looks," said Lungwitz. "I wanted to spread that to other people, while also showing that poodles are more than the froufrou dogs most people think of.

"I love any opportunity to talk poodles and teach people about what great dogs they are," she said.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

About the writer

Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years she has specialized in viral trends and internet news, with a particular focus on animals, human interest stories, health, and lifestyle. Alice joined Newsweek in 2022 and previously wrote for The Observer, Independent, Dazed Digital and Gizmodo. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Alice by emailing alice.gibbs@newsweek.com.


Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more