Actually.....
Standard Poodles were originally bred as water retrievers and they were good at it. Some still are. The stupid haircuts come from their hunting history, too.
They were bred to have very thick coats to help protect them from the cold water, but the coats got so thick they were slowing the dogs down. Hunters started cutting away the coat from areas that were not vital to keep warm while leaving it where it was needed. That was the first "Poodle Cut". They may look foo foo, but I've worked with some that were seriously hard boys. I've also seen a couple that did impressive personal protection work.
That’s awesome, I didn’t know that