You need to either drug or distract the poodles long enough for you to get by.
Try throwing them some food.
You can pick up a hunk of meat in the kitchen of the SCUMM Bar.
How do I get into the kitchen?
But that doesn't distract them long enough.
I guess you need to drug the meat somehow.
Who would know more about illegal activities than any pirate or sheriff?
A prisoner would.
Visit the prison on the far side of town.
You'll need to talk to Otis, the prisoner.
How can I talk to Otis?
Has he mentioned what he got arrested for?
Sheriff Shinetop incarcerated him for picking the Caniche Endormi, a yellow flower.
What does Endormi mean in Italian?
Dormi is the root for such words as "dormitory" and "dormant."
It means "sleep."
So the Caniche Endormi must cause sleep.
Have you seen any yellow flowers?
Where is the logical place for them to grow?
Where do most shrubs grow?
In the woods.
Pay a visit to the "Fork," above the "Lookout," on the general map of Melee Island.
Explore the woods a little bit.
The screen above the entrance to the forest has some yellow flowers on it.
Pick them.
You need to get the dogs to eat them.
But the dogs won't just eat the flowers by themselves.
You need to stick it into something they like.
Like meat. (If you lost your hunk of meat, pick up more from the kitchen.)
Use the picked flower with the meat, and feed it to the dogs.