Dog Groomers and Poodle Cuts

My dogs are at the groomer. It is their day of beauty: canine Elizabeth Arden.

Jasper sports a classic terrier puppy cut. The Wheaton coif is handsome but impractical. The “fall” over his eyes would further impede his already not-so-good vision and the beard thing gets too skanky. But since he is a pure bred dog, even bad haircuts do not render him unslightly.

Cosmo is my bi-racial child. He is part golden retriever and part poodle. We do not acknowledge his poodle side. Because while poodles are wonderful, smart, gentle dogs, they by definition look like poodles---they are just not that attractive. Poodles are poufy. I hate poufs.

And talented groomers are hard to find—it’s worse than finding a good human hairdresser. But thanks to my neighbor Patty I have finally found one that understands my canine aesthetic. I have found a groomer that sculpts Cosmo’s coat to look like a soft-haired Golden retriever and not some weird poodle mutt mash up. The new groomer furiously snips and clips  like Edward Scissorhands--the fur flies into the air like a Wizard of Oz type storm. The result is that Cosmo is poufless. There is negligible poodle-ness. He can deny his poodle race and “pass” for another breed.

And now when my girls come home for Thanksgiving I will hear no complaints—or at least no complaints about how the dogs look.

And as the countdown to the holiday season arrives I will give thanks—I will thank God for all the normal regular typical Thank God stuff like good family and friends—but I will also give thanks to creative groomers and the recommendation of good neighbors. They have made my dog children that much more huggable.