PAGE SIX
(Summer 2009)
I once had a friend whose neighbor's cat used to terrorize her Poodle. When she let the dog out before bedtime, the cat would often lie in wait and pounce hissing out of the shadows when the dog least expected it.
My friend said the cat didn't seem vicious, that it was more like he was playing a childish game of "Boo!"
I always wondered if the poor dog had to have therapy to get over her trauma.
Those of us who love long ear feathering on our Poodles know that food chewed into their ear hair can be a problem.
We use snoods over our Poodles' heads/necks while feeding them to keep ears out of the food. However, at other times, mis-throwing a cookie that lands on the floor can cause trouble. When the Poodle picks up the cookie, their ears sometimes get in the way, and the cookie is chewed into the hair.
If we miss seeing this happen, these clumps dry out, and sometime later the dog eats the mashed-in cookie . . . along with several inches of hair.
"Geez, I wish you had pockets so you could carry your snacks there instead of chewing them into your ears."
I like nice fluffy topknots on my Poodles. However, these soft, cloud-like caps are magnets for those who want to pet my dogs.
Upon meeting us, the first thing a stranger does is to start stroking the top of the Poodles' heads, flattening their hair.
By the time these people leave, the dogs look like they've been standing in a wind-tunnel.