I get a makeover

Good grooming shows. It takes a lot of hard work to look this handsome all the time. I couldn’t manage it without the help of my friends at Funky Toilettage. It’s an interesting shop, about 40 minutes away in Villefranche. It sells toys and treats and even has some friendly dogs to socialise with — some of them look almost as good as me. I confess, though, that I wish it had a more upmarket name. It probably sounds better when you say it in French than bark it in English. Still, I go there every five weeks or so and suffer in silence while they give me a makeover. My personal groomer is really nice. She takes a lot of care and about 4 hours to make sure I leave looking my best. I like her a lot, but once I’ve greeted her I’d just as soon leave because I know that I’ll have to be good and stand really still for the next few hours. Ah, the things we do for our public!

Let me explain. We poodles don’t have normal dog hair. Our “hair” is much more like fine wool than anything else. This has its advantages; we don’t shed, we don’t smell bad and our coat protects us from cold and water very well. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it just keeps growing, so if we don’t go for toilettage regulary, it gets too long and is hard to manage. Then we end up having some really bad hair days.

Perhaps you’ve seen my relatives who are groomed for dog shows? Custom and the rules mean they have to have silly looking haircuts. Poor things. I’m more than happy with my “town and country” cut. It looks good and is very chic and practical.  

Linda told me that it costs more for my grooming than hers. Between us, I have to say that it shows. It’s not that Linda doesn’t look good — she looks lovely most of the time. I just think that she would benefit from a few sessions at Funky Toilettage herself.

I’m quite a natty dresser too. I have a spotted bandana and an American-themed one I wear on Independence Day to please David. Linda prefers me in my diamante collar, but I think it’s a bit too much for a trip to the local bar. I get the impression the village dogs find my collar amusing, but I rise above it and let Linda deal with them.

It’s quite hot here at the moment, so I’m going to ask David to lend me a sunhat. I did hear someone say that I could wear a knotted handkerchief instead. I have just two things to say to that: (1) Only common dogs would wear such a thing — I wouldn’t consider it, even if you offered me a hanky with an R embroidered on it. (2) We are in the South of France, not Blackpool.

David and Linda kindly took some pictures so you can see just how good I look. You can see how worn out I was by it all in one of the photos. I’m wearing the diamante R on my collar just for you.