I shoved my tongue out The dog did the same That floofy-faced fellow was me Thank goodness I was standing on the grooming table at Mrs Tramill’s Poodle Grooming Salon Lisa had really let me go Sure Lisa had been really busy at work but this was ridiculous Good thing I looked adorable in my shaggy puppy cut But still This was silly I was a Helper Hound We had standards Well at least I did I was a standard poodle after all My friends Penny and Sparky King Tut and Spooky may not care much about their looks But let’s face it how they looked didn’t affect what they could do Our fancy haircuts help us standard poodles do our jobs Besides making me look handsome my smooth snout properly placed poofs and fluffy cuffs are there to keep me warm and help me float And you never know 2
when a Helper Hound is going to need to jump in some cold water Speaking of water Spritz Spritz Spritz Mrs Tramill sprayed my hair with her special poodle mix spray and combed through my fluff It has been far too long since I’ve seen you Louis she said You haven’t even heard the latest Mrs Tramill loved to talk while she trimmed my hair She’d catch me up on all the dog news She would tell me all about which dogs failed obedience classes which got a little too 3
snappy and which dogs were putting on a little too much winter weight I didn’t really care what she had to say but I did like to hear Mrs Tramill talk Her voice was very soothing And she knew a lot about the dogs in town but also about the world I did go to Harvard Mrs Tramill told everyone whether they asked or not Mrs Tramill would giggle as she said it but the tagline on her website and business cards said BEST-EDUCATED DOG GROOMER IN THE WORLD Oh people think I’m showing off she would say But I hate it when people assume things about me you know I love to surprise people Her love of surprises is probably why she loved transforming raggedy poodles into perfectly coiffed that means hair-done dogs After blowing my hair dry Mrs Tramill 4
said Ah much better You’re a proper poodle now She slid a mirror in front of me and said Whatcha think Now that was the Louis I knew Back to my usual amazing self Mrs Tramill had worked her magic and made Harvard proud and not a moment too soon While I was enjoying one of Mrs Tramill’s homemade and organic chewies in my waiting kennel Lisa came back to get me Mrs Tramill snapped open the cage and handed my leash to Lisa I wagged and wagged Lisa told me how handsome I looked and how nice I smelled It’s the spray Mrs Tramill said I add a bit of lemon Wonderful And sorry I was late Lisa said But I got a phone call as I was leaving Oh Mrs Tramill said A new case 5
