Today at Home Depot I saw a woman with a service dog. That wasn't so unusual. What was unusual was the fact that the service dog was a standard poodle with a very froufrou hairdo. Smart, good looking, and well-educated? What woman doesn't want that?

Poodles require a lot of grooming. Monthly haircuts, frequent baths and combings; hair bows alone can get pretty expensive. It takes a lot of work to keep them so good-looking. I suspect that this dog was called a service dog because of how much service it requires from its owner, not the other way around.

I love poodles. I have two myself, you know. However, I'm not sure that either of my poodles would make a very good service dog. Victoria is plenty smart enough, but I suspect that she would only lead me to things that she wants. July is obedient enough, but she wouldn't ever move if she thought she was walking away from me. And I am sure that neither would be much help to me in a Home Depot.

This dog with his short Utility-style haircut, perfectly brushed mane, and well-manicured nails was standing patiently beside his owner in the trim moulding aisle. Meanwhile I hadn't shaved and was wearing a t-shirt with a hole under the right armpit. I was struggling to choose between 1-1/4" joint moulding and 1-3/4" picture moulding; he didn't appear to be doing much of anything at all. I don't mean to imply that there was something fishy going on. I'm just saying that whatever service that dog was performing wasn't readily visible. All I could be sure of at the time was that despite only being about 2-and-a-half feet tall, the dog was looking down its nose at me.

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