Mistaken Identity

A rule in our household: When going out solo to take the poodles for a walk, one must report back all the praise and remarks showered upon them during the entire course of the outing, regardless of its insignificance, once returning home. With us it’s a custom, a ritual really. “Hey welcome back, so did you get any comments?” Like we have anything to do with their genetics or other people’s fancy for the breed. We could probably chart our findings in some sort of scientific journal. Comments go up in direct correlation to the timing of their haircuts. Comments increase dramatically when they are seen together rather than one at a time. Those commenting tend to be people over 60 of both genders. Our theory is that poodles used to be more popular as family dogs back in the 50’s, and this sector has fond memories of their old pets. The obvious conclusion: it’s like we’re spreading cheer and bliss to all the little people whenever we leave the house with dogs on leash.

Usually it’s “Beautiful dogs!” We (they, I mean they) get that one a lot. Jesse took them out the other day and a lady asked if it was a mom poodle and her baby. Based on size alone, this might have been an obvious conclusion, but to us this was hilarious. Bub (the presumed mommy) is large yes, but he’s a boy, has not and never will grow out of the puppy stage, is the biggest baby ever and is the youngest. Frannie (the alleged baby) is smaller yes, but is the oldest, the one in charge and last but not least her entire muzzle is covered in gray. I don’t know about you, but the thought of a gray-haired baby weirds me out a little. We had a good chuckle about it. I’ve started calling Bub “Mr. Mom.”