The Beauty Salon for Doggies

Today Max got his Christmas haircut from Miss Nanako at the Beauty Salon for Doggies. It could not have come any sooner; he was getting rather shaggy although truth to tell, I kind of like my little guy when he’s furry.

We dropped him off and then went to see “Philomena”, a very well acted, funny and touching film that we both enjoyed mightily. Dame Judi Dench’s portrayal of Philomena was flat out astonishing, but I digress.

The furball on his way to a grooming.

Nanako-san is well known for her Japanese-style grooming of little dogs. She loves to weave feathers into the pups’ ear hair, add color and otherwise take frou-frou dogs to a new height of frou. To date I have always resisted her gentle efforts to convince me that Max will be no less manly if he sports a bright little ribbon in his fur.

This time around, in true Japanese Alpha Female (JAF) style, she didn’t bother to ask about possible pooch enhancements; she just added a couple of bows in Max’s ears.

She must have seen my look as I came to pick him up. She calmly stared me down, turned to my spouse, a fellow JAF and said in their native tongue, “Your husband should be happy. The bows are blue, not pink.”

My wife replied, “He likes them very much.”

I started to add, “I’m standing right here and you know I understand what you both are saying” but many years of painfully gained experience held my wayward tongue at the last minute. So I pulled out the wallet, paid the tab and tipped handsomely, thus marginally justifying my otherwise worthless existence.

The bows, I just don’t know about the bows.

So here are before and after photos of Maxwell, all dolled up for Christmas.

Which look do you like?

I still can’t quite accept the bows and dread tomorrow morning’s walk around town and the overt abuse (and covert sympathy) I will gather from the other guys walking dogs within the K Streets.