Yesterday I called PetSmart and spoke to someone in their pet grooming department. I wanted to find out what it would cost to have our little rascals professionally groomed. I had always groomed Button and Riley myself, certainly not professionally, but doing a fairly creditable job of it. I'd do it in the great outdoors in the summer, spring and early fall, and in the house during the winter months. There'd be silky hair everywhere.

At PetSmart I was informed the cost for bath and brush is $33, the price to have that done, plus hair cutting is $57. Which strikes me as rather absurd, since it's the cutting that takes professional skill and patience, far less a bath and brushing. I've been brushing our little hellions daily anyway, and although we haven't yet bathed them, because it's much too cold, that won't be much of a chore when we do get around to doing it.

I was, in fact, dreading the very thought of attempting to cut Jack and Jill's wild, unruly, albeit beautiful, glossy-black hair. But then, I decided this morning to just do it. I don't want to use electric shears or a shaver, because very small dogs are frightened by that kind of sound, and I'm more familiar, in any event, using a range of scissors, one specialized type for the hair in their ears, and a pair of quite small shears, along with a larger pair. That combination seems to work very well.

But it's the puppy-restive nature of our two little fellows that had me nervous about attempting to groom them for the first time. They did resist, particularly at first, but soon calmed down, wedged securely between my upper legs, as I set about trimming first the hair in, around and over their little paws, then their bodies, leaving their leg-hair fairly well intact. Reams of hair was trimmed away and both of them thought eating the hair might be a good idea, so we had to clean up as we went along.

They don't look spectacularly well groomed, but their hair is somewhat tidier looking; they've lost about half their visual bulk. For a first-time effort it's good enough, and we're pleased with the result. The objective is not to have them end up with that ridiculous poodle-trim with puffs here and there, but more of an overall look of a well-defined little dog that just happens to be a poodle.

As I finished writing this, I wondered why it was so quiet. Jack was lying in a little bed beside my computer station and Jill was nowhere to be seen. I realized she was stuck upstairs. She races upstairs to run about on the second floor then she's stumped, fearful of descending on her own, awaiting rescue.