Boy was it ever worth it to take Winston to the groomers! He smells SO much better & looks better too. The groomer said she took a ton of hair off of him, even though I had been brushing him every week and Teresa even brushed him at the party. Maybe I don't have the right equipment or am using the wrong technique ( though, how complicated can it be to brush a dog?!) She showed me a different kind of brush that she used.

Of course, it's hard to tell how Winston felt about all of that. He went in willingly enough, and went with the lady, who showed him to the largest crate she had. He peeked in there, then looked up at her as if to say. "Um. I don't think I fit."

"But that's as big as they come, Winston!" she said to him, outloud.

I was thinking "But Winston's as big as a dog comes". Still, he lowered his head and shoulders and went in....and he did have plenty of room when he laid down.
Later, when I called to check on him, the groomer said he was done.

"Oh, good, I'll come by to pick him up in about half an hour." I said....

....
"Okay. I'll tell him."

And I have no doubt that she did. A thing I have noticed about people who work with dogs all the time is that they talk to dogs and people exactly the same way. This may make them get along with dogs more easily - to people they sound kind of blunt. But, if you take it in the context of, "Oh, dog person" then you're not offended.

Dog lovers are everywhere & where you least expect them. For instance, we had enough left over change to go to Friendly's last night for ice cream. Friendly's has the worst service on the face of the planet. It's like the name ought to be "We Hate You." But they do have good ice cream.

When I left I asked the waitress for a small container so I could but the tiny remaining bit of ice cream in it. "It's for my dog. He's out in the car."

She brought a container all right! There was a whole nother scoop of ice cream in there, which she didn't charge us for! She just slid it next to my elbow and ran off! It's like "great, our dog gets better service than we do even when he doesn't even show up in person."

Of course, that was too much ice cream to give all to Winston so I ate some more. Then I felt terribly guilty on all kinds of levels. Oh well