July 10 - Lisa's Musings on (the dog show) and Every Day Life

Ya win some; ya lose some.

And we lost big time today. To dogs that were shown by professional handlers. Those people who make a living showing dogs for other people. And who know a lot more about this stand-and-eat stuff than I do. Or at least I hope they do because they are getting paid to do it.

Until recently, it was unusual to see the pros showing Tollers. Most were owner-handled, which means we did it ourselves as amateurs. Sure, all of us wanted to win and we took it kinda seriously, but showing our dogs is a hobby, not a business.

We actually enjoyed our dogs and loved them as pets first and show or performance dogs second. Plus, we all supported one another. And had fun.

Well, the fun part was still true today. Driver had a lot of it. He was all business in the ring and showed brilliantly.

But outside of it, he got mugged by little kids. Made some new canine friends. And some human ones, too.

He's quite the social butterfly.

I congratulated the winners, kissed my fabulous puppy because he showed his little red guts out, put him back in his crate to take a nap and headed out for some retail therapy.

Driver now has more hair product in his grooming box than any human I know. To make his coat look "natural" -- he has whipped creme mousse to add volume and shine, build body and texture, cure flyaways and control frizz.

For "natural" feel and "natural" volume, he has texturizing bodifer and super hold -- for long lasting, water free, fast drying instant hold.

Total hair care bill: $37.50.

And that's just the stuff I bought today ... My dog has more types of shampoo, creme rinse and product than I do for myself. Seriously.

And if that wasn't enough, I decided to buy some scissors. Well, more specifically, a pair of thinning sheers. And you have no idea how many different types, colors, and sizes of scissors one can buy -- to groom a dog. There were literally hundreds of them.

And they range in price from about $20 to $250-plus. Yup ... there are people out there who will pay $250 for a pair of scissors. To groom a dog. Are they NUTS? I picked them up just to say I had a pair of scissors that expensive in my hands. And although I didn't look at all the price tags, there could have been more expensive ones. I don't know.

But I did learn something about handling dog scissors -- you don't hold them like the scissors you cut paper with -- nope -- you hold them with your thumb and ring finger. Who knew?

I picked up a pair that was $35, but got talked into spending $48.95 by Nancy, my friend who is a groomer, and who knows a good pair from a not-so-good pair.

I also needed some sort of implement that would take the icky neuter coat off of Ryan. He had a glorious coat until he was neutered and now he gets this yucky whispy stuff on some parts of his body and I hate looking at it. I want it gone.

That cost me $51.95.

Total grooming stuff retail therapy bill? $160.97

I guess those $250 scissors aren't looking quite as silly, huh?