Not my dog; or is it?

LADY WITH ONE OF HER SHORTER TRIMS

I was just thinking of the first time I took Lady, our late mutt, to the groomer.

Lady was a fuzzy girl with white-and-brown fur. I had taken her to Puttin on the Petz, and I was waiting for them to bring her out.

I was standing there wearing shorts, and they brought out this little white dog. While I looked around for Lady, this little dog sat down in front of me and waited. Finally, it licked my knee.

I looked down and suddenly realized that THAT WAS LADY. I wish I had a photo of her alone and us together. Without her fur, she looked like a different dog. (They'd cut her hair short, and she felt like velvet.)

Why was she all-white? That was the color of her undercoat.

I loved all versions of Lady, but that was maybe my favorite. But she needed her fur to protect her from weather, bugs or unfriendly dogs. So I never let them shear her again.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing