April 21, 2011

"Grace absolutely loves it — she just turns into a puddle."

It would be funny if she turned into a poodle.

The quote is from an article in the NYT about dog massage. Grace is a... oh, wait... Grace is a poodle! I was mixing Grace up with the dog in the photo, which is a Weimaraner. At Weimaraner named Karma. Enough said.

35 comments:

David said...

Bad! Bad Karma! Bad!

(Someone had to say it.)

Phil 314 said...

This is the sort of wealth redistribution I can wholeheartedly support

Irene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

I just remembered an old joke I read when I was a kid:

"It's raining cats and dogs."

"I know. I just stepped into a poodle."

Irene said...

(Typo fixed.)

And that's a *red* poodle in the other photo. Parti-colored poodle, that is. I guess that's why the article called it "Spot."

We've been massaging the dogs for years, but no NYT reporter contacted me.

We do, however, live next door to a Weimaraner. Haha.

Unknown said...

Hey, Quantum just loves a good rub, but the last thing you want is a dog turning into a puddle.

Especially on carpet.

PS Irene, I've don't know if you saw my comment the other day.

I love "Flirt" as a name for the new pup, but "Bijoux" means "Jewels" - something we should have named Sherlock, given his way with the ladies.

You may want to go with "Bijou".

gerry said...

I can get big bucks scratching dogs? Who knew?

Irene said...

edutcher, I did see the comment (and the one today over on the Willoughby thread).

I favor "Flirt." Mom Irene likes "Bijou." The latter also is tart because it suits a French Poodle. First poodle I had was "Gigi."

Megaera said...

I don't quite go with incense/music/lowered lights and all that, but I do believe in animal massage therapy for all sorts of problems. The Times article makes it sound hopelessly silly and New-Age-y, but it's been around quite a long time (my first exposure was Tellington's approach) and I've found it very helpful in a quite practical, non-New-Age-y way.

Unknown said...

Irene said...

edutcher, I did see the comment (and the one today over on the Willoughby thread).

I favor "Flirt." Mom Irene likes "Bijou." The latter also is tart because it suits a French Poodle. First poodle I had was "Gigi."


Tres bon, Madame.

I thought Mom Irene's idea of Sprout for a boy was a good one. I told The Blonde we should have named Sherlock "Sponge" for all the water he drinks and she came back we should have named him "Squirt" for what he does with it.

Sorry about the earlier comment, didn't mean to bug you.

Irene said...

edutcher, it's not bugging! I am glad to reply.

Irene said...

That is, if I am not asleep.

Methadras said...

I save the money and do it myself. My girlie Tink loves it. Found out a couple of weeks ago she now has B-Cell Lymphoma, but we caught it very very early. She's 13.5 and she's tough as nails. Thank goodness her Hemangio Sarcoma never returned. It's been 4 years in remission, so we are starting her on treatment for the Lymphoma. She's doing really good and the massages we give her she really loves.

John said...

I probably deserve to get flamed for this, but I think Weimaraners are ugly dogs. I think it's the funky-colored eyes and noses...

gerry said...

Methadras:
She survived Hemangia Sarcoma? Wow. We had a Shepherd/Beagle mix who was diagnosed with it. We made him as comfortable as possible, but it was metastatic when diagnosed. We had to put him down in about three weeks. Tink MUST be a tough girl!

The very best of luck in defeating it!

Oclarki said...

John, yes weimeraners are grody. Dogs should be black, white or brown, not some wierd funky pinkish grey. Also these people should have the entirety of their wealth confiscated.

vbspurs said...

Huh, whaddayaknow. Althouse has gone from obsessing over bats and squirrels, to obsessing over poodles.

Cheers,
Victoria

chickelit said...

Here is the word for poodle in six different languages. Can you guess the language?

I've left the articles off because that tends to be a give away.

Pudel
Poedel
Barboncino
Caniche
Pudl
Pudlica

Some words belong to more than one language.

Victoria needs a handicap for this game. :)

chickelit said...

I'll give you a hint: "Pudlica" is closely related what a dog in jail in the Hauge did.

vbspurs said...

Victoria needs a handicap for this game. :)

Heh. :)

I believe poodle is Dutch, originally, Chicken? I haven't Wiki'ed, yet.

chickelit said...

I believe poodle is Dutch, originally, Chicken? I haven't Wiki'ed, yet.

Thought to be from the German Pudelhund, in which we see silly cognate "puddle hound."

chickelit said...

There's gotta be some interesting history behind the word barboncino.

We could ask Garibaldi were he alive.

traditionalguy said...

Dogs and cats, and plants in the garden, all reconnect us to nature which restores us to a normal life. Thank God for the diverse and artistic job He did in the creation that he made for our enjoyment.

traditionalguy said...

The excellent photos of flowers, dogs and nature's landscape are a big part of the Althouse Blog's popularity.

Beth said...

Around our house, we give Pee Wee a daily beating. It's pretty much a massage, with a little vigorous whapping from stem to stern (since a dachschund's chest is called a keel, I figure the nautical terminology is apt.) One of us will call out, "Time for your daily beating!" and he comes running for it. God, dogs are suckers for attention.

vbspurs said...

Chicken, intrigued by you being intrigued by the Italian for poodle, I Wikipedia'ed barboncino. First I went to Poodle in English and then clicked on Italiano. To my amazement, this is what it read:

Il Barbone nano è una razza canina.

The miniature/midget/smaller Barbone is a canine breed.

I went, "huh".

Nothing about Barboncino, though it's easy to understand the root ending, and how it may have come to be a variant.

Now I love Italian, but somehow Barbone Nano doesn't have the same ring as Poodle.

vbspurs said...

Since we're still stuck on the same posts as this morning, allow me to faff on longer about poodles.

Did you know that poodles were snapped up in the Parisian Black Market, during the 1870 war versus Prussia? They commanded the highest prices for dogs, not to have as pets, but to eat.

Apparently, the poodle is the tenderest meat of all the pooches.

Yum.

Greybeard said...

I had a big Standard poodle...
Fantastic dog. Heart and personality of a hound, but smarter than most of my neighbors. In the heat of the summer he'd find water and lie in it at every chance, (ruining that expensive grooming job).
Pudel.

chickelit said...

Victoria: My mention of Garibaldi alludes to the Bourbon (barbone Kings, against whom Garibaldi fought to unify Italy. And what you mention about the Parisian poodle fits the context. The Italian word for "poodle" meaning "little french king" lol!

I once learned from an Italian that their curious word "Tedesco" derives from a shortening of the phrase ti destesto, meaning "I detest you" but I kid.
Funny anyways if you think about it historically. :)

chickelit said...

Did you know that poodles were snapped up in the Parisian Black Market, during the 1870 war versus Prussia? They commanded the highest prices for dogs, not to have as pets, but to eat.

After the Second World War, Berliners cut down nearly every tree in their beloved Tiergarten to use for firewood and cooking. It wasn't until the 1950's that they replanted what one finds there today. But I digress.

Irene said...

The Italian name for the dog, "Barbone Francese" means "Big Bearded Frenchie."

My Italian friends used to refer to my first red poodle as "Barbarossa," or "Red Beard." It's a joke only a medievalist would love.

chickelit said...

Irene wrote: The Italian name for the dog, "Barbone Francese" means "Big Bearded Frenchie

Madam: Your sources confuse the word origins of barbone and barbare. At least according to my sources. But it's a trifling matter really, not worth a dispute.

Irene said...

chickelit, I see! An even more interesting connection.

I just always drew on Frederick Barbarossa, and I assumed that the "-one" ending tagged on to something that was "big."

Methadras said...

gerry said...

Methadras:
She survived Hemangia Sarcoma? Wow. We had a Shepherd/Beagle mix who was diagnosed with it. We made him as comfortable as possible, but it was metastatic when diagnosed. We had to put him down in about three weeks. Tink MUST be a tough girl!

The very best of luck in defeating it!


Yes, she is a 13.5 year old boxer. She got it when she was 9.5. It blew out her spleen, so we had to have that removed. She underwent chemo and did fairly well with that. She's been in remission with that particular cancer ever since.

Yeah, she is a tough girl. She's exceeded her lifespan by 3.5 years with having one of the nastiest cancers a canine can get and now she has developed lymphoma and is undergoing treatment again and is doing well. She's tough man. She just doesn't want to go. It isn't her time.

vbspurs said...

Drat, I just saw Chicken's followup poodle tweet too late! But here I am.

Victoria: My mention of Garibaldi alludes to the Bourbon (barbone Kings, against whom Garibaldi fought to unify Italy.

Hmm. It may well be a corruption or perhaps a misreading, although your source is the proverbial horse's mouth (!), but it's not Barbone, it's Borbone.

Barbone, ahhh, yes, now I get it.

Silly of me not to have seen the derivation, as Barba is beard in Italian. Irene is right, too, because you can see the play on words the Italians were using for these fluffy dogs.

I once learned from an Italian that their curious word "Tedesco" derives from a shortening of the phrase ti destesto, meaning "I detest you" but I kid.

Hee hee. That's great!

Tedesco actually comes from the same root the Germans use for their language, Deutsch.

One of my profs told me once that it referred to a tribe who the Italians dealt with in Germany, as German/Germany goes by several different terms in each different European country. He explained that it had to do with the German tribe each nation dealt with primarily. Thus in French, they dealt with the alemanni, and today call Germany, Allemagne; the Finnish call Germany, Saskia, because they dealt with Saxons, etc.

Tedesco - ti detesto sure is funny though!