aren’t going to leave them outside, are you?”
She looked skeptical. “Well, I don’t want to cause trouble.”
“You’re not causing trouble. Bring them inside.”
She searched my face and then opened the door and called the dogs. They pranced out, and we all marched into the house.
“They’re very well-behaved. They’re both completely housebroken and, after an entire weekend of shows, they’re worn out and will eat and sleep for days.” She turned to me. “However, I’m not sure about the little one. She isn’t really a puppy. She’s probably about two years old, but I suspect she’s spent the majority of her short life locked in a crate, pushing out litter after litter.”
I frowned. “That’s horrible.”
“Unfortunately, not all breeders are responsible dog owners. For some, these cute little things are merely a commodity to be used to generate cash.” She scratched the dog’s head.
“So, if she’s two, then she’s fully grown?”
Dixie nodded. “She’s a toy poodle. Poodles come in three sizes: toy, miniature and standard.” She scratched the small fluff ball behind the ear. “This is a toy. Toys are the smallest and shouldn’t be more than ten inches from the withers.”
“The withers?” I asked.
She smiled. “From the shoulder to the ground. Dogs between ten and seventeen inches are miniatures. Anything over seventeen inches is a standard.” She pointed to the other two dogs, which had eaten a large bowl of dog food and were now lying on the floor fast asleep. “Those are standards.”
“Is that the only difference between the three?”
Dixie nodded. “Yes. The breed standard or the guidelines are the same for all three. The only difference is the size. Some other breeds are differentiated by color or coat, but for poodles, it’s the size.”
“So, what are you going to do with her? It is a her, isn’t it?” I held her up and looked underneath.
She nodded. “Yep. It’s a female, and I’m looking for a good home for her.” She narrowed her eyes and looked at me. “You wouldn’t know anyone who is looking for a companion, by any chance?”
At that moment, the fluff ball sighed and laid her head on my shoulder. From that moment on, I knew this was my dog.
We spent the rest of the night talking and thinking up names for the new addition to my family. Dixie suggested I name her something that had meaning to me. I had always been a big mystery fan, so I settled on a registered name of Queen of the Cozy, call name Agatha. Although I intended to call her Aggie.
* * * *
The next morning, I woke up to barking, screaming, growling, and a few whimpers. I rushed downstairs and found Albert backed up against the front door. The whimpers were coming from him. The two standard poodles, which had seemed so docile and a bit ridiculous with their colored hair wrappings and ridiculous cuts, were lunging toward him with teeth bared. They emitted a rumbling growl that sounded ferocious. The barking came from Aggie, who had a hold on Albert’s pants leg and was shaking it with all her might, as though she was going to rip him to shreds if he dared move.
Dixie had the standards’ collars and was straining to keep them from taking Albert out and yelling at him to stop moving and stay still.
“What’s going on here?” I hurried to Dixie’s side.
“This lunatic just waltzed in the house, unannounced, and Chyna and Leia were protecting their territory.”
“Their territory? This is my house!” Albert’s voice had a bit of a tremor, but his eyes looked terrified. “Those ferocious beasts should be put down. They’re dangerous.”
“Keep talking like that, buttercup, and I might just lose my grip on their collars.” Dixie relaxed her grip on Chyna, and she lunged to within inches of Albert, who tried to climb the wall.
I bent down and picked up Aggie. “Actually, you have no right to just waltz in here unannounced. You lost that right when you decided to move out.”
Albert looked as though he wanted to argue, but with three dogs and two angry women glaring at him, he smartly kept his mouth shut.
“You want me to call the police or just let the poodles finish him off?” Dixie asked.
I thought about it for a moment and then decided he wasn’t worth it. “We’d better not. I like these dogs too much and wouldn’t want them to get sick eating rancid human flesh.”
Albert scowled at me, and I held out Aggie, who barked and would have leapt out of my arms to attack him if I hadn’t tightened my grip.
Albert held up his hands in surrender and whined, “Okay. Call off the attack.”
Dixie looked at me for confirmation. Then she said. “Platz.”
Both big dogs immediately stopped growling and lunging and lay down quietly. Despite their nonthreatening postures, they continued to stare at Albert.
Dixie connected the dogs’ leashes and stood with her arms folded across her chest.
“Well?” I stroked my scrappy little ankle-biter and joined the staring contingency.
Albert looked wary. His gaze darted back and forth from Chyna to Leia and then to Dixie and me.
“What do you want, Albert?”
“I came by to remind you about the party?”
I frowned. “What party?”
“I knew you’d forget.” He took a step forward.
Chyna and Leia remained in their sphinx-like positions, but their lips curled and both began a low, rumbling growl, which caused Albert to freeze, foot in midair. He looked at me helplessly.
I turned to Dixie. “Maybe you should take the dogs outside.”
Dixie never turned her head or broke her stare. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
She picked up the leashes. “Fuss.” Which sounded like Foos.
The dogs stood up by her side.
Albert stepped aside and she opened the front door and they headed outside.
Before she left, she turned, walked over to Albert. and said in a low, steady voice, “I have a gun and I can shoot the hind legs off a possum in the dark at six hundred feet. So, you better watch yourself.” She turned to me. “Holler if you need me.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing and nodded.
When she and the large poodles were gone, Albert breathed a sigh of relief. “That woman is crazy. She should be locked up, along with those vicious beasts she calls dogs.”
“What
