Frog Dog

Finally inside PetSmart for the first time ever, I take in the vastness of the store; aisle upon aisle of food and collars and bowls and toys; the “end caps” display grooming supplies, training videos, travel crates and other pet essentials.   The sales floor is loaded with sales associates in blue polo shirts – seemingly one for each customer in the store.  A thirty-foot wall of glass on the left side of the store separates us from a half-dozen motley-looking dogs that run and play in a small indoor “dog-park.”   Is this doggie day care or some sort of boarding operation?  Maybe it’s like the “ball room” at IKEA where parents bring their young ones to play.   I watch for a few minutes as all the dogs shift their focus to another employee in a blue polo shirt who enters the enclosure with toys and treats.  Moving to the opposite side of the store, we approach a row of windows affording a view into a grooming parlor.   Doggie beauticians in salon smocks work beside high-top grooming tables where each dog stands tethered by its lead to an overhead hook.  We watch for several minutes as the groomers bathe a Cocker Spaniel, brush a Bichon, and clip a Standard Poodle into a canine topiary.

On a shelf nearby we examine the seams and straps of a few airline-approved travel bags, and then look at collapsible crates with faux-lambswool liners.  A few aisles over, Richard places a furry toy fox with a squeaker in our basket and I reach for a rubber chew toy.  I add a bottle of enzyme cleaner and Richard picks up a small gray fleece dog bed.  While I’m studying the wall of leashes and harnesses, Richard wanders over to the nearby 75% off apparel rack.  I flash on an image of a tasteful cable knit sweater or a knockoff Burberry raincoat, but laugh out loud when Richard returns a moment later with a leftover Chihuahua-sized Halloween costume – a shiny, spotted green frog with bulging orange eyes and floppy legs.  It’s tacky and hilarious – and 75% off.  At less than four dollars, how can we resist?  Into the shopping basket it goes.  If I hadn’t imagined we’d one day own a dog that wore clothing, I certainly never guessed we’d own one that we’d dress up like a frog.