Lean N' Clean

Barley, a dog, is collarless and still visibly moist after a bath.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m always unnerved whenever I see Barley without her collar on, even when I’m the one who took it off to give her a bath. What I’ve further realized is that really any dog without a collar grabs my eye as it passes. It’s precisely akin to a shirtless Donald Duck: “Nudity is occurring, one should at least remain vigilant.” The generality of this effect impressed me recently when Barley and I encounters a tiny collarless dog, standing defiantly in our path. Even from a ten pound dog, standing around outdoors collarless is an undeniable a power move.

(The tiny dog was fine in the end, by the way. He had managed to back up out of his collar and freed himself from a yard tether. I was able to keep him in a standoff long enough for his owner to find us and retrieve him.)