every time I go to town.

Boys keep kicking my dog around.
At the Westminster Kennel Club Show, the Dogs Aren't Doing the Growling

NEW YORK It's nearly show time and a couple dozen Pomeranians with fluffy tails and beady eyes are lined up on a bench, getting spritzed into cotton-candy poof balls. One woman is sculpting muzzle hairs with a toothbrush. Another is rubbing Pinaud men's hair tonic on her dog's backside. It like visiting the world's silliest spa.

"I remember watching a handler step on a miniature poodle, during the competition," says Mark Lasiter, who is applying some final touches to his Pomeranian on the first day of competition. "You don't see that too often, but it happens. And there's no way that was an accident."

At another event, according to another dog show regular, a Newfoundland was left alone for a few minutes and someone -- a rival owner, one presumes -- shaved the dog's head.