Fall 2026

W innie, Mollie and I had our hair done yesterday. The girls look gorgeous. Moi… Before I go there, a couple of columns ago I discussed the canine advice on the hats I wear. So much doggie wisdom that I will soon need a Mexican sombrero to hold it all. More than a few folks have mentioned that they have never seen me without a hat.Which may be because my fur babies and I go to the same groomer. Which is why, in this case, “hair of the dog” in the Oman household is not referring to a suitable alcoholic libation to assuage my misbegotten hair affair. I am, literally, talking about the beautiful hair of Winifred and Mollie, in contrast to the fleeting protein filaments lying prostrate on my head. My wife has cut my hair for many years. Long before Winifred and Mollie came into our lives. She has always groomed our previous pooches, and she is pretty darn good at it. Barbara has all the tools: grooming table, detachable blade clippers, trimmers, combs and brushes galore, she has straight shears, curved shears, thin- ning/blending shears. Winnie and Mollie get a full trim, warm bath with yummy hypoallergenic shampoo, blow dry and comb out. The girls look gorgeous. Then it’s my turn… which explains my affection for hats. Barbara attributes my follicle fias- co to the fact that Mollie and Winifred have considerably more hair to work with. Barb says it is nearly impossible creating a masterpiece out of my heady wasteland. Not true, I protest! My ears offer a magnificent furry forest to work with! The above notwithstanding, our obsession with the hair of man and beast brought to mind a couple of discerning observations: “My fashion philosophy is, if you’re not covered in dog hair, your life is empty.”—Elayne Boosler “My hair had grown out long and shaggy—not in that sexy- young-rock-star kind of way but in that time-to-take-Rover-to- the-groomer kind of way.”—Jim Butcher Which made me wonder if professional dog groomers ever have a bad hair day? I mean even the best dog groomers may have a hellacious hair of the dog morning followed by a dog grooming disaster. What do you say to the haughty French poodle who now looks like a Mexican hairless? And what about rookie groomers? Pet grooming schools have to practice on something. Stuffed animal toys can only get you so far. Most schools work with shelters, personal pets of staff and students, and offer public grooming services at reduced rates. And if things go bad, we can always tell our fur babies the same thing we tell ourselves: Relax, it will grow back! Until then we wear a hat. Perhaps we need to have little “it’ll- grow-back” hats for our pooches. As long as we are going down this hirsute rabbit hole, I wonder if dogs look at other dogs and wonder,“who did their coif ?” As the canine crowd cavorts off leash along Carmel Beach, I am sure a lot of pampered pooches eye the passing parade and sigh, “Wish I had curls like that. My hair is so straight and wiry…” And in today’s pet grooming world, anything is possible. Every year we have a thing in Carmel called “Poodle Day” OMG! Some of these dogs look like they’ve been groomed by Ronald McDonald. Then there is the upper end of the hair affair, where I bet any dog accompanying their human to a red- carpet event at Pebble Beach has spent more time at their grooming salon than their human did at theirs. Wouldn’t be surprised if in the near future we see a new trendy salon offer- ing a two-fer. You and your dog get luxury hair styling at the same place. Only one problem I can see. Would you share a kennel? Or would you each get a private crate with a blow drier stuck in the door? A screenwriter and best-selling golf humorist in a previous life, Mark Oman forsook his golf addiction and took up with Winifred, co-author of their screenplay, “Murder, Misfits and Mutts!” Mark and Winnie live in Carmel with four-legged little sister, Molly, and two-legged wife, Barbara. Contact Winifred (or Mark) at: mark@markoman.com . DOG TALES M A R K O M A N As the canine crowd cavor ts off leash along Carmel Beach, I am sure a lot of pampered pooches eye the pass- ing parade and sigh, “Wish I had curls like that. My hair is so straight and wiry…” Hair of the Dog 58 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 6