SQUARE DOGS Tokyo, Japan No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you—these doggie hairdos are for real. In certain parts of Asia it’s a trend for some groomers to snip the pooches’ furry faces into perfect squares or circles. Dog groomers create the stop-and-stare styles by first combing the animals’ hair out and away from their tiny faces. Then they trim the hair into the geometric shapes with a small pair of scissors. While both the square and circular haircuts are striking, professionals recommend the round ’do over the boxier version. “The cube look is interesting but impractical,” says Mami Hasegawa, a former dog groomer based in Tokyo. “Once the dog moves, the square edges lose their shape.” According to Hasegawa, the sphere hairdo is much easier to maintain. And it works especially well on certain breeds like fluffy bichon frises and shih tzus. But circle or square, these dogs definitely look fetching. —Sara Schwartz
12
FEBRUARY 2016
this is shaping up to be good lo a ok for me!
LUSIANA TJAHYONO,THE LOVELY PETS GROOMING SALON (BIG PICTURE, BOTTOM CENTER DOG); REUTERS / PICHI CHUANG (BOTTOM LEFT DOG, BOTTOM RIGHT DOG); MEHGAN MURPHY, SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL ZOO (WALNUT, CHRIS CROWE INSET); © TONY HEALD / MINDEN PICTURES (HIPPO); CATERS NEWS AGENCY (HIPPO AND WILDEBEEST)