DEAR POODLE: I have a thick black coat that is very shiny and I would like to wear a collar that emphasizes it. I have tried many different colours of collars and they tend to get “lost” in my coat.

What would you recommend? – EBONY

In your case, the choice of colour is even more important. Since you have a monochromatic coat, you must take care to wear something that emphasizes it but that does not stand completely apart from it.

You haven’t told me the colour of your eyes, but I am assuming that, like most Dogs with black coats, your eyes are brown. If they are blue, even more care will have to be taken in the selection of a colour for your collar.

My suggestion is to stay away from bright colours. Many Dogs believe that since bright colours provide a contrast to their coats, they are the most suitable. This is most emphatically wrong.

Some Dogs can get away with wearing a white collar (believe it or not) but, since we are heading toward the Winter season, this is not recommended. Try to avoid browny tones unless you find that they pick up on your eyes. Greens can be a mistake, as can blues. But you’d be surprised how well silver or a nice, soft black can emphasize your coat and outline your neck.

Ask a Poodle is a regular feature of The Mammlian Daily and The Mammalian Daily online. If you have a question for the Poodle, please e-mail it to her at askapoodle@mammaliandaily.com. We regret that the Poodle cannot send responses directly to you.

DEAR POODLE: The last few weeks, I have noticed a strange quality among many of the Animals whom I’ve met on my postprandial perambulations about The Park. Their whiskers appear to be sparkling, in a rather unnatural way. My offspring call me “old-fashioned,” but I don’t understand why one would want to accentuate one’s whiskers in this manner.

DEAR POODLE: I come from a long line of award-winning Poodles. Both my mother and father were champions – in fact, they met on the show circuit and have been together ever since. My five littermates and I are all interested in following in our parents’ footsteps, but we’ve been told that we have no chance of winning because we all have black coats. They say that black is out and pink is in. We are so disappointed. Should we dye our coats to suit this current trend or should we continue to compete, au naturel? – BLACK AND BLUE

DEAR POODLE: Now that mating season is upon us, I was hoping that you could offer some tips to those of us who are not so season-savvy. – HOPEFUL

DEAR HOPEFUL: This is a subject about which it is extremely difficult to generalize, since mating habits, preferences, and timing differ so greatly from species to species – not to mention from female to male, and from individual to individual.

That old adage, for instance, about the Goose and the Gander…well, that hasn’t held true for generations – yet it’s the first thing out of everyone’s mouth at this time of year. Some Geese can attract a mate with a honk and a wink, if you know what I mean – and then there are those who must work harder. Other species find they are at their best in a group situation, whereas I, for one, like to stay far from the mating crowd.

Some females I know go for looks as well as scent but, statistically, that’s still a rarity. Where I come from, we have a saying: “La nuit, tous les chats sont gris.” That translates as, “At night, all cats are grey.” Which means, of course, that if you’re trying to attract someone for the sake of perpetuating the species, you’d darned well better roll around something a little more persuasive than a mirror. Bonne chance à tous!

Ask a Poodle is a regular feature of The Mammlian Daily and The Mammalian Daily online. If you have a question for the Poodle, please e-mail it to her at askapoodle@mammaliandaily.com. We regret that the Poodle cannot send responses directly to you.