Nicks, Stephanie Price’s standard poodle, in this month’s color, pink 2.

“Are the DT’s finally setting in?” I mumble to my friend Carlos, “or did you see what I saw?”

It’s this giant…pink…poodle, walking along the avenue. We’re frozen, mid-mug, unable to continue with our morning coffee. A large, curly-haired, pink poodle. She’s prancing along next to this cool gal who’s walking her like they were on the Champs-Elysées.

“Excuse me,” I say to Carlos. “This I’ve got to investigate.”

Takes me a block to catch them at the lights. Stephanie and her dog. “She’s a standard poodle, 40 pounds,” Stephanie says. “‘Nicks.’ I named her after Stevie Nicks” — of Fleetwood Mac and a zillion of her own hits. “I’m a second-generation groomer, following my mom. I moved out to California seven years ago. Most of my clients here are going to be dogs and cats that need haircuts, although I have quite a few clients that just come in for nail trims.”

But what about this, uh, pink coloring?  “It was just a new product on the market and I wanted to try it. From time to time, I have clients who ask me about dyes and temporary dyes, and I took a first step which was just her ears and tail, for color. But because this was a color-depositing shampoo, I was able to dye her completely, without taking nine hours like usual. It was a pretty cool product.” And she says, a new generation of doggie-dyes is safe. “They’re non-toxic products, professional grade. I don’t use any hair products on animals, I also don’t lighten their hair. ”

But the entire dog? Pink? Isn’t that, at the least, exploitation of dumb animals, or cruelty, or something? “The entire dog being pink is definitely new, but nothing cruel. Nicks appreciates it. She loves the attention! She’s a show-off.” How long will it last? “It takes a few washes, but it will wash out. And we will be changing her, because I do try to keep up with the seasons. So we start at the beginning of the year, around February, usually something pink for Valentine’s Day, and then Fourth of July, she’s red, white and blue, and then we go into the winter months. So right now, we’re washing off this pink look and, well, stay tuned for next month! Actually, we’ll be going for a cool Halloween look. I’ll be doing her tail and ears orange, like a pumpkin, and for her body, I’m hoping to hand-paint what’s going to look like a spider web. Trust me, Nicks loves attention. She is very affectionate. I wouldn’t do this to a dog if it was shy or reactive. Nicks is absolutely up to the challenge. She always wants to go love the people who stop and look.”

Any takers among her pooch-owning customers? “Well, I’ve had a few people say, ‘Come Christmas, I’d like some Christmas colors in my dog’s ears, for photographs.’ And over the years, I’ve had some pretty big sports fans, asking for their football colors on their dogs.”

I settle back down to my coffee with Carlos. “Pink poodles,” he mumbles. “What next? A pink panther?”