“These knee-high wool dogs weren’t combed like modern pooches but sheared like sheep.”
Man’s Best Friend Once Made Nice Wool Blankets, Too
by Lesley Evans Ogden
October 9, 2020, New York Times
This appeared in an article about Tulalip people and other groups in the Pacific Northwest who were breeding dogs for wool in earlier times. One would expect that in an article about dogs the word “dog” would appear frequently. But in a desperate attempt to come up with a synonym and follow some obscure rule from journalism school, the author groped in the dark and found “pooch.” Don’t give in to such dark temptations. Rather use common sense. There is nothing wrong with the word “dog” in an article about dogs.