Sparky, as in spark plug, perhaps

The Muttropolitan Diarist has a special fondness for mutts that look like purebreds who have been in a terrible accident. Sparky is a Golden Retriever-Basset Hound mix but looks an awful lot like a Golden who has undergone a leg-ectomy. Before he briefly consented to pose, Sparky would not, would not stop barking at a neatly coiffed black Standard Poodle passing by. The owner explained Sparky generally doesn't have a problem with his fellow canines but "he hates that dog. When I saw that poodle had gotten a new haircut, I thought maybe Sparky wouldn't recognize him but, no, he's still barking." Sparky's owner wasn't remotely interested in the M.D.'s mundane observation that dogs tend to recognize each other based on scent rather than hairdo. "He can't stand him," she said, as she and Sparky headed east.