Tuesday, May 17, 2011

For the Love of Wet Dogs

Tonight was bath-night at our house.  No, not for me.  I take a shower each morning, thank you.  Tonight's spa treatment was reserved for our two dogs.

This event does not happen as often as it should, by my measure.  But I'll explain why.  Our dogs live indoors.  They visit the backyard a few times throughout the day, but since Luke has to be around The Man and me, and since Casper has to be in Luke's company, they do not stay outside very long.  If it were up to Casper, they would live outdoors.  It's not up to Casper, it's up to me.  I'm Alpha here.

Another reason the dogs do not get bathed very often ... the whole process wears me out.  Well, mainly Luke wears me out on bath night.

Here's how it usually goes:

  • I start preparing the bathroom; getting towels, dog shampoo, opening the shower curtain wide.  M'aiq comes in snooping around and purring, wondering what the big deal is.  The dogs catch wind that something is up and run to the bathroom, just up to the door, no further.  M'aiq makes a frantic run from all the ruckus.
  • Ophelia, from her vantage point on the bed, acts interested ... for a minute.  Then she goes back to napping
  • I call Luke first.  Since he is the biggest challenge, I like to get his bath over with first.  Of course, he comes, but only to the door.  Then Casper runs in, at which point Luke decides to join him.  I usher Casper out, and Luke rapidly follows before I can close the door behind him.  This goes on about ten times until I have to get Luke by the collar and lead him into the bathroom.  This happens every time.  I'll learn one day.
  • I fight Luke the entire time in the shower.  He is a mass of solid bulk and muscle.  No matter how many times I tell him "It's all right" and "Good Boy," my assurances are useless.  He is convinced that he will be killed in this process and resists accordingly
  • Finally he is done, and I dry him the best I can.  He's not very patient with this either.  I get him half-way toweled-off, at which point he breaks free and shakes water all over my bathroom.  A mountain of thick black and white hair is clogging the shower drain.
  • Casper's up next.  He comes with no dragging.  Luke has headed for the kitchen, the farthermost spot away from my bathroom.
  • Casper steps into the shower with just my telling him to.
  • He stands motionlessly while I bathe him.
  • He stands completely still while I dry him entirely
  • Casper free, both he and Luke run wildly all over the house.  Apparently the aftermath of the bathing is quite exhilarating, although they both acted as if they were going to the guillotine when entering the shower.    
They say when something has a bad scent that it smells like a wet dog.  Both of my dogs are wet now, and they smell wonderful.

Casper continuing to sit perfectly still while I shoot his photo


At this moment, Casper is lying by my desk licking himself dry(?)  Luke's hanging out with The Man in the living room, away from me and the imagined danger of an impending revisit to my bathroom.  Completely exhausted, I'll probably hit the hay early.
Luke refusing to sit, still too excited

2 comments:

  1. That sounds like what happens when I try to bathe mine too!
    I don't understand why they will willingly jump in a creek or a puddle for that matter but hate going into the tub for bath time.

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  2. That's a perfect observation. We have a bayou directly behind the house. One day both dogs jail-broke the backyard. Luke, of course, came back completely wet and muddy. Casper was dry and clean.

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