Help!!!
Bathing can be a relaxing, exquisite experience. There can be scented oils and beautiful candles in jewel coloured holders. There can be wine and soft music. There can be flowers. Sometimes the prospect of romance….
Or, and I say this from past experience, there can be mayhem.
I am about to encourage Ani to get a bath. This is no easy task. She is willing enough to get in.. but staying in is a different matter.
There was yoghurt. Was being the operative word here…The tub, however, was, quite inconveniently, slighter smaller than reasonable for the size of a small dog’s head. Now I know that yoghurt is good for the complexion, but I’m not altogether certain that this applies to the hair of the dog, so to speak. Particularly applied externally.
But heigh ho, she will shine and smell sweetly of herbs and her coat will be soft and silky.. well, softer and silkier than usual.
I am not a great believer in bathing dogs unless they need it. A good brushing is generally enough unless there is anything particularly noxious they find to roll in. However, it is, undoubtedly, good for the house.
Is this any way to treat your best friend?
There is a cautious watchfulness about the pair of us during the operation. Ani will watch for the slightest opportunity to leap nimbly and wetly out of the bath, I watch for her slightest twitch, poised, ready to pounce with a towel in the hopes of getting it over her back before she shakes. I generally lose and end up lugging a not so small and saturated dog back into the tub an indeterminate number of times.
By the time the small dog is cowering damply on whatever she is not supposed to sit on while wet, looking at me with great, accusing eyes after having chased around the house and garden for half an hour in rebellious glee, the bathroom will, of necessity, be sparkling clean. The flooded floor will be mopped and dried, the walls washed, the bath scrubbed and half the house will smell vaguely of disinfectant while the other exudes the unmistakable odour of damp dog.
If you have quite finished torturing me….?
By this time, of course, I will still be dripping and smelling more doggy than Ani. I have tried bathing her stripped to my underwear, but someone inevitably knocks on the door halfway through. I am, however, removing my one and only silk shirt before launching the attack.
I have also learned the hard way to close the doors to the nice, clean, freshly laundered beds…
I have considered stealth, bribery and hosepipes, but when all is said and done, we both know that she and the house will end up clean while I collapse in a soggy, malodourous heap in a little while, watching the clock for the time when there will be sufficient hot water for me to get a shower of my own. Meanwhile madam, glossy and looking as if she has spent hours having her fur crimped, will growl softly, will dry her fur on my sofa and take it out on the birds.
I may be gone some time….
We all know who won this round… 😉
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
And after the bath the bather giver gets the shower 😀
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I still have a few walls to wash first 🙂 One small dog can shake a long, long way…
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I love that first picture.
I remember bath time when my childhood dog would roll in the springtime alewives from the lake – oh the stench and the mayhem that would result!
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Oh yes… they always manage to find the worst stuff to play in… 🙂
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I think it both sweet and funny, you each try to outwit the other during this process and ultimately humor each other to completion ever alert to escape opportunities )
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I’m sure she’s related to Roadrunner… 😉
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I’m sorry Ani but you biped made me laugh at your distress. That aside, you’re so darn cute. 🙂
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Sighs… I’ll let her off. She compensated me with cheesey stuff 😉
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I’ve been bathing and brushing to beat the band since the early summer weeds died down into convenient sticks that get hauled into the house by Oakely – the front area is soon to be planted with every type of mint I can get my hands on – – next year, she can bathe herself by rolling in the front yard….
LOL
🙂
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Now that idea I LIKE 🙂
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I’ll let you know how it turns out! 🙂
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Could be a great insect
repellent too, you know 🙂
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Yes – I have each area plotted out as to what veggies will rotate through it for the next 5 years, companion plants, beneficial insects, insect repellants near house doors, cooling in summer, insulating during winter – – – My garden plans are 7 years in the making! I just kept adding stuff to the plan as I read and learned – now, just wishing for the day when each area’s infrastructure is done, so I can start planting! 🙂
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Sounds wonderful! My gardens just tend to grow organically, if you’ll pardon the pun. What seeds itself, or the odd cutting or shoot.. and it is constantly changing and evolving under its own steam. I love it 🙂
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Except for those things that aren’t too happy with the climate here and need extra help, I’m hoping that my garden area metamorphises into the same kind of ecosystem!
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It will if it is allowed 🙂
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🙂
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oh, the things we do for love
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.. oh yes. That and cheese, in Ani’s case 🙂
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I always enjoy reading about Ani. Our old golden lab was always a treat, she loved the water but didn’t like the tub, so we soaped her up and hosed her, much to her delight.
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If the English weather was warmer I would try the hose. She’s probably object though 🙂 Now, give her somewhere to paddle or swim and that is a completely different story 🙂
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I love your story. I have to chase Tink and Molly around the house before bath time. Cleaning up after takes twice as long as the bath!
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Then chase her with the comb too… 🙂
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Ani, you rascal. Give Sue a break. Take a nice, long, luxurious bath with lots of bubbles … and then a spot of tea. It’ll be all right …
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I did.. eventually… though I swapped the tea for a small glass of Burgundy 🙂 It seemed the right thing to do..
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Perfect! That’d be my choice. 🙂
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🙂
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hahahaha “noooooooooooOOoo I am soooo abused!” xox<3
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❤ xxx
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Cute!
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Oh yes.. and she knows it too 🙂
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