Amber Worry

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November 30th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Amber Worry

My Dog's Taking A Bath

You've made a big splash. The dog's in the water. The level was a little higher than you wanted when you put him in the tub, but that got taken care of when he gave that wild, thrashing lurch, fell on his side in the tub and created a bathtub tidal wave that dumped a good gallon and a half over the side of the tub and onto the floor. You don't have the whole gallon and a half to mop up, though, because luckily about a quart and a half of it soaked your shirt and bra, and the rug you have rolled up under your knees is getting most of the rest of it.

Now's the time you realize you forgot, in all the excitement of the chase, to get out the dog's shampoo and set it on the tub ledge. It should be on the top shelf in the linen
closet.

So, grabbing hold of the side of the tub to push yourself up from the kneeling position that has already become grossly uncomfortable, you forget that you've got a desperate opportunist held captive inside the bathtub and he's quivering in anticipation of you moving just those few inches more that will give him enough clearance to make a break for it. He can't get out of the bathroom, but he's not thinking that far; he just wants out of the tub and the water. Once he accomplishes that he'll worry about the rest.

You know that if he jumps out of the tub you're going to have even more water to mop up later, so you toy with the idea of just using the shampoo that's in the tub. It probably
wouldn't hurt this once . . .

The bottle is almost empty. There's about enough left for two shampoos. So much for that.

You have only one realistic choice.

You pull the shower door closed and make a break for the linen closet. It's only three steps away . . . "Gimme Three Steps" plays in your head . . . great, now you've got an ear worm. The dog's shampoo isn't where you put it!

"MOOOOOM????"

"Did you move the dog stuff in the bathroom?"

"Under the sink?" You mutter under your breath as you turn to dig underneath the sink for what you need. The dog's almost got the shower door slid open, too, so you kick
back with one leg as you're on your knees, peering into the dark cabinet, sliding the shower door all the way closed again.

ARRROOOOOWOOOOWOOOOoooooooo

If you weren't so frustrated he'd be breaking your heart with that song.

Found it! And the conditioner. You pivot back around on your knees, on that soaking wet towel, giving yourself carpet burns on your knees, but with a towel, then scootch over to the tub.

When you slide the shower door open, you find yourself with an arm full of very wet, very frantic, very determined dog who nearly climbs right over your back to escape. After you've wrangled him back down into the tub, you turn the sprayer on, wait a little to adjust the temperature and start working the water in around his neck and up underneath his chin, then around his ears as you hold them folded over, one at a time, with your thumb so you don't spray water down in there.

Once you've got that part of him good and wet, it's time to practice your one handed shampoo opening and pouring technique.

Poor little guy. He's completely subdued now. You'd almost turn loose of him and get down to business, except that you can feel his muscles tense and quiver every few seconds, preparing for a chance to lunge, so you have to keep up the one handed shampoo application.

Once you've got him lathered up, it helps to use a rubber brush to work the lather all the way to the skin and remove some of the dead hair. That part feels pretty good, so you've got a much calmer dog on your hands for as long as that lasts. He's making some soft moaning noises now, so you know he's enjoying it. Shame it's time to rinse . . .

It takes awhile to do a thorough job of rinsing, but whenever you don't, his skin gets itchy and raw from soap irritation, so a good, long, thorough rinsing is imperative, even
though it brings back the whimpering and threats of howling.

Shampoo is rinsed out and now it's time for him to look pretty, so you work a light application of conditioner through his coat with the rubber brush and rinse it out. The conditioner also serves to make sure there's no shampoo left.

About the Author

Amber Contant is a featured adviser and author discussing the issues that all pet owning families will experience. Amber works with Pet-Super-Store. Visit her site for a great selection of pet doors.