Mid-winter baths

Nothing smells quite like a big, wet dog, but even before the recent deluge several of our pack have been smelling pretty gamey. Sparky and Maya have been needing it bad and I was determined to get them cleaned up today. 

I started with Maya but just kept going with Sparky, Jackie, Vince, and even Lenny. I left the big shepherd boys, Theo, Trooper, and Max to a warmer and drier day, as well as TJ the husky. That's just too much hair to get dry indoors on a wet day.

I started with Maya and she was good about it and only really objected when I washed out her ears with the spray nozzle. She even had her tail up throughout most of it. I washed her thoroughly at least twice. I've noticed that after I pet or scratch her, my fingers are a bit oily as well as smelly. She really needed a good bath and she got one. I use Dawn dishwashing soap; it's really great on dirty dogs.

I'm not sure why Sparky has been smelling so bad, but he does. All his wounds have healed up nicely, but he may have still had some gunk on him that needed to be washed off. He shed a LOT of his short coat in the bath, so he must be growing a new one that will make him nice and shiny again. Sparky was probably in the tub the longest today, but he will let me do pretty much anything to h im now because he knows I'm only trying to help. Sparky trusts me.

I thought Jackie might need a bath because I've seen some old, reddish fur on her that I think is the last of her old dead coat coming off. She was pretty cooperative too and it didn't take long to get her cleaned up. 

I'm not sure how long it's been since Vince had a bath. I don't think he ever got one last summer. Vince has been smelling bad too, although I haven't been sure if it's from his coat or his teeth. I'll find out in the next few days as he comes to lay under my desk while I'm working. 

I can't say that Vince was thrilled about it, but he didn't bite me. I decided not to press my luck so I gave his ears a pass. 

I had to put a leash on Lenny to get him to the bathroom and I had to lift him into the tub and then put each leg back in as he tried to climb out. I pretty much had to pin him against the side of the tub to accomplish the washing, but fortunately he wasn't very dirty and his coat isn't thick. I only did one wash and rinse so he was in and out of the tub in the shortest time of any of them. 

Maya was chewing on something laying on a bed under my desk this evening. Lenny came over
and snuggled up against her. She is clearly his security blanket.