Bath time play time

Rugger has really bonded and he tries
his best to be helpful. If I'm pulling
weeds, he grabs them in his mouth or
paws at the ground to dig them up.

Rugger reeks. I'm not sure where the smell is coming from, if it's his skin or his ears, but he stinks bad again. He's on a steady diet of a limited ingredient food now and he has put on weight and his coat looks good. But he hasn't really grown the undercoat that is typical of shepherds, and he still smells. I bathed him when I first got him but I don't think I've done so since, but Friday was the day.

I didn't manage to get any pictures of him up on the wash
station because it took both hands to keep him up there.

It was certainly warm enough that neither of us much minded the cold well water. I got Rugger up onto my dog wash station and tethered him with a three point restraint. That's generally enough to keep most dogs fairly stationary to facilitate the bath, but not Rugger. He doesn't really mind the water, but he wants to play with it as it comes out of the hose and that makes it difficult to wash the dog. He thinks it's a game. I actually have to put him up when I'm watering the garden because he keeps making a grab for the water and ends up getting into the plants.

I finally managed to get him soaked down and soaped up with the medicated shampoo. Then I just turned him loose for about 10 minutes. While the shampoo was working, Rugger played with the hose and I took pictures.

As I was rinsing him off I discovered a lot of crusty crud on his belly, which tells me that his skin problem isn't resolved yet and we probably need to make another trip to the vet next week.

After the shampoo was applied I turned him loose and let
it work on his skin while he played with the hose.

The maniacal look on his face is just an attempt
to grab the stream of water.

The only other dog I've had who was this crazy about
a stream of water is Summer, now known as Eva.
That dog loves the water.