Foster spa day

Our foster dogs were both in need of a good bath. Leroy, the bloodhound, didn't really look dirty but Clay said he still had shelter smell on him. I'm pretty well inured to dog smells but I don't doubt that he smelled that way to other people. Lexie's need for a bath was obvious from looking at her. Her coat was dull, dry, and coarse, and also rather sparse. A bath wasn't going to cure all of that, but it wouldn't hurt either.

I started with the hound and he hopped up onto my washing station with just a little coaxing. I secured him and started in with the water and he didn't hate it. On a day like this it had to feel pretty refreshing. I didn't even mind the splashing and the shaking. Leroy was really pretty good about it, all things considered. And I was wrong about him not appearing dirty. Once he was clean I realized how dirty he had been. His coat is much more colorful now, deep mahogany red, fading to brown, and dark black over his back. He shines now and he was very full of himself when it was done. I brought him inside after he was at least partially dried, but he was so obnoxious bothering the other dogs and talking about his experience that I had to put him back outside so I could get back to work. 

Lexie also hopped up onto the platform for me and was good throughout the bath. She was under the hose for a longer time because she had some real dirt that needed to be removed. I lathered her up really good and spent a long time rinsing it all off. After she was mostly dry I gave her a good brushing. The bath had loosened her old undercoat and it was ready to come off. She really enjoyed the brushing, I can only imagine how good it must have felt for her. Her coat is even more sparse now, but I'm pumping a lot of nutrition into her so she can grow a new one and put on some weight for herself, not just the pups. 

I also tried putting Lexie and Leroy together today for the first time. They were just fine as I thought they would be. They spent their joint time together in Leroy's part of Daneland so he didn't have the opportunity to go into the shed where her puppies were. When Lexie and I went back to the puppies later, she actually went in and sat down with them for a while to let them nurse. That's the first time I've seen her do that. They are eating a good amount of solid food now so I'm not sure how much they really need to nurse anyway. 

Those big eyes.

I needed the three point restraint system for Leroy, but he didn't really fight it.

Here he is telling Lexie all about the experience through the fence.

I used a lot of soap on her. She was dirty.

It was hot enough that I didn't mind getting wet when she did her shake.

She even let me wash most of her face.

I think she looks more like a border collie now that she's clean.

Still has a rather husky-like face though. With her mix, and whatever

the dad brought to the table, the puppies should be 100% mutt.

The sun came out again so I could get a picture to show his shine.

And here's a couple of obligatory daily puppy pictures. 

They eat the most at the first meal of the day. The Dane puppies did this too now that

I'm remembering. The second meal I gave them a bit less and they cleaned it up too.

I'll probably do just one more meal for them this evening. Momma is getting three formal meals

and I leave a bowl of food with her at night. It's gone by morning.

They are definitely some chunky puppies.