Bath Time

Summer has arrived and one day tumbles into the next. Endless mowing and weeding and falling into bed to sleep a few hours. I tend to wake with the sun this time of year and then stay outside as long as there is enough light to garden.

Summer will be over soon enough and I will sleep longer when the short winter days come along. I am a better pet mom during the off season. I am with them more and I am better with the whole grooming thing. I try to bathe them all once a month. A marathon of soapy wet dogs and an achy back by the time I have accomplished all four. Martha, the boy cat, makes himself scarce when he sees me pull out the dog towels from the linen closet.

Not long go I decided that the canines were long over due. The dachshunds were smelling like hounds and Wall-E smelled like he had found a carcass to rub himself in. Toni Louise keeps herself clean and rarely smells unless she gets wet in the rain. She has the most fur, though and is the hardest to rinse. She is pretty good about the soaping down part, but she gets impatient to be done during the rinsing process. But, if I don't get all that shampoo out of her coat, she is apt to have itchy "hot spots".

For the reasons mentioned I chose to bathe her first. The hounds stood at the gate to the bedroom hall and were verbal about their desire to have a bath. They love a good bath. When Toni L and I emerged from the bathroom, me soaking wet and her wrapped in a towel, Wall-E slithered away on his belly to an unknown location. I guess he thinks if he stays low to the ground I won't see him.

Cujo and Charming Eddie both enjoyed the time in the tub and ditched the towels as soon as they could to run as fast as they could in figure 8's around the living room. Eddie started to shiver and picked up his towel in his teeth and brought it to me. He likes for me to hold him until he regains a semblance of dry and is no longer shivering. Taking advantage of a good excuse to sit down, I grabbed a dry towel and complied with his wishes.

I was still sitting there when HeWho chlorinates the pool came in. Eddie was sleeping against my chest and I just didn't have the heart to wake him to go bathe Wall-E. HeWho will help me bathe the canines from time to time by taking on the duties of drying them, offered to bathe Wall-E.

Wall-E does not enjoy the process of becoming clean any more that he likes to have his toenails clipped. He tolerates it because he knows better than to argue with me. I had to put Eddie down to help catch Wall-E and decided that I might need to offer assistance.

You would have thought my husband had never bathed a dog. He looked at me with his hands out and asked what to do next after I heaved the mutt into the tub. He informed me that he could not kneel on his bum knee and I informed him that I did not kneel, either. I bent over. With Wall-E, it is best to be in a position to lunge after him when he tries to escape. I half-heartedly offered to take over, but he insisted on finishing the task. You will recall that I had already done 3 of the 4 dogs.

So, I am telling you all of this so that you will understand why I am so upset with Wall-E. I am tired at the end of the day and want nothing more that to sit down and unwind for 30 minutes before taking on the night time ritual of getting Martha, the boy cat, settled outside for a night of hunting and the four dogs pee-pee ritual done before lifting them all into the bed.

Yesterday, I went into the kitchen to let the dogs out, as I do periodically all day. I have been known to stand at the door and watch them as they run through the yard and stop to take care of business. I was doing just that when I noticed Wall-E. Wall-E still squats to pee sometimes. It is only when he is feeling aggressive that he will hike his leg to perform this task of eliminating his waste. He hikes to mark territory.

Yesterday, as I looked on, his hind leg was hiked so high that his back end was twisted as if he had a hinge in his spine and he was PEEING ON MY EDDIE! Eddie was just standing there, minding his own business as the stream of urine hit his leg and then his foot. Poor Eddie looked around as he shook his paw, as if trying to find the source of this sudden soaking. He even looked at the sky!

I shrieked at Wall-E and told Eddie to move. Wall-E had the decency to look ashamed, but he did not escape my wrath. He slithered on the ground ..... in the pee, as I scolded him. Had to wash his belly and Eddie's side. I was not happy!