Dog Allergies, Itching and Bathing

Another dreary day here when I woke. Gray skies make me feel like climbing back into bed. I could have, but for the energy of Bo. After he gobbles up his breakfast he runs and runs. This usually done outside, but he insists on having a playmate with him. Oh, he can gain entry to the yard and the house. He has that screen door all figured out. I have thwarted his forays into the world by screwing 2 X 4's along the bottom of the fence.

Today, though, not even good natured Eddie would go out with him. Cujo is never interested in being anywhere near Bo, unless he thinks he can grab bite of his delicious puppy food. Sometimes Martha, the boy cat will succumb to puppy charms and go out to chase him. Toni Louise is always in bed until her master arises. So, this morning Bo chose to work off the energy provided by breakfast inside. 

This meant that the path he chose to run included the sofa and me. He ran up one side and around my neck, then down and back on the floor, around the chair of HeWho was still sleeping in blissful oblivion, under the table and back to me again. After 5 rounds I stopped counting. It was hard to sip hot coffee with all the activity, but he finally wore himself out and climbed into my lap for a nap.

He is becoming more affectionate and likes to have his tummy rubbed while he sleeps. He will even give me a kiss before exposing his underside for a gentle rub. After watching him annoy a grasshopper to death, then eat it, I am not too keen on those kisses. He still seeks me out at night to be put in his kennel for the long sleep. I can almost hear him sigh as he positions himself for sleep. I sleep well knowing he is where I put him until I wake.

By the time Bo settled this morning I had enough coffee flowing through my veins to eliminate going back to bed. Besides, the strange people with the disabled Bounder were here late last night removing their belongings. It is supposed to be towed out today. That will make me happy. I am tired of dealing with the people involved. Okay, I confess that I pushed that responsibility off on HeWho is outside more than I am. I am the delicate lady of the manor, after all. That should make anyone who knows me laugh.

There is a chill in the air. I am not ready to wear real shoes yet. I should have another month of flip flops yet. Since Eddie is still itching relentlessly because of grass allergies, I am willing to wear cold weather shoes if it will mean I can stop bathing him every other night. He is such a good natured dog, he doesn't complain even though the shampoo has to stay on him for 10 minutes. He stands quietly in the tub waiting to be rinsed. Toni is itching, too. Unlike Eddie, she is not at all well behaved. Her master is totally incompetent and I end up bathing her. 

Bo has been scratching, too. He doesn't have any patches of scaly skin and I tend to think he just mimics Eddie. But, to be on the safe side, I bathed him in the medicated shampoo the last time I bathed the other two. 

Why I thought it would be a good idea to tackle all three at once eludes me. It was NOT a good idea for me. I gathered and trapped them in the bathroom. Eddie did not protest at all when I placed him in the tub and proceeded to wet his fur. Toni Louise leapt in and out of the tub and I had not even touched her. I did Eddie first, thinking he could get the 10 minute wait done while I applied shampoo to the other two dogs. Let it be known that the shampoo was on Eddie for about 20 minutes. I decided to do Bo next, remembering how easy it was to bathe him the day he came to live here. He was so tiny and sweet then. He may still be tiny, but there was nothing sweet about soaping the little devil up. He fought me every step of the way. Once the shampoo went on he was slippery and hard to hold, as I tried to work the shampoo into his bristles. His is not longer puppy soft, it almost feels like you are petting a pig!  He bit me a couple of times, causing Eddie to stare at him in wide eyed wonder. Toni Louise was too busy clawing at the bathroom door in an effort to escape.

Finally I grabbed Toni and starting wetting her down. Her fur is hard to soak. It is like she has scotch guard applied to it. She is hard to hold with one hand while working the shower wand with the other. It did not help that HeWho came in the house and to the door of the bathroom to inquire about the activities going on. Once she heard his voice she broke free and jumped from the tub to the door and shook with all her might. I had to capture her again to soap her down, she shook that off as well as I yelled at HeWho to go away, she could sense that he was near and thought he would rescue her.

He did not go away. He kept talking, while his dog was leaping and shaking all over everything. "Want me to get some towels for you?" says the man I told to leave us alone. I had already gathered my towels. Five of them. Two each for Toni and Eddie and one for the little guy. But, wait, she knocked the stack to the floor and proceeded to rub her soapy body on them. Good thing I have a cabinet full of dog towels.

During all of this, my Charming Eddie waited patiently to be rinsed, then scooped up in a big towel to dry him off. In an attempt to "help" me, HeWho opened the door to take Eddie and the other two ran out with their not rinsed selves. As I rinsed Bo, after I wrangled him back to the tub, he chose to bite me rather hard. Hard enough to draw blood and earned himself a good thump to his nose. He was so surprised I was able to completely dry him before loosing him to deal with Miss Toni Louise.

Tonight is another bath night. I am more than happy to take care of Eddie. Bo is fake itching and HeWho can deal with his own dog! I am quite content to play solitaire on my phone for 10 minutes while Eddie soaks quietly. Cujo loves a good bath, but he is not itching and I don't want to make him itch by bathing him too often. He might do a little jealous whining in the background, but I am okay with that!

I am off to finish the band stand for the dwarf musicians and rebuild the well that will allow them to get drinking water from the tiny red bucket. The dwarfs have been in another garden for several years now and were looking tired and faded. I spruced them up this past weekend with some bright colors and painted the floor of the band stand. Yesterday I got the tin roof cut and painted it a happy blue. Tomorrow I will post pictures.