Tubby Time

Today was bath day at Blue Line Farm.  The human inhabitants shower every day. Hopefully, that would go without saying. Not so the animal population. It is hard to get Jake from one room to another, no less carry him into the tub.  But he was long overdue. Bailey has other issues. He could jump into the tub if he wanted to, but the truth is, he doesn't want to. Anything other than walking or running is, in Bailey's mind, a scary and unnecessary activity. He is simply not interested.  Daphne had a bath yesterday, and that is a whole different ballgame. She loves her tubby. She revels in it.  It is, just as any woman knows, almost a religious experience. Sinking down into the warm, soapy water. Just closing your eyes and enjoying the healing heat on your tired, achy muscles.  That was yesterday. Today we chose Bailey first, hoping to jump on the element of surprise. Once we got him into the bathroom, he began to shiver. Not from temperature, but from fear.  We had prepared the tub with a mat on the bottom, so as not to scratch the surface permanently. The water was running with a nice warm and gentle spritz. Jerry lifted him into the tub, and he settled down quite nicely. Not scrambling to get out, as I suspected he would. He stood quietly whhile we hosed him down and lathered him up. We use a nice "tear-free" shampoo made specifically for dogs.  The lather and massage was something that he was enjoying, and we were able to get him done rather quickly. The drying was also a lovely rub-down that he completely enjoyed. One down-one to go.  Jake was coaxed into the bathroom but wasn't quite feeling the experience. Jerry lifted him too-not an easy task, but he went quietly. As soon as the warm water hit, you could almost see him sigh.  As a fellow arthritis sufferer, I could feel his relief. He was loving every minute of this bath. The lather and massage were glorious-I could tell he was in his finest moment. We kept him in an extra few minutes-it was worth it to see him enjoy himself so much.  I think we need to be bathing him more often.  We dried him off and again, that rubdown with a plush thick towel was perfect-he clearly enjoyed himself. I laid a fresh towel down on his bed so he wouldn't get that all wet and have to lay on it all night, but he chose instead to lay down on the rug. I guess he didn't want to mess up his bed AT ALL. I know how all of them feel-there is nothing like a tubby. Here are a few pictures of our CLEAN dogs.  They are ready for their closeups!  Now that the tub has been cleaned and bleached, I may just take that on tonight.  A warm and lathered tubby with a beautiful view out the back window.  Sounds like a plan!