Well, enough was enough with these little doggies. I was hell bent on giving them baths.
The funny thing that occurred to me while I was in the process of the giving them a bath is that there is a specific ritual/reaction/routine that each dog exhibits. It can really be broken down into three stages.
Pre-Bath/Bath/Post-Bath
Roy, the older dog, doesn't see the bath coming. He ends up in the tub and doesn't seem to mind the bath much except, "DON'T even come close to trying to wash my mouth area because I will BITE YOU!" This dog being almost 100 years old in human years (that's 14 years old in dog years) is all the time cranky and unfortunately his little mouth is painful to the touch. Then he emerges from the bath looking like a drowned rat. He then proceeds to run to the first available carpeted area of our house and rub his face against the carpet as if to say, "It burns. It burns. It burns. Why? WHY? Why does she have to use the water and the soap on me? IT BURNS."
Scoti smells the idea coming from the first time I think it in my head. I grab for the soap. Then I call for him and he's underneath my MIL's bed almost impossible to reach. I've wised to this so I hunt him down and he goes first in dog bath mania. After securing him by means of brut force, I proceed to the bathtub and use the shower curtain liner as a mock wall on the left and shove the other half of my body against the right shower wall edge. The water has already been turned on (this comes before I try to locate the dog) because I have to use one hand for the shower head and the other to keep the dog in the tub. I've moved to turn the shower on after putting the dog in the tub but that ends up with the dog exiting the tub. Not good. Anyway, after fighting with the dog in the tub, he gets washed. After drying him off, Scoti proceeds to run around the house like a psychotic loon. Up and down the hallway. Around all pieces of furniture. It likes the shower gives him a burst of energy only a psychotic break can give one.
Lastly, they beg me, BEG ME to go outside. I try to hold them off as long as possible but succumb to their need to get dirty again. "I CAN'T stand to be clean. I must get dirty. NOW. NOW. NOOOOWWWW."
It tires them out so much they then take a nap. I mean if you had the traumatic experience of taking a bath once every two weeks, I'm sure you'd display these same reactions.
