Who We Are

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Ask the Ao4 - X - Baths!

Woo, everypuppy! It's me - Dave! I sure hope Amber never gives me the look she gave our mom in that last picture on her post yesterday. Woo. Scary.

I don't know that I'd agree with Amber's strong words that she "hates" baths, because I'm not sure she's capable of hating anything. She's really the sweetest girl you'd ever want to meet. (Stormy is sweet, too, but in a very different way!) She sure doesn't care for them, though.

What I'm leading up to was another great question our very cute Beagle friends Jazz and Dixie sent in! They told us, "We hate baths as much as you guys do I think. We had another one today and were wondering if you have any advice for our mum on how she can make it more enjoyable for us. We don't mind the drying part as long as its with a towel and not the hair dryer!! But the bath is the worst!" Jazz & Dixie, you'd have to go a LONG way to top Amber in your reaction to baths! Could you hear her screaming in Japan? Probably our readers even farther away in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore could hear her sad, sad woos, if they knew when to listen. It was amazing! Having said that, I think Mom gives a great bath! It's one of the first things Mom and I did together after I was adopted!

I had her chronicle my bath from the other day on film for you, in hopes that it would help make the process more enjoyable for woo! Here's how me and my mom do it!

First, gather supplies!


Our very own shampoo and some nice, fluffy towels, still fresh with that Downey fabric softener freshness! Mmm! I love that smell! Mom forgot something, though.

Woo, there it is! See that purple thing? It's a Zoom Groom. Mom uses it VERY gently to help work the shampoo into my nice, thick fur. It's like a massage and feels GREAT! OK! What else?


Crocs for Mom's feety-feet! Not only comfy, but they protect her when I step on her feet. Mom's got a nice sock tan-line going, doesn't she? Woo. She was also sporting some quick-dry shorts and a cotton tee-shirt. Color coordinated by me, of course.

Here's the scene of the grime. (Amber made me say that!) Mom uses the shower because (1) the glass door contains us, so she doesn't have to worry about somepuppy jumping out of the tub and running off (one less stresser for her means she's more relaxed - so we are, too), (2) if she gives us a bath outside, there's no hot water! If she uses the warmest water comfortable to us, it helps encourage the shedding process to get it over with! and (3) there is a hand-held shower head, so she can rinse us easily!

Here I am, getting all wet!

Careful not to get water in my ears, Mom!

Sometimes, Mom uses one of the other jets on the shower head that do a massaging action. I like that a lot! To help with the soaping up, Mom usually dilutes my shampoo with water, so it spreads easier and so that she doesn't use too much. Then we rinse, rinse, rinse! It's important to rinse real well; any lingering shampoo can dry your skin out. Our shampoo has special moisturizers! I like to help the process by shaking as often as possible. It also cools Mom off real nice. I mentioned quick-dry shorts, right?

We start the toweling off in the shower. Do I look cute enough here?

Once you get out of the shower, it's important to stand in the middle of the room and give a real good SHAKE! Oh, sure, if your mom is anything like mine, she'll act like she doesn't want you to get hair and water all over the bathroom, but hey! What's a bathroom for!?!? Sometimes Mom is quick and she can stop me from shaking. Did you know that if your biped gently lifts one of your paws up off the floor, you can't shake? Totally unfair!

Here I am, after doing the shake-shake inside! Woo!

After we thoroughly saturate three towels or more, Mom puts my collar on me for a minute and leads me out to the sunny, windy deck! If she doesn't hold my collar the whole way there, I'll run off and do zoomies with Zim and rub all over the furniture and shake, shake, shake in the living room. She can usually avoid that. Here I am, shaking it outside!

Woo, that felt good!

As Stormy mentioned in her post the other day, we get a good deal of wind here! Today, for example, we're under a high wind advisory and are expecting wind gusts up over 50 mph. I don't want to say anything, but if there is anysibe who didn't get a bath the other day when Ammy and I did, today would be the perfect day! Woo. Mom basically uses the Kansas wind as our hair dryer! We play around on the deck to get dry, then do some fluffing and Mom uses the Zoom Groom again.

We do some more toweling off out there, too. Sun and the blast-furnace Kansas wind get me dry in probably less than an hour! If the sun is too hot, we move down to our lower deck, where there is lots of shade but still tons of wind. There is so much to see and hear and smell out there - I forget all about the bath/towel process! Mom usually brings the radio outside with us, so we can listen to stuff!

The whole process is pretty exhausting for me. I had to take a quick nap on top of Mom after a bit. When I woke up, she hooked me and Ammy up and took us for a walk, so we could keep drying!

Jazz and Dixie, I hope some of those tips will help your mom make your baths more enjoyable!

Luv,
Dave

20 comments:

  1. Sounds like a major hollywood production Dave...but you seem to do ok! I really don't like baths, but those are some great tips my mom will have to try.

    Lots of Licks, Ruby

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  2. We used to take baths in the shower, but we've gotten bigger and now Mom doesn't think there is enough room. Now we get the hose like we are livestock or something! However, we don't get baths too often anymore since I stopped digging.

    Kat

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  3. Hi Dave- Woo!

    I'm new and just had bath in the shower too. Call me 'Tofu' for short or 'Burger' for fun. Looks like you had a better time than I did.\

    Loves,
    YOur vegan delight
    Tofu

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  4. Anonymous3:01 PM

    Dave... what an excellent post today. However, I don't think that it made me anymore happy about baths than I am right now. I have had two in my 3 years of life, and I hated both of them! You, on the other hand, look like you are having a grand ol time! I love how you passed out on the deck with your mom!
    Hugs,
    Sitka

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  5. I pretty much follow all of the same rules that you do for a bath and I still don't like it! I don't have the Kansas breeze part! I think I might like that!

    Love ya lots,
    Maggie

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  6. That sounds like a spa Dave! I think I might like that purple zoom thing. We don't get baths often but I had to have one recently. I urped in my crate and got all smelly. Blech.
    ECHO

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  7. Wow Dave this was a great step by step post that we made mum read twice (just incase she missed anything the first time)Thank you, thank you! Mum says she hasn't seen the Zoom Groom here but will look for it in Oz this coming week. We love to be massaged by mum when she wearing rubber washing up gloves so we think this new grooming tool would be good for us too. We have told mum we need fluffier Downy scented towels too. She has been using old towels! Our bathroom is divided into a wet and dry room so we have asked mum if we can just stand on the bathroom floor instead of in the bath tub which is really deep! Anyway Dave thanks so much for this post - seeing you go smoothly through all those steps and seeming to enjoy it too we will try to enjoy our next bath too. We will let you know how it goes.
    Licks
    Jazz and Dixie

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  8. Looks like your humans do the bath thing pretty much like our do. Got to have lots of dog towels and stuff to clean the bathroom after the numerous shakes!! We bet no one would mess with Amber if they saw the face she made in the previous post! Very intimidating!! Belly Rubs, Tasha & Eva.

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  9. Wow, Dave! You actually make it seem not so bad to have a bath!!! And, I must say, you look pretty cute all wet! The sleepy pic is adorable!

    Holly

    ps. I borrowed a pic of Stormy for my post today! Hope that's ok. When you read it you will see why.
    Thanks!!

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  10. Dave - you look so adorable in those pics. Jeannie also likes your Ma's croc shoes, I bet they are cheaper to buy in the States, than they are here!

    Lovely pictures, can I come and have a bath next time you are being washed?

    love and licks, Marv xxxxxx

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  11. That bath doesn't sound so bad. Especially the drying off part!

    Dave, you are very handsome all squeeky clean!

    Penny

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  12. Wooooo!

    Ruby: I'm a good bath-taker. I think I make up for how Stormy, Am and Zim react. Woo.

    Kat: Our shower is about 36 x 36 maybe? Mom gets as wet as we do, but still likes it as a good way to contain us. And the shower head thingy.

    Tofu: Cute name for a cute little guy!

    Sitka: I get to have baths more often than the girls and Zim. Maybe twice a year? They get about one a year. Woo. We get lots of brushing, though.

    Maggie: The KS wind is like a blow dryer - only not as obtrusive. Stormy taught me that word. Woo.

    Echo: Sorry to hear you horka-ed.
    The Zoom Groom is like a little massage!

    Hi Jazz & Dixie! I hope that helped! If your mom can't find a Zoom Groom for you, I could look for one and mail it to you! You'd love them!

    Tasha & Eva: Yeah... even I back off when Amber makes that face! It's SCARY!

    Holly: Thank woo! I love to lay on top of my mom. Night or day, shade or sun. No place I'd rather be!
    Woooooooooooo, we LOVE your post with Stormy's picture!

    Marvin: Yeah! Come on over! It would be great! You'd love our sunny deck, too.
    Mom loves wearing Crocs! Dad even has a pair!

    Penny: Woo are very sweet!

    Luv,
    Dave

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  13. I must say that your bath certainly looked like a lot more fun than mine normally is. I don't suppose your mom would consider travelling all over the US giving baths to us canines?

    Kelsey

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  14. Kelsey: Hmm... I'll ask! She'd have to take our wind with her!

    Luv,
    Dave

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  15. I dry almost instantly, but Dakota takes days. Maybe we need to move to Kansas.

    Mom didn't know about picking up our foot - she always puts her hand on our back - it works sometimes. I think I won't tell her...

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  16. Cubby: Come on over! We have two guest rooms; you and Dakota can stay in them!
    Luv,
    Dave

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  17. Dave, your mom does baths the same way my Mama does with the shower, diluted shampoo and zoom groom (I love that thing!). She didn't know about lifting the leg up to avoid the shake though, good tip (too bad she's not allowed to read this so will never find out).
    Mama uses my zoom groom for regular brushings too, works great!

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  18. Poseidon: The Zoom Groom feels good, doesn't it!?
    My mom is pretty tricky sometimes - like with that "lifting the foot" thing. I don't know how she comes up with these things!
    Luv,
    Dave

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  19. Wow.....an indoor shower with warm water? hmmm.....think I'll try to talk my biped into that. She's got this shower with two seats in it so maybe she'd be willing to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes! Too bad you told her about the footlift, tho.
    Bryn

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  20. Oh Dave...you look divine from your shower. Our humom does ours the same way...but she just wears her bathing suit in the shower because we like to shake there before she can escape. :)

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