At the dog wash

Tonight we bathed the dog. It was a duo effort.

First we run the bathwater. I get it just perfect. (Cooler than I'd like it) I get in the tub and we try to coax the dog in. Then, I hold Mojo in place while he gets washed. It would go a ton better if we had a nozzle, but we don't. And Mojo is fairly cooperative. He just wants to jump out before he's done. He does like the water though. 

When we asked him if he wanted a bath, he was really excited. He knows. 

wet dog

After he was shampooed and rinsed, then it was time to dry Mojo. This is his favorite part. He LOVES being towel dried. He loves the attention and it's like a mini massage. He even likes being blow dried. (Just don't tell him it was a Chi ceramic blow dryer. It minimizes frizz and maximizes shine. Not the most manly of choices, but it's all we have.) He smiles the whole way through. It was a spa day for him and he adores being pampered.

Mojo gets his ears dried. Yes, there is dog fur all over the floor.

Mojo was happy. But maybe just because he got to run around naked (without his collar) for a while.

Bath time kitty?

Being a Manxy cat, Mr. Gunnar loves water. If I ever run a bath, he gallops into the bathroom and fluffs himself on the edge of the tub. He'll watch the water pour into the tub. If there are rubber ducks or bubbles in the tub, he'll paw at them. Sometimes he even tries to lap up the bath water.

He'll keep me company while I take a bath. And at times, it looks like he's really contemplating jumping in. He hasn't done it yet....

Tuesday Update

Mojo still smells like puppy shampoo after Sunday's bath. He smells great!

Katie is a silly kitty. She tried to take my spot in the bed last night. Seriously I had to kick her out of my spot TWICE last night. Also, she likes to get in Matt's lap when he's playing Modern Warfare 2 on XBox Live.

"She just made me die three times," he just screamed.

She's just trying to help.

What the Kids Have Been Up To

So this is what Mojo and Katie have been doing for the last week:

Last Monday, Mojo decided to barf all over the place. At 3 a.m. of course. Just at the right time to make mom and dad zombies all day at work. We have no idea what made him sick and he was fine afterwards.

Yesterday Mojo got SUPER muddy while playing at his friend's house. He got a bath when we got home. (It took forever to get the mud out of the tub). He was an angel during the bath. He's not so crazy about getting rinsed off but he does love getting towel dried. And I was even more surprised that he likes being blow dried. He stood there like a champ while I dried his fur with my pink Con-Air Ion Shine drier. Our groomer must love him, he's so sweet. And now he smells like puppy shampoo and has extra shiny fur.

Also, blow drying a dog is A LOT harder than blow drying your own hair. Especially when that dog is 60 pounds and especially furry.

Today Mojo decided to eat some poo while on a walk with dad. He got in trouble for that.

Katie's been sweet. She does like to attack the Christmas tree skirt. It has some tiny pom-poms on it and she's determined to detach them.

She also thinks it's cute to try and sit in daddy's lap while he's immersed in modern Warfare 2.

Lunch Break Mud Puddle

Usually my lunch breaks are spent at my desk eating leftover, half-surfing facebook and half working and answering phone calls.

Last Tuesday, however, I had to go home for Mojo. Matt usually takes care of the dog but couldn't that day, so I actually left the office.

I went to take Mojo on his normal lunch time walk. We passed his girlfriend's house and he drug me straight to her door. (He tries to get her to notice him so her person will let her out). He made such a fuss that she started barking and her owner came to the door (lunch in hand) and decided to let them play.

We went to his backyard and since it had recently monsooned I tried to steer the dogs away from the muddy parts of the yard. I yelled at them every time they ran through the mud because I didn't want Mojo tracking mud in the house. It was going well and it was about time to head home when Mojo headed to his favorite spot behind some flower bushes and plopped down on some pine straw and started chewing on some leaves. I went over to get the leaves/sticks/whatever he was eating out of his mouth, when I realized the pine straw he had flopped on was very thinly covering some very slimy red mud.

He had in essence plopped down stomach-first in a mud puddle to happily chew on sticks and leaves.

It was definitely time to leave so I clipped his leash (which was covered in mud) on and practically dragged him home. Only when we got to the house I didn't know what to do.

His paws were fairly muddy but when I reached down to his belly, I got a handful mud so I couldn't really let him inside. I sprinted inside long enough to grab some paper towels and then went back outside.

I considered hosing him off outside, but thought that would likely make a bigger mess. So instead I wiped his paws as clean as possible with the paper towels and led him upstairs to the bathroom.

He made a break for it when I went to close the bathroom door. I still had his leash on it, but he went running around the bedroom. When I caught him, he firmly planted his haunches on the ground and did not want to be led to the bathroom. He gave me a stubborn look and wouldn't budge.

I managed to pull his leash so hard his collar came off, so he made another break for it. I yelled at him and maybe he got the idea that we really weren't playing. He was trying to hide in his bed and he really had nowhere to go, so I reached down and picked him up. That totally surprised him.

I lugged him to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind us.

He just stared at the door willing it to open.

I ran some warm bath water. When it was the perfect temperature, I picked him up and after a struggle got him in the tub.

Once he was in, he just stood in the bath and smiled. He didn't fight at all. He just let me wash him. And since it was my lunch break, I didn't give him the full bath with his puppy shampoo, I just used water, a wash cloth and only cleaned his legs and belly—just where it was dirty.

When he was done I got out of the tub. I wanted to see what he would do and he just stayed standing the tub. I called him to come and he got out. He shook off and then got towel dried. (He really likes being towel dried).

After he got in the tub it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Maybe those two trips to the groomer helped, or maybe the water was fun?

We went downstairs and he got lots of treats and just smile, smiled until I left to go back to work.