After a weekend out of town (me) and/or in a boarding kennel (Sophie and Rufus), we were pretty tuckered out. I managed to get some writing done yesterday and submitted it while the dogs just slept. Rufus showed some interest in the ball around 2pm but quickly decided he needed a nap. Even the usual pre-dinner goofiness was notably absent. I had to wake the dogs up to eat dinner. I can’t believe I just typed that. I don’t know what dog-topia did with my dogs, like send them out on a pre-iditarod race perhaps, but there are no complaints on my end.
Rufus has been a little scratchy since coming home. I used the Malacetic to clean out his ears yesterday. It got a little bit of gunk – it’s an ongoing issue with him – but there wasn’t too much. And let me say this again about his energy level: usually he runs away from me and into his crate when he smells the ear medicine. But yesterday I put two soaked cotton balls into each of his ears figuring he’d shake them out like he’s supposed to. He just lay back down on the dog bed (not having run away anywhere) with two cotton balls in his ears. A tired dog is a very, very good dog.
This morning had the usual amount of energy so we were back to normal. Rufus still scratched his neck area so a bath was in order. He still smelled like the kennel anyway: a combination of dog pee and antiseptic. I had planned to take him to U-Shampooch, the self-service dog bath business nearby that has warm water and strawberry scented shampoo, along with some good tethers to keep the dogs in the bathing area. Sophie thinks it’s a CIA interrogation spot but whatever. If that place isn’t good enough then she gets a backyard hose bath after swimming in a lake at Chatfield or rolling in mud at Elk Meadows.
Rufus tolerated/enjoyed baths as a puppy so I figured since he’s Sophie’s opposite in so many ways, he’d be fine at U-Shampooch. We swung around to the vet first to get him weighed. 71.3 pounds. I thought he’d be more since he looks bigger but I’m fine with his grown slowing down. I don’t need a 90 pound dog with an attitude problem right now.
We managed to choose the one day when U-Shampooch would be getting new hot water heaters installed, so sadly that was a no-go. The bathtub at home would have to suffice. I don’t have a hose attachment but I’d just have a stream of warm water that I could pour on Rufus. But first I had to get him into the bathtub.
Oh man, he hated it. I don’t know why but he was not having it. I only washed the top half of him as well. He jumped out of the bathtub and made a complete mess. Water, dirt/mud, and hair was everywhere. Since he still had soap on him I needed to rinse him off, so back in the bathtub he went. Ever pick up a reluctant and soapy 70 pound dog? It’s not as easy as it sounds.
Got the brat rinsed and let him run around outside while I cleaned up the massive mess we created.
Rufus’ overall enjoyment falls somewhere between these two:
The Rufus Files 