If there's water in the tub......

[Sofie, Maggie, and Luna]

......there's a doodle in the tub. Last night I finally had Luna in her crate eating her dinner and then sleeping. I wasn't feeling too good so I decided to take a bath and go to bed early. So I started the bath water and went in the other room to feed the cat. When I returned to the bathroom to check the water I found something in there that I wasn't expecting...a 60 pound Doodle. Miss Maggie had climbed in the tub and was standing in my warm bath water and drinking it. What a dork. She loves water and likes her baths, but I've never had her climb in like that before. Usually I fill the tub then say, "Get in Maggie" and she'll climb in. So...instead of a relaxing bath for me, Maggie got a nice warm bath and I didn't get to bed as early as I'd hoped. Oh well...anything for a happy Doodle.
She's such a good pup too, when she's done with her bath I can tell her, "front feet" and she'll hop her front feet on the edge of the tub so I can dry off her front feet, then I lay the towel down and say, "get out" and she'll hop out and stand so I can dry off her back feet, then "move" and she'll move so I can use the towel and put over her back and towel dry her a bit. Then.....I open the bathroom door and she goes nuts, running full speed through the house, rubbing on the side of the couch and the bed, rolling on the floor, sprinting up and down the hall shaking the whole while...it's hilarious how she can be so calm and well behaved inside the bathrooom and then just go nuts when she gets out.

On another note, we live in an apartment and have no yard so we have to walk our girls about a block away to use the bathroom in the grass. So, with two doodles this can take close to 20 minutes total if we take them each out separately. Maggie goes out about 3 times a day and Luna about 6...so this adds up to ALOT of time. So we started taking them out together...which is much easier than it would seem. Right now, I carry Luna, and walk Maggie out. Then I take Maggie off her leash and put Luna down still on her leash. Maggie will do her thing, and Luna will do hers. Then before picking it up...I call Maggie to me and tell her to "Sit and Hold". I clip Luna's leash to Maggie's collar and no matter how hard Luna pulls, Maggie won't budge. What a good girl. The trick to the whole ordeal is to make sure to take Maggie's leash off when Luna's clipped to her. If Maggie's leash is off, Luna can pull like crazy and Maggie won't move, but if Maggie's leash is still there, Luna will pick up Maggie's leash and start walking with the leash....and Maggie will follow!!!! They are so strange!! Then on the trip back to the house, I unclip Luna and hold her leash in the left hand and put Maggie back on her leash and hold it in the right and off we go...entertaining anyone who happens to drive by I'm sure. Maggie is great on a leash and I am hoping Luna will be as well, so someday I can walk all over town with my twin-like dorky doodles...one on each side of me. :)

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Harlow gets in our tub all the time... as long as there isn't water in it. =) The minute I start running water in the tub she runs and 'hides' in her crate.

[BetteB]

Haha! I really enjoyed reading about Maggie and Luna's escapades. Maggie is such a good girl! I'm impressed that she is so patient and well-behaved :) I can just see Luna "walking" Maggie -- how funny!

[Karen & Lucy]

Lucy is ALWAYS in the tub, B/C that is where she drinks her water. I was a bad mamma when she was a pup and left her drink from the tub spiket and now, almost 4 years later, that is the only place she will get a drink. I really feel for you having to take your doods that far to go potty and exercise. We live in the country and Lucy has the run of the place, I don't know how you do it!

[Nina]

Hi Sofie,

I wish my doodle would go in the tub. No way! She hates being bathed by me. I envy how good Luna is w/bathing. I had laugh when you described how she wipes her body on the furniture. When I give Sadie yogurt or cottage cheese on her kibble, I see her wipe her beard on my chair and couch. Her face height is exactly the height of where the cushions meet the frames. Oh my, lately I have stopped her and used a dish towel to wipe her beard. Maybe she can become as well trained as Luna is with getting dried out by you after her bath.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Timbow drinks bath water too! That is his favorite part. He doesn't mind the rest of the bath, but he doesn't like sitting still for too long. Maggie could teach him a thing or two about how to be patient and get out of the tub slowly. :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's so great that Maggie likes her bath this much....then again she's a girl. Guinness tolerates it, but certainly doesn't love it. He would never voluntarily hop in the tub....then again he's a boy and would much rather just be dirty. I'm thinking this is a pretty sexist conclusion I'm drawing here. I should probably not be stereotyping our Doodles. I live in a Condo community so I totally understand the potty issues. We only have one, so it is not nearly as complicated as it is for you. It sounds like Maggie and Luna are really well behaved.