First grooming

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hi there,

I need some advise.  Koda will be 6 months old next week and she is going for her first professional groom.  Should we get her hair cut short?

[Stacy]

I feel as if somehow your dogs are just less... doggy than mine. One night I got home from work and Willow had an accident in her crate. It was 11:30 pm. I was not taking pee dog to bed with me. And I couldn't just leave her all stinky and gross in her crate. In the tub you go. Trust me, it wasn't my idea of a good time. I've also given mud dog a bath a few times. I suppose that was preventable, if I didn't let them off leash, but it almost seems easier to just wash them than to stand around in the rain trying to convince them to potty on leash. Maggie doesn't want to. Willow will, but she sure thinks about it for a long time. 

I also feel like whenever something really gross happens it's in the middle of the night. And the groomers all make appointments a couple weeks out. So the best I could do would be a self service dog bath anyway. 

I wouldn't mind washing and drying if I had a better setup. But since I don't, I'm jealous that you don't bathe your own dogs. Being on my hands and knees on the tile floor isn't my favorite activity.

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

I certainly do groom and bathe my own.  My daughter normally gives Koda a bath and I do my dog Khole.  But with two dogs it will be too much for me so I'm taking them both to the groomers.   I've had to "spot" wash Koda a few times as well.  I don't like stinky smell either.  She peed once in her crate this last stay.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Maybe that's why I tend to do things on my own... I get it from my mom.

My mom trims her own hedges (I really wish she would stop, she's about your age Karen lol... the hedges are a good 20 ft high), does minor plumbing jobs and she groomed our Bichon her whole life...among many other things.  She calls in a professional when necessary, especially since my dad does NOT DIY, except for pool maintenance, but she often tries to do it herself.

DH and I both do lots of stuff ourselves around the house, it's pretty rare we call someone in... only when necessary like if it involves natural gas or fancy electrical work :p 

[Stacy]

I like to do it myself too. Mostly because I don't want to pay someone else to do it if there's any chance I can manage. Last week I put together a whole lifetime storage box myself. It was 6x4x3 and the directions said it needed 3 people, but it was just me. Turns out I can pick up a nut off the ground with my toes while balancing a shed lid on my head. I told my mom that was going to be my pageant talent.

I put it together in the garage and then of course realized it wouldn't fit through the yard gate. I did have to have some help to lift it over the 6 foot fence. My dad would help, but it drives me crazy to watch him study the directions for 3 hours when I just want to start putting things together. 

I make messes quite often, but when things work out it feels so good. You could give me a second job building IKEA furniture. It's one of my favorite things.

I won't be trimming 20 foot hedges though. There is a very limited amount of climbing on ladders I will do. (I'll go like 2 rungs up) but that's not an age thing. That's a life thing.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I want to live near you, Stacy. You sound so fun. 

[Stacy]

Oh, and I had forgotten about Katie and the possum poop rolling incident. You bathe a dog really quickly after they roll in that. It was beyond disgusting!

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Yucky.  My daughter says that Koda is no problem to bathe.   But I feel up to it.  Not feeling the best and I'm tired. 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

You are lucky.   I think it depends.  Doodles have a lot of hair and actually I am not up for the challenge.  I was younger when my bichon was alive and I had her professionally groomed and sometimes I groomed her myself.   My yorkie is no problem either(both were small dogs).  Koda on the other hand is a different situation.    I told my daughter that her  Koda runs from me when I want to put her in the crate ( I can't imagine trying to give her full bath).

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

You never had incidents like this?

A sudden need to bathe the dog is a regular occurrence around here lol. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Where is the horrified face emoji? LOL
I did have to wash paws quite a bit, which with JD sometimes included struggling to get a paw into a bucket x4. 

Jasper fits nicely into my kitchen sink. :)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

lol.  I miss a dog that could fit in the sink, it's so convenient.

I initially thought it was kind of silly but we bought one of those paw washing things with the silicone bristles inside and it actually works quite well.  Money well spent, it gets used almost every day by DH because of the combination of dew and construction dust in the morning.

Our worst Luna incident was not the one in the picture, she actually once managed to both get muddy AND roll in unidentified wildlife feces of some sort... while we were at grandma's house so we didn't have her shampoo.  Grandma scrounged up some baby shampoo and we used that, took about 3 washes to get the stink out lol.

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

LOL.  Oh no you would keep the groomers in business just with one customer!!