Bath Day

Shadow likes to be preened. When he gets physical attention, he poses; and no where is this more evident than when he gets a bath. Because he lives and sleeps in his crate located in my bedroom, he doesn't become a smelly 'ole dog. Shadow is a clean dog. When he wallows in the sand and mud at the dog park or even in the back yard, he gets a bath. In the winter time, he gets his bath in the bath tub inside the house. During the hot summer months, his bath is outdoors.

No matter where the bath takes place, Shadow seems to enjoy it. When I first began bathing him last fall, it was chilly outside so the bathtub was the place. I first tried just bringing him in the shower with me. He didn't care for it and neither of us got very clean. There was the noise of the shower, the soap flying all over and he wanted out! The next effort involved bringing a longer hose down from the shower head and bathe him in the tub by himself. I purchased a twenty dollar shower head that had the ability to switch from the head to a hose using a valve. It leaked and the hose wasn't long enough but it gave me an idea.

I got a hose that had a rubber bulb that fastened over the bathroom sink faucet. I added four feet of hose to it and was able to deliver a warm spray of water that was quiet. The shower wand was easy and gentle and he had no qualms getting wet. Now when I call him into the bath room, he is eager to leap right into the tub and look eagerly to the cleansing experience.

During the bath, itself, Shadow is funny to watch. It is almost as if he offers parts of his body to be washed. When i reach for one of his legs, he holds it up in the air and doesn't put it back down until I say "okay". He did have an infection in his paws a few months ago, so when I wash his feet, I especially check between his toes. He likes the attention.

I don't spray water into his eyes, but I get his entire head wet and soapy. His ears get soap on the outside and olive oil on the inside (after the mites are removed with cotton swabs).

Someone had told me that a good dog shampoo for frequent baths is Dawn liquid detergent. It doesn't dry out his fur and it does have some ingredient that kills fleas. So, since it seems to work, that's what we use. Then he gets his monthly flea treatment just in case and he is good to go. He has already seen that he gets a lot more affection and love when he is clean.

At the end of the bath, he gets dried off with big fluffy towels. He is easy to dry because his fur is short. He loves the drying process because every part of his body is dried off and he then gets posted to the grass on the front yard for a final drying by the warm Florida sun. Shadow and I both like his baths.

Marrow Bone

I stopped by the local Publix Grocery store to get my poor dog a bone. But when I got there, the bone shelf was bare and so the puppy got none. Actually, It was the third Publix I had checked for bones and usually the one I stopped by last always had a large selection. Today, the butcher's response was the same as at the other stores, "The warehouse only sent sent cut up bones." I was not liking that answer. After going back and forth a few times, he said, "Wait a second, I think I saw one knuckle bone back there on a platter of small cuts." He went back into the cavern and came back with a good size bone.

I thought it would do fine. After dinner I gave Shadow the bone. He was jumping up and down; he could smell the meat still attached to the bone. I put the bone in his dish and he snatched it up so fast. He acted like he'd never been fed. He turned it over and over like a kid with a favorite Christmas present. Then the noshing began. Shadow kept occupied with that rascal for a solid hour. He was a happy puppy and I like to see him content.

I always try to get him a large bone because I am afraid he'll try to swallow a small bone whole and choke on it. No, he never gets chicken, lamb or pork bones. Those jaws of his would crunch them to splinters and terrorize his stomach. Nope, Beef is what he gets and they seem to suit him just fine.

Thunder and Ligntning

I was watching the storm clouds roll in as i was grilling our steaks for dinner. There was far off thunder that was coming closer. I was thinking that tonight's meat was going to be medium rare. Good thing we like it that way. And just after I brought the meat and grilled corn-on-the-cob into the kitchen, the lightning began moving in, too. Ka Boom! Mom and I had dinner with the celestial fireworks right utside the big picture window. The rain just poured down without remorse.
We could smell the ozone from the electrical discharge.

Dinner was delicious and the rain made it taste even better. Mom asked where I was going to feed the dog. She couldn't imagine me making him eat outside where he usually does.

Once I cleared the table after dessert, the rain quit as abruptly as it had started. I went to the back patio to fetch Shadow's dinner bowl. Just as I went outside, a huge lightning bolt struck a quarter mile away. It was a huge flash of light and an incredible boom. Now as a rule, I love these displays, but I don't want to be a crisp. And I certainly don't want the pooch to get zapped either.

I quickly retrieved the bowl and got his dinner and water bowl filled up and put into the garage. I led him out there and he looked like he felt he was being punished. He doesn't get the cause and effect yet. I explained in a calm voice that I didn't want to have him struck by lightning, but all he knew was he had to be banished to the garage. Sure, the food was out there, but he is such a social creature, he wants to with us all the time. Four legs eats outside, two legs eats insides, that's the way it is, Shadow.

Don't Bite the Hand that gives you treats

Shadow must learn that while he may feel like a ravenous wolf, when taking something tasteful from a humans hand, he must be gentle. Mom was feeding him a few potato chips and he lunged at her hand like he hadn't eaten in months and snatched the chip. I am finding that when I offer his an ice cube, apparently a luxury to him, he grabs it away suddenly, like he is stealing it.

Maybe its cute to watch (when its not YOUR hand) but I can see where he scares his benefactor. I personally don't feel any fear at all; we straightened out the "Big dog/little dog thing" months ago. I don't hurt him and he associates me with his daily meals, so I believe I'm safe (and bigger).

I do try to socialize him at meal times. When he gobbles his first several mouth fulls, I pet him and tell him he is a good dog and to eat his dinner. He is NOT a reluctant or picky eater, I love his enthusiasm, its been great to watch him grow from a small puppy to a healthy and strong dog. When we go for a run, he is pulling me as fast as he can. Soon, he'll be even bigger and stronger. He has such a love of life; he gives me paws to remember how blessed my life is. We both have grown closer over this past year. He came into my life in October last year. I've enjoyed all of it. I sure hope he would say the same

He gets a little relief

Shadow was not really limping, he went for a run at full tilt and scampered around the yard in between rain storms. But something wasn't right. I had a feeling.

Jeanie came over for a visit this Sunday and brought her daughter and a friend along. The girls are about 8 years old and they like to see Shadow. We took him out back and he was happy to have new playmates. The girls were shrieking and laughing as they played fetch with the dog. I was watching him closely as sometimes he roughhouses a bit much. But something was off, so i decided to take a closer look. His right hind paw was a little pink, so I started there.

I picked up his paw and spread his toe pads open. And there I found two cockle burrs. They must have been quite painful, he surrendered his paw to me and didn't squirm or say a word as I got them out. They didn't leave a mark and hadn't broken the skin but he was visibly relieved when they were removed. His play with the girls resumed and he seemed less excitable.

Once he learns to talk, he can tell me where it hurts.

Turned away at the Gate

Today is the first Saturday of September and Pine Island over on the gulf opens its doors and welcomes dogs to its beach. The last visit Shadow had to "Bark Island" was last April. I was looking forward to seeing how he would fare since he has had lots of exposure to swimming over the spring and summer.

But, alas, two girls were standing at the entrance of the parking lot and they weren't smiling. "No Bark Island, today!" the plump one said with an evil look on her face. The skinny girl was not as happy at our disappointment. Shadow was dancing around in his travel crate and could smell the water; he was eager! I questioned them for a few minutes and they gave me a flier for the rest of the winter's open dates. I could do nothing further so we left and headed back to the mainland.

We dropped by the dog park on the way home so at least the little guy could get in an un-harnessed run. There weren't many dogs or people because it was hot and humid. Shadow didn't care and off he went; it was good to see all that pent up energy get spent. But what we didn't know was that Mr. MacNasty was at the park that morning. There was a dark colored pit bull that kept jumping up on me. I asked the dog nicely to get down and quit it. He persisted. I had to use a stern "NO, Get DOWN" before he quit. Then he went over and started terrorizing a beautiful golden retriever.

The lady was upset as the pit kept harassing her golden. The owner of the pit bull wandered over and suggested the lady take her dog and leave the park. His dog was clearly the trouble maker, but he was telling her to leave. She kept telling him that HIS dog had started the ruckus and they should leave, instead. His retort was "that's the way big dogs play and if you don't like it, go home." Both he and his dog were bullies. The lady and her dog retreated to the parking lot and I noticed her making a cell phone call.

Within 5 minutes a park police guy showed up in his patrol car. He and the lady conferred and she pointed to the sign on the fence and then to the guy and his dog inside the fence. The policeman went into the dog park and talked to the man and asked that he and his dog step out of the big dog yard.

I wasn't snooping but curious as I overheard the cop saying "This is the third complaint about you and your dog. I want you to read the sign on the fence about aggressive dogs." The man read the sign and started sputtering that the golden retriever attacked his pit. As he said that, all the other patrons began laughing at the absurdity of that statement. The man blushed at his lie and snapped the leash on his dog and made his way to his truck.

All of the sudden, even though the dark cloud had moved on, it wasn't fun to be there any more that morning. I gathered Shadow up and we got in the car and drove off. I had heard about this guy more than a few times and I remembered the old homily about how dogs resemble their owners. There was a clear cut example right in front of my face.

I'm feeling more comfortable in the water

For my birthday, my master bought me a swim vest. It is bright yellow and he teased me when he told me that yellow is the alligators favorite color. At first, it felt a little uncomfortable. When he first put it on me it was inside the house to take a picture and the nylon felt warm against my fur. But he didn't make me wear it very long. The next time he put it on me was over at Jeanie's house before we went in the pool. It was awkward at first, it just felt funny. But I trust what ever my master does for me and after I swam around a little in the pool, I could see it helped me float without struggling. And I like looking stylish! Master's wet suit is almost the same color as my gear, so we match! I like that.

The next time we went on the river, I wore my vest again and it really helped. Most of the river is shallow and I can walk on the bottom but every once in a while, my paws don't touch the bottom and this pretty vest holds me up. We were drifting down river and he wasn't even paddling and I wasn't doggy paddling either. The river just carried us along.