Keeping with the holiday tradition of people asking VERY personal things in a group setting, I thought we’d do a little experiment in true confessions. Entertain me (and others) with your answers to these dog care, dog training, and dog teasing questions. To get things started, I included my own answers:
How often do you bathe your dogs, brush your dogs, do their toenails, and/or brush their teeth?
- Bathe (not as often as I should … maybe once a month in the warmer months, less often in winter)
- Brush (sometimes once a week, sometimes practically never … the benefit of relatively short-haired dogs)
- Toes (Lilly – once a week; Ginko – once a month or so because he’s such a big baby about it)
- Teeth
(Lilly – once a week, but I’m trying to get better and do it most days.
Ginko – nearly never because he clamps down on the brush and won’t let
go)
What behaviors do you let your dogs get away with but know you shouldn’t?
- Lilly – barking when she’s excited, worried or frustrated
- Ginko – licking the dirty dishes as I load the dishwasher (gross, I know)
What do you do to “fool” your dog merely because you think it’s hilarious?
- Lilly – Tom hides from her every morning because she likes to play hide-and-seek. On the RARE occasion she cannot find him, he sneaks from his hiding spot and sits on the sofa. The next time she flies through the living room and sees him, she gets really “mad” and barks because she knows he wasn’t there a minute ago.
- Ginko – He is much more easily fooled if you pretend to throw a toy, then don’t. We hide things all the time and tell him to “use his nose” to find them. We love watching him snuffle around. He’s so good, in fact, that we often send him out in the pastures to find toys Lilly has “lost.”
Even if you don’t answer here, perhaps one of these questions will get you out of an awkward conversation or situation over the holidays.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Bathing. Often a whole afternoon affair! Bathing, then towel drying, then blowdrying, then prepping the bath tub for the next dog. Baths do happen less in the winter. Usually the only real mess is walking when salty snow-grime covers the streets; we are often able to get away with a foot bath though! The summer brings far more opportunities to get dirty – mud (& really dirt, in general), grass, fall leaves, etc. I’d say on average baths happen once every 2 1/2 months.
Brushing. I too have the benefit of 2 short haired dogs. My border collie needs regular brushing though. I know its been to long in between brushings when my tan carpet turns black! In preparation of bath-time today, I did brush him, hoping it will lessen the amount of hair that ends up in my tub. A total of 7 brushfuls. yeah.
My border collie and lab mix are really good with nail trims. Jill’s seem to grow at a faster rate, so her trims are more frequent. The way Jax prances down the sidewalk allows him to file his nails down (allbeit at an odd angle) so he needs trims less often. Bridget (Cattle Dog/Pointer X)has recently decided she does not have the time or desire to have her nails trimmed and throws a fit. Another difference is the color of nails. I feel slightly more confident with white ones, since you can see the quick. Black ones take skill and knowledge about your own dog.
Teeth. I honestly haven’t done much in this department. I let bone-chewing do the work for me!
Jax (BC) is the most accomodating dog and I can’t think of anything that really needs correction. The girls, on the other hand, are a daily reminder to stay vigilant concerning training & socialization. However, a recent victory is the encounter of 2 dogs and a group of boys on skateboards (which, thankfully, all happened on seperate occasions)Jill stayed quiet & even turned around, sat and looked at me for further direction. I was so proud!!