wet dog

With the summer comes moulting. With moulting comes itching. With itching comes inflamed, painful skin as the dogs pull out chunks of annoyingly loose coat.

For the last few years, I've heaved a sigh and sent the dogs to the grooming parlour for a wash and blow dry. They're big dogs and washing them is hard work. This morning, however, when I spotted an angry red bit of skin on a dog's flank, I was sure it wasn't fleas as I've just treated them, and I therefore took myself off to the local farm store and found some oatmeal shampoo (remember oatmeal soap when you were a child? very good for sensitive skin, m ymother used to say). I planned my campaign on my way home. My dogs hate being washed. They abhor it. There is no chance of bundling them into the shower cubicle and washing them in there. They are too big to put in the bathtub or kitchen sink (not very hygienic either!) So, I surreptitiously filled two large buckets with lukewarm water and got the dogs to join me in the garden. As planned, one of them saw me pick up the hosepipe, shrieked in horror and raced into the house, allowing me to shut the door, thus cutting off the other one's escape route.

I know it sounds cruel, but it was a hot day and their thick coats were making the dogs pant. I'd planned to use the lukewarm water from the buckets, but the remaining dog stood happily under the hosepipe, grinning as I altered the force from 'rain' to 'fine mist'. An hour later, after much subterfuge to tempt the second dog out once the first dog was clean, I had finished the job. I now have two clean dogs who aren't scratching or complaining at all. It's taken them most of the day to dry off - they don't like hairdryers, and I don't p ossess one of those hammocks dog groomers fasten them into - but they are definitely not scratching or ripping out hair, and the angry red patch of skin has gone back to being delicate pink.

Success all round. Two sweet-smelling, clean, non-itchy dogs, and I've demonstrated to myself that I'm fit enough to wrestle a wet retriever away from the door and finish rinsing the soap out of his coat without collapsing in an exhausted heap when I've finished.

You'd think I set myself these little tests deliberately, wouldn't you? Checking my daily progress on the health front while getting difficult jobs out of the way at the same time!