Noodle is special, nobody can deny that. And with her brand of special, well, it makes life interesting.
One little quirk of Noodle's has really come to light since we've lived in the city, made even worse by not going to daycare every day like she used to do. And this quirk is what I like to call Poopie ADD.
Noodle makes it very clear when she needs to go. There is no doubt what she wants. Then we get outside.
Once we get out the door, Noodle looks for things to be distracted by. Noodle immediately walks to
the edge of the top step and does this look-out thing, chest all puffed
out, scanning the street. Then she runs down the steps out to the
sidewalk, and does the same thing. And then poopie is forgotten.
It could be someone walking, whether they are on our street or going down the other street. She could hear a dog bark a block away, or kids playing, or see a big truck drive down the street. God forbid we see a squirrel.
Due to Noodle's easily distracted nature, some days it can take 3 or 4 trips outside for her to do her thing. Which gets very frustrating.
Last week was bath time around here for the dogs. Thank goodness I work at fancy pet resort so that I have access to great facilities to take care of these things. That makes stuff like baths and haircuts SO much easier for me to deal with. And of course the mess stays there.
On Monday, Rommel was bathed. Monday is his day to go to fancy pet resort and he had a vet appointment that afternoon. While Rommel is pretty good for grooming, he is quite pitiful for the bath.
For a dog that, based on what I've seen of his brother, got groomed pretty much every 6 weeks, he's pitiful. He'd had a full haircut about 3 weeks prior, so I only freshened up his feet and face.
He did well at the vet and EVERYONE loved him, as always.
On Tuesday, it was Noodle's turn. Now, we all know that Noodle loves the water.
However, she only loves it on HER terms. Bath time is a whole different story.
Noodle is also pitiful in the tub, somehow even more pitiful than Rommel. And she is trying throughout the whole bath to get out of the bath.
Notice the tucked tail? She acts as if she is being just tortured! And then there's the blowdryer...
When she was all done, Noodle was so pretty and fluffy and smelled so good! She hadn't had a bath in months and was long overdue. But the bath didn't last very long.
Each weekend, we try to do one activity with the dogs. This past Saturday, we decided to take the dogs to the dog park. It was a new park for us and we didn't know what to expect. It was a great park, though a bit dusty. Noodle and Rommel had a great time and Noodle was fairly well worn out after about 30 minutes, thanks to her bad hips.
We stopped for one last water break before leaving, and that's when Noodle decided to plop down on the flagstone, which was wet from the drinking fountain and had been covered in the dirt from the park. And she was filthy! This resulted in a shower once we got home. Which she was even more pitiful for than a bath at work. And since we don't have a handheld shower head, and Noodle wanted nothing more than to get out of the tub, I had to get in. And then I needed a shower.
Thankfully Noodle is a fairly low-maintenance girl and doesn't require baths very often. If only she had any clue what I put Rommel through....
