Afterbath

March arrived with a pleasant afternoon, warm enough even for my temperature requirements, and because this has been a rather mild winter, I decided it was time for a bath.
No, I do take those more frequently than by season, I meant it was time to give the dogs a bath.  The ticks will soon be waking up, and I will have to put the Frontline on them to keep those bloodsuckers at bay, and that works better on a clean dog.


So bath-time it was.


Note the enthusiasm this decision produced in Decibel.  (Yes, it WAS necessary, Decibel).

I corralled the dogs in the laundry room, where we have a dog shower facility, but you won't see pictures of the actual process, because I tend to be in a state of minimal dress, since getting soaked is a requirement for the bather and the bathed.
The shampoo, rinse, rinse rinse condition, rinse, rinse, rinse cycle per dog tends to wear on me, but when it is over they do all look much better, and smell so much nicer too!
Surprisingly they suffer through the bath time with stoic patience, and I didn't have to wrangle any escaping soapy dogs.
Afterward they got a nice surprise, as Harold came home a bit early and they all got to play in the sunshine with him.
Naturally Decibel is beyond pretty in sunlight.  She still has a halo of white blonde hair, but her deep orange-y coat is coming through, and it is burnished with gold in the sun - very pretty for about 3 microseconds.  Then she is rolling in grass clippings with Maggie, wrestling with her, chasing Skeeter through the mud, and  - well, I did take a picture before I let her out, so that's what I have for my two-and-a-half hours of bathing dogs.
Ralph looked very nice too, but he still has felts that have to be clipped (he hates the grooming, and for legs and undercarriage I rather clip than try to comb those felts out, it is easier on him).  The bath made him all bouncy and playful too, happy dogs all around.

Still damp:

Skeeter is shiny too - at least his smile is!