The Big Dog

Sometimes I need a dog sitter and sometimes I am one. I'd rather need one than be one.  If I need one that means I'm going on a trip.  However, if I have to be one that means I'm staying home and dealing with two dogs instead of one. Now the dog owner I sit for will probably have some feelings about this post but I hope his owner, aka The Boy will take it in the spirit it which it was written.

We only sit for one dog, alias, The Big Dog. This is a great dog, very sweet, and good-looking.  He's about 90 pounds of solid muscle, very lean.  He's a short-haired brown and black brindle with a big white spot on his chest.  His ears are floppy and soft and his nose is big and black and wet. The Big Dog has a tail that clears tables and makes my little white dog (LWD) squint trying to avoid getting smacked in the eyes with it.

The Boy's dog is a hound.  Everyone has seen bloodhounds and The Big Dog doesn't look at all like that. But, and on this be very clear, he has some jowls goin' on. As you might guess those jowls come with some dog saliva.  Now this is some serious slobber. When he shakes his head he can wrap it around his snout one, two, even three times. Other times it hangs almost to the ground without breaking. We've found it everywhere in the house, even on the ceiling.  There must be a use for such viscous stuff. I just don't know what it might be.

The Big Dog has some very special qualities. Although he'll leap into a tree and grab a possum or confront three hissing raccoons, he's really a delicate flower requiring special food and cushy pads upon which to rest his bony butt. Concrete is not for him.  Softies that we are, we have a big bed in the yard so he can sleep in the sun during the day. He doesn't like to be cold or hot. We have another dog bed in the garage so he can sleep in comfort and not chase after wildlife all night.  Usually, we drag the garage bed into the house and place it on a clean sheet so he can be in the house in the evenings. It's not as convenient as it sounds. These are not small dog beds. This dog and his bed take up a large corner of my family room.  We make him stay on the bed in the house because frankly we don't like the feel of slobber on our bare feet and without a recent bath he's oily.  All of this for a dog who doesn't live here.  Well, not most of the time anyway.

He's here now sleeping peacefully on a brand new cedar scented bed in the family room.  We finally broke down and went to Costco and got him a new bed for use only in the house  so we don't have to drag the garage bed in and out. We just need a storage unit to stash the bed in when The Big Dog isn't here.

 Problem number two: this time The Boy brought him without bathing him first. This is one stinky dog. He reeks, no joke.  All that slobber flying around landing everywhere, it stinks.  But really? No bath? He dropped off him smelly and oily? Yep, he did.

Since The Big Dog will be here for a few days while the The Boy is backpacking I was forced to either wash him or put him on Craig's List. Wanting to continue living, my next instinct was to take him to the self car wash and really clean him up, but then I'd have to load him into my car. I... don't.... think.... so. Second choice: I tied him to a railing in the back yard and turned on the hose. Like most dogs, his hair repels water so it takes some doing to wet him down especially while he tries to shake it off.  Then there's the shampooing.  He had to have his nose and ears washed of slobber and those aren't areas he enjoys having hosed down.  But I was determined to be the winner in this battle even if I got as wet as he did.  Victory was mine of course.  I soaped up The Big Dog twice, rubbed him down with clean towels and he now looks and smells as good as any hound ever did.

For the next three or four days we'll be wiping his mouth before he comes in the house, giving him his thyroid medicine twice a day and listening to him snore over the noise of the TV. And after his bath
today we won't even have to hold our noses.

Dog with Bed

The Big Dog and the LWD