As you might remember, Madge is a very fearful dog--unfamiliar people, noises from weed wackers and blenders, thunderstorms, and sometimes sounds from the TV set or the computer will send her into a panic. But she's always seemed to be really, really afraid of water. The first time I took her and the other dogs to the fountain at our local park on a hot summer day, Joey the terrier and even Tippy the pug (our house guest at the time) happily climbed in to cool their paws. When I tried to lead Madge into the fountain pool, she leaped over it and went into a defensive crouch. So ever since, we've let her stay away from water, and exempted her from the periodic baths that we give our other dogs.
Alas, today she got some awful poopy-smelling stuff on her during her walk, and we could barely stand to be around her. So we had no choice but to coax her into the tub for what probably was her first bathing experience ever. She seemed very afraid, but to our surprise, she sat quietly without resisting while we carefully rinsed her off with small cupfuls of water and lathered her with coconut shampoo.We rewarded her with plenty of praise and a treat afterward. I'm hoping the experience won't traumatize her too much. But now she smells nice, at least.
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