Spring Cleaning for the Dog, Part 2

This weekend was phase 2 of Jasper's de-fuzzing. We started by setting him up on the porch table again and brushing for a long time, removing many more clumps of hair. Then we broke out the clippers and touched up some areas, particularly the super-long and wooly hair over his shoulders. We may have done too good of a job on his legs, as there are definitely some almost-bare patches! They'll grow back fast, though, I'm sure.

Then it was into the bath. This past week, I finally got smart, went to Home Depot, and bought a hose/sprayer attachment for the shower. This made the whole bathing affair MUCH easier, and certainly much gentler on my back. Previously, I had been dousing him with water out of a couple of Tupperware containers, which required a lot of back-and-forthing from tap to dog. This time, I was able to do most of the scrubbing and rinsing sitting on the edge of the tub. Alex did the lifting in and out...my back has generally been behaving very well, and I'd like to keep it that way!



Jasper dried off pretty quickly (even resisting the temptation to shake all over the bathroom) and is generally looking quite trim and athletic. There are still some wispy fuzzies on his shoulders and parts of his legs, but I think those will come off as we continue to brush him and as the weather continues to warm up. He doesn't seem cold at all, though temps have remained in the 30s and 40s. We'll see if the vet falls over laughing tomorrow at the unprofessional-looking grooming job that we've done...