Cinnamon's Revenge

You all remember when I had to have a bath, right? Well, one of the worst parts of that experience was having Francesca make fun of me. She told me I smelled like cheap perfume. She said I was a big baby and should smell like the hunting dog I am.

She made fun of me when I had a bath!

 She ran around in circles around me when I came out in the yard to dry off and she barked at me. It seems like she was excited that I was the one having the bath and she wasn't.

It went on and on. So when we got back from our trip to the Village Cousins (formerly known as The Country Cousins), we picked Francesca up from the Doggie Country Club. And she was so dirty! I think she had been playing in the mud.

Francesca was jealous that I got to visit my Village Cousins
in their new home.

 So when we got home my owner went easy on her. She allowed her to rest and to sleep on her dog bed, even though she was muddy. But the next day... Bwah ha ha ha! Francesca was told she was going to have a bath. Our owner ran the water in the tub and went to get Francesca. Francesca didn't want anything to do with the bath. So then our owner walked her down the hall by the scruff of the neck and put her in the tub. All the while I was watching and laughing! Bwah ha ha ha!

Francesca got scrubbed with perfumy soap and rinsed over and over. She was looking at me and her eyes said... "Help me!" But I walked away with a smirk on my face. This was my revenge!

Finally she got wrapped in towels and had to dry in the TV room because it was chilly outside. She was so happy the ordeal was over. 

Here's Francesca after her bath.
She was white again and smelled like cheap perfume for sure!

Love, Cinnamon

Should You Bathe Your Dog in Winter?

I heard rumblings about having to get a bath before I travel this weekend. So I decided to search the Internet and find out all kinds of reasons why you SHOULD NOT bathe your dog (read: Cinnamon) in the winter. You might say, it’s not officially winter yet. But today, it’s rainy and cold so to me, it’s winter. Francesca and I are doing quite a bit of hibernating. 

This is what I look like when I get a bath... MAD!

So what did I find on my Internet search? Well, not exactly what I had hoped. Here’s the jist of the articles:

Rule number one for bathing your dog during the winter is to keep your dog indoors until they are completely dry. It is much more difficult for your dog to maintain a warm ambient body temperature when wet. Therefore, letting your dog outside during the winter months greatly increases their risk of hypothermia.

Drat! So then I decided to try another approach. I searched: Should You Bathe Your Older Dog in Winter? Then this popped up:

Since your dog will need to stay indoors during the winter until their coat completely dries, bathe them first thing in the morning. This way, they can dry throughout the day and by the early evening, they may be ready for a walk outside.

Here's how to dry a dog. Please note: I'm still not very happy.

 Drat! So I wasn’t getting anywhere putting together a logical argument for not having a bath. It seems that there are rules for dog baths in the winter, but no rule that says NO BATHS!

Want to know more? Here’s a good article with six tips on bathing your dog in winter.

If I end up having a bath, I’ll let you know if my owner follows these tips or not. Let’s hope she just forgets about it.

Love, Cinnamon

After the Utah Mighty 5 Tour All We Got Was a Bath

Our owner went on a tour of Utah's National Parks, the Mighty 5 they call them. We didn't get to go. We went to Running Pond Acres, our Doggie Country Club. Now I like that but was looking forward to when our owner returned and brought us TREATS and GIFTS!

So she returned and we were happy to be home. But no TREATS and GIFTS materialized. Hmm. She brought out her souvenirs, five Mighty 5 refrigerator magnets:

Dogs don't care about Refrigerator Magnets

She had a great time and should have brought us something. But she didn't!

So today she got out our old treat box and invited us in to.... TAKE A BATH! I wasn't expecting that. But both Francesca and I were pretty good about having our baths knowing treats would follow. And, it was a sunny day to dry off in the back yard. So all we got from her trip was a BATH!

Here we are all clean and fluffy!

So that's all the excitement for the day!

Love, Cinnamon

On Baths: How to Bathe a Dog and Why Cinnamon got a Bath

I, Cinnamon, have lucked out. While Francesca has had numerous baths because she likes to get dirty when she’s playing, I haven’t had to go near the dreaded bathtub.

Here’s how I do it:
1. I don’t roll in stuff at the dog park
2. I avoid mud.
3. I don’t play rough with other dogs.
4. I make sure Francesca is much dirtier than I am so she is the one who gets the bath!

But my luck ran out this week when my owner noticed that my skin was getting flaky. I guess you’d say I have dandruff. She thought, since I had not had a bath in many months, that a good scrubbing would help my skin.

 

Here I am, still wet, waiting to go outside and run around.
You can see my fur is shinier now.
You can also see that I am giving my owner the Stink Eye!

So I heard the water running and thought about making my escape. But my owner put the leash on me and, after that, I just calmly walked into the bathroom and jumped into the tub. No need to struggle… it just gets me frustrated.

So here’s the right way to bathe a dog (I looked it up on the Internet):

1.     Brush your dog first to get the loose stuff out and remove any matted hair (that’s for long haired dogs).

2.     Either put cotton balls in your dogs ears to keep the water out or make sure you don’t get your dog’s head wet.

3.     Prepare the bath with warm water. Not hot water. Not cold water.

4.     Use dog shampoo, scrub your dog’s skin and fur (my favorite part) and rinse it out well, really well.

5.     Give your dog a treat afterwards for enduring the bath.

6.     Short haired dogs can be towel dried or air dried on a warm day in the sun. Long haired dogs can benefit from a hair dryer unless it scares them too much.

So I had my bath and got towel dried. I then ran around the yard like crazy which helped me air dry. I spent the rest of the day lazing in the sun.

So did it get rid of my dandruff? I think it might have. I still see some, but I feel better and my fur is much shinier!

Love, Clean Cinnamon

The New Seasons Dog Wash Experience: At least it was for a good cause

I WAS TRICKED! Stinky Francesca needed the bath… not me!

Here's the New Seasons Community
Event Coordinator getting things ready for
the BATHS!

All was well at noon when my owner put Francesca in the car and headed over to New Seasons Market for their dog wash event. Usually New Seasons is a place we go for grocery shopping. But today, there was a special event taking place. It was a benefit for The Pongo Fund.  The Pongo Fund is a food bank for pets. When people can’t afford food for their table, they can’t afford food for their pets either. Enter The Pongo Fund. They work for the day when no dog or cat goes hungry because their families cannot afford to keep them fed. They have provided more than 8,000,000 meals to date. They serve Portland and Southwest Washington where I live.

I was glad to see Francesca go. She was stinky and I needed a break from her. So once the garage door closed, I went to my cushy bed and drifted off to sleep.

I heard that when Francesca got to the event, she saw the wading pool and stepped right in (dumb dog!). But then the New Seasons folks started putting water on her and shampoo too. She gave everyone a pitiful look but she had no out. She was getting a bath or else!

Here's Francesca giving everyone a pitiful look.

There were treats there too! The Portland Pet Food Company makes their pet foods in small batches using local ingredients. They had dog biscuits and “topper” food that you find in the frozen food pet section of New Seasons. Francesca said she loved the biscuits and that made the bath time much more tolerable.

Soon she was home… dripping wet. My owner put her outside in the sun and came to get me. I awoke from my nap wondering what was up. IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN MY OWNER PUT A WET LEASH ON ME! Oh oh! I was headed to the car. Where was I going?

Here I am looking like a drowned rat!
(But the New Seasons guy was really nice!)

We drove out of the neighborhood and down to New Seasons. I saw the Portland Pet Food display and figured it was a pet product show. I downed a biscuit when the man asked me if I would like to try their freshly frozen dog food. WOW! It was good. It tasted just like people food.

I was getting ready to go into Mudd Bay to pick up some treats when I spied three wading pools.

The people at the event motioned for me to get into the first pool. I didn’t want to because I only wade in creeks and rivers. But my owner TRICKED ME and put me in the pool. Out came the pitcher and shampoo and before I knew it I WAS HAVING A BATH. Grrrr. I was clean. It was only Francesca that needed a bath.

Well the New Seasons employee didn’t over-do the water and shampoo so I was in the rinse pool rather soon. I got dried off with my fluffy warm towel and headed out to the car. It was a warm day so I dried off rather quickly. Francesca has longer fur than I do so she needed lots of time in the sunny back yard.

So once I got home after BEING TRICKED I ran and played in the back yard and rolled in the grass. I have to admit it was nice being so pretty and clean.

And I have to say I felt good about my donation to hungry pets through the Pongo Fund. I found out about them through Clark DogPaw, the wonderful group who provides me with dog parks throughout Clark County.

I’m tired and dried off now. I think I’ll take a nap!

Love, Clean Cinnamon

Charity Dog Wash Today in Vancouver, WA

Francesca stinks! She plays hard at the dog park and rolls in the dust and mud. She gets dog slobber all over her. She really needs a bath! (but I, Cinnamon, don't). So I was happy to see that today is the day for the Pongo Fund charity dog wash. This non-profit helps beed pets of owners in need.

Well, Francesca is in need of a bath! You might want to go over to New Seasons too!

And, New Seasons is right next to Mudd Bay where we get TREATS! This sounds like an excellent opportunity all around!

Love, Cinnamon (who doesn't need a bath)

Wordless Wednesday: Francesca Gets a Bath

I, Francesca, smell good now!

Long Weekend: Dog Park Adventures and the Dreaded B A T H

Like I said on Facebook, two days of spending hours in the garage was more than this girl could endure. I demanded that the next day I be rewarded with a trip to the Brush Prairie Dog Park and I WAS!

It was a great morning. No scurrying around. No early breakfast. Just a leisurely morning topped off by a chauffeured drive to the Dog Park. That's the way things should be. I was so excited I sat up and watched during the whole trip.

The park was filled with dogs and people. What a great sight!

Even though I like to see the other people and dogs
I always find some alone time. I like the grassy hill.
It is my Happy Place!

When we got there, it was really crowded with people, dogs and even little kids. I was so happy to be there. I sniffed as much as I wanted to, met some new dogs and visited with some people I knew from the park. I even went up to some little kids and gave them a slurpy kiss. I rolled in some great smelling stuff.

Oh how I love rolling in smelly stuff I find in the grass!

Everyone was nice to me and I spent over an hour there.

I was a bit tired when we left so slept in the car when we stopped at Chapman Gardens Nursery. And then it was time to head home. Visions of sleeping in my cushy bed filled my head. I was ready for a nap.

Oh oh.... that's when things took a turn for the worse. I was called inside and knew something bad was going to happen. The water was running in the bathtub and it was too late for my owner to be taking a bath. That meant only one thing. IT WAS BATH TIME FOR ME!

I pretended to put up a fight but knew it wouldn't do any good. I walked into the bathroom and obediently hopped into the lukewarm water. Next it was time for a good soaking with the hand-held shower and some sweet smelling Wen Shampoo for Dogs. I don't like the smell but my owner does.

I had a good scrubbing and then came my favorite part... lots of toweling off and rubbing. It feels really good (but I don't often admit it). Once I was a little bit dry I went outside and WENT WILD! I was so happy to have my bath over, I ran like the wind in circles in the yard and even played ball. It didn't take long for me to get tired. After all, I was tired when I got home from the Dog Park.

My owner put a dry towel down on the rug and I crashed right there. I didn't even get upset when she took a picture of me in the turquoise towel. Usually that would annoy me.

Here I am all bundled up to dry after my bath.
Don't I look abused? Would someone please
call the Humane Society on my behalf?

So finally, I was dry and ready for my long-awaited nap.

What a day!

Love, Cinnamon

Wordless Wednesday: How I get my Shiny Coat!

I'm so shiny I scared the squirrels away!
I use Wen for Pets

Why I Subject Myself to Baths

Yes, I was a bit grumpy about my "spa day" or my bath this afternoon but look at this picture.

Here's the after photo... after my bath and after I dried off and after I recovered emotionally.

Aren't I just glowing with beautifulness? Sometimes I think a bath is a good idea. Besides, I got treats!

Love, Clean Cinnamon

Spa Day for Cinnamon: But not voluntarily

Hi everyone. It's me, Cinnamon. Right now I am running around like crazy trying to dry off. You see, I was treated to a bath and, although, I love being pretty, I really don't like baths. 

Here's how it went down. First, my owner informed me that it was time for a bath. I tried to hide on my bed (my safe zone, usually). That didn't work so I retreated to my crate. Since I wouldn't come out voluntarily my owner "helped" me out and directed me to the bathroom. Fully understanding that I had lost the "spa control battle" I voluntarily went into the bathroom. She turned the water on and I jumped in. (Aren't you impressed?) Yes, I jumped in but I had a dirty look on my face for all the world to see!

This expression is called "stink eye"

Then came the shampoo. I have a special pet shampoo so my skin doesn't dry out. It smells really good to humans. 

Then it was time to rinse off and towel down. That is the absolute best part. I love being toweled off and it also signals the end of bath time. Yay!

Here I am drying off. Notice that I get really close to the door so I can make my getaway!

Now after I get out of the bathroom, the fun starts. I run around like crazy, roll on the rug, play with my toys and even get a treat as a reward. 

You'd better put that D@#!M camera away or I'm calling the Humane Society!

Why did I have a bath? Well, I am going to the Country Cousins this weekend and something special is happening there. They are having a Fiesta for Samson's family. It is called a couple's shower. I'll bet it will be fun. I hope Samson is there so we can have fun like we did last time (the time we got in trouble for having too much fun).

I'll tell you more about that, but for now I need to get dry!

Love, Cinnamon the clean Coonie