Today I had the pleasure of bathing two babies (not at once!). My client today was a juicy 9 lb boy who loved his bath, slept almost the whole time, and only cried when I lifted him out of the water to dry him off.  He had a lovely setup of a baby tub with perfect temperature water, fluffy towels to dry off with, and the crowning glory, a space heater oscillating both during and after the bath to keep him toasty. However the earlier experience was a bit different.

The first bath I did this morning was for my puppy Gracie. We had taken her to day camp with my DD to show her off. She threw up in the car twice, so I think she may have been a little freaked out. OK, home to a bath and fluff.

Let's just say I give a pretty good baby bath. With the hundreds (perhaps thousands) I have done by now I have pretty much mastered the art of keeping babies happy while getting them clean. I have learned that most parents keep the water too cold and babies often cry (sometimes shrieking!) and keep their limbs all tucked together--which makes it really hard to clean the crevices (the only dirty parts on a baby!). I have found that a good warm room free of drafts is essential to keeping baby enjoying the experience. And I have found that having everything you need both during and after is essential to keeping baby happy after the bath and not getting distracted while you are washing them.

However, this was my first puppy bath. Maybe ever. And she is fluffy. Really fluffy. And she was not convinced. Even after I tried all my baby tricks for rescuing a bath gone bad, she still tried to jump out and get away from the spa treatment I planned for her. Thankfully my son popped in and held her while we did the hairdryer. I learned the magic distance between the warm air and her to keep her calm and not make her freak out. I learned to wear pants you are ok to get soaking wet. I learned having another loving individual is very helpful to the process.

I feel like I could do this regularly now. I think it must be like being a new parent all over again. This bathing a puppy is very new to me, but it has its similarities to learning this new skill with a newborn. Glad that even if I am getting to be an old dog, I can still learn new tricks...