Sept 28 - Photo a Day - A Good Thing

Poor, put-upon, just-bathed Copper and his quick sister, Penny

Our goofy, 85-lb/39 kg golden retriever is water-adverse. Having lived in a pen in upstate NY most of his life, he doesn't know the joy of the ocean, and thinks I'm insane when I try to talk him into a dip in a lake or river. Mules got nothin' on Copper.

Giving us the privacy to use the washroom is never a problem with this boy. He has only voluntarily joined me in there once -- in the midst of a directly-overhead thunderstorm, when he knew that my lap was the only safe place in the world. Otherwise, it is the evil room in our house.

On bath day, like this morning, it takes both of us to get him into the tub... me holding his collar so he doesn't dash, and Pierre doing the heavy, two-step lifting. Amazingly, once he's in there, he wags away, and doesn't even attempt an escape, even though it is clearly not his 'druthers.

After a few weeks of rolling in his favourite muddy spot outside the back door and eating delicious fish-based dog food, this pup gets... rank. Giving him a bath makes him look at me like this, both in the tub and for a little while after, but snuggling with a clean, sweet-smelling pupper is a very, very good thing. And luckily, the snuggles always seem to bring back his smile.