Since we started off the week with a post of fun things to do in NYC with a pup, we thought we'd continue that routine. We ran into our old neighbors this weekend, three great guys who said they really wanted a dog, but they would feel bad about her being cramped in the apartment all day. This made us a little sad, because we think of how many great dogs need to be rescued and how many great owners are out there who are hindered by this false impression that pups are cramped in the apartment. Besides the fact that Havi lives in our small 1-bedroom with us, she gets plenty of exercise and socialization. We have the added factor of being on a tight budget. We started this blog to let people know its easy to have a big dog in a small apartment on a budget!
In order to tire Havi out even more after a long day of NYC walking on Saturday, we gave her a bath! Havi is not a big fan of the bath, but she doesnt complain. She kind of just, gives in.
To save money we wash her in our own bathtub using our detachable showerhead. It makes giving a bath pretty easy; Dental Student usually sits on the end of the tub while washing her down with Medicated Oatmeal & Tea Tree Tropiclean Shampoo.
While we dry her off we moisturize her paws with Musher's Secret All-Season Paw Protection and squirt some prescription ear wash in her ear (she HATES that).
Lastly, we use the Kong Zoom Groom to pick up any fur.
What's your bath routine like, anything we're missing?
As far as our budget goes, were Amazon junkies. You can get almost anything on Amazon, cheaper! We signed up for Amazon Prime, a membership program that gives your account FREE two-day shipping and $3.99 for one-day shipping on all eligible purchases for a yearly fee of $79. The best part is, if you have a student email address you get a year free, the $79 is waived! We are using Dental Students account this year, then will sign mine up for next year so we get two free years! As we understand it, this works for teachers as well - as long as you have an email address that ends in .edu! ENJOY!
That picture of Havi after her bath is delicious! I bathe Maize at home but pug sheds WAY to much so I take him to a self wash place. I use a water pitcher to rinse her off and it's very cumbersome.I need to get a detachable shower head. Good idea with the mushers. I have some and never use it!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. What amazes me is the pet friendly apartments. Not so easy to find around here. I have friends who have trouble finding cat accepted apartments. Dog friendly apartements are far harder to locate.
ReplyDeleteLove Havi's pitiful bath face. Maisie does it too and it always backfires on her since I find it kinda adorable.
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Sounds like a great bath time routine. Mr Reilly also dislikes having a bath but will quietly just stand there accepting it. He has the same look on his face that Havi does in those pictures. Our only difference is half an hour spent blow drying him (if it's cool) when it's warm he is okay to air-dry. His favorite part of coarse is when bath time finishes and he has an attack of the "zoomies" Zoomies is when he races the house or yard as fast as he possibly can.
ReplyDeleteMolly is super calm in the bath, I wish we had a detachable shower head, it would make life so much easier. Our routine is scrub her with a shampoo mitt (it acts as a brush as well as well as massager for muscles) with two shampoos, one for white fur and an oatmeal shampoo for dry skin. While she is still damp I spritz on a whitening spray and then a anti-shedding spray, then I blow dry her and voila, done :). We really should try that paw balm though.
ReplyDeleteThat sad bath face always gets to me!
ReplyDeleteKari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com
Hey Havi!
ReplyDeleteWow, baths are not fun, but you were very good about it. I'm impressed and your peeps are taking super good care of you. The only other thing that happens to me at bath time is that I also get my teeth brushed. Not fun! Anyway, they use a kiddie toothbrush and doggy paste that tastes like chicken...that's not so bad. I'm just not a big fan of the brushing part. You look sorrowful in your pix which I think is a requirement so your peeps don't decide you need this more often!! BOL BWAR HAR
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, COP
It's so funny how many people think your home needs to be huge to have a big dog. Do they really think your dog is running laps in the halls? Most people on our block live in 1-2 bedrooms, and even have labs, Newfoundlands, and German Shepherds. We're just out walking a lot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Two Pitties in the City -- we keep our 80+ pounder in our 1-bedroom condo, and he is just fine. We drain his energy with tons of walks. It's not like he'd be getting any exercise indoors, no matter how big the house.
ReplyDeleteBathtime in our house is pretty similar. Emerson makes the same sad puppy face. We don't have a detachable showerhead, so we bought this awesome attachment (http://www.petco.com/product/111947/Bamboo-Shower-Massager-Pet-Bathing-System.aspx)... after you attach the diverter to your already existing showerhead, you can attach and remove the hose whenever you want, so it doesn't get in the way. It's made bathtime much more tolerable for everyone.
Thanks for the tip on paw protection! I think we ought to give that a try. Where we live, there's lots of rough and gravelly terrain.
We too changed our shower head to a detachable one a couple of years ago just to make Gus' baths easier. We also have recently started using Musher's Secret on Gus' paws and really like it.
ReplyDeleteHavi may not like her baths, but she is being pretty cooperative!
ReplyDeleteAs far as having a dog in an apartment, I think dogs who live in apartments can actually get more exercise than dogs who have yards. You are forced to walk them multiple times a day, whereas dog with yards are often never walked (but that is not true for all people who have yards).
We take the boys to a place to bathe them because they need to be bolted to the wall. My husband has to carry Levi to the bathtub because Levi knows when we get in there and won't budge!
I agree about dogs and apartments. My husband and I have two border collies and two cats in a two bedroom. Although I wish for a yard every day, the dogs certainly don't seem to be missing anything.
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