SPA DAY

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 202

Every once in a while, you gotta make yourself a bit more presentable for public consumption, ya know? You take a shower, brush your hair, and maybe if you’re feeling extra special, you get a pedicure. That was today—time for the quarterly bath and a little bit extra. Spa day.

Quarterly bath? Yup! Don’t you bathe that often?

Right now, you must be thinking, “Pastor J is a total skank. Really, he doesn’t bathe more often than that?”

Well, of course I do… I’m not talking about me, silly! I'm talking about the dogs. Today was all about the Boxer Bunch Boys. It was doggy spa day, and boy oh boy, they sure look (and smell) dapper now.

Now, just to be forthright, they get brushed far more often than that, and their nails get regular trims too. But it’s actually not advised to bathe a Boxer more than every three to four months (unless, of course, they find something exceptionally dead to roll in). That said, it’s not uncommon for us to take a wet washcloth and just wipe them down. Yet, that quarterly deep clean does wonders.

Well, the morning started with a good brushing and nail trim in the garage, and I was ready to bring the boys upstairs and plop them in our home tub. But then, we remembered that there’s a self-serve dog wash adjacent to the car wash over in Mountain Lake. Perhaps worth a try, we thought.

Now, many moons ago when we lived in Idaho, we spoiled our Sheltie, Tramp—a redneck dog if there ever was one—by taking him to a professional groomer. But Arlo and Gus Gus? Grooming them isn’t quite as… fussy. That said, getting Gus Gus to cooperate in a standard bathtub is like trying to wrangle an angry octopus. Knowing this, we took a chance and asked the boys if they wanted to go on a “CAR RIDE”—magic words, if there ever were any.

Oh boy, did they ever. They saw their harnesses and leashes and started jumping in literal circles. We could almost see them smiling. They had absolutely no idea where they were going, but they were thrilled to be going there nevertheless. Mom got the back seat ready, and I held them back. When it was time, they jumped into that car quicker than we could say "go."

All was great on the journey (minus almost hitting a deer and having to slam on the brakes—hooray for adrenaline!). We arrived, and the boys were vibrating with excitement to get out and explore.

That was, until we opened the spa door.

Arlo took one look inside, realized he’d been bamboozled, and immediately slammed on the brakes by digging in his heels.

“Nope. Not go’in in, Dad,” he said with his entire body.

Push. Pull. Lift. My "bookie-boy" was absolutely not having it. “C’mon Arlo, this won’t be so bad. You watch Gus Gus; he can go first.”

Well, I gotta tell ya, this doggy spa setup is a whole lot easier than plopping them in the home tub. They have a huge, metal, waist-high tub and a massive sprayer. They even have one of those selector-dial contraptions to choose your settings: oatmeal shampoo, conditioner, rinse, tearless shampoo, and even an emergency stop.

And one of the best parts? They had aprons for us humans! It was incredibly nice not having to get entirely soaked while bathing the mutts. Clean-up was a breeze, and far easier than doing it at home. Well worth the trip and the $20, the wife declared.

Twenty minutes later, both boys were washed, dried, and on their way home. And the goofy smiles on their faces were thanks enough. For us, it sure was easy… and for all this convenience and silliness, today I’m giving thanks.

Now, totally for sure, I have tons more to be thankful for today:

• The dogs waking me up by standing directly on my chest at 6:45 AM and licking my face.

• Getting to talk with Emma from halfway around the world.

• The country-style ribs that are smoking and braising right now as I type this.

• The gorgeous weather today (well, the last number of days, really).

But among the myriad aspects of daily life for which I am thankful, on this day, it’s the dog spa in Mt. Lake.

Right now, with full tummies, my boyos are snoozing away. They’re all clean, smelling nice, and completely wiped out… because ya know, taking a bath is stressful business for a dog.

Well, that’s it for today folks. I’ll catch y’all on the flip side, which for some of you means at church. And I promise, I’ll make sure I’m all bathed and smelling nice for Sunday. Hahaha!

What are you grateful for today?