Dirty Dorothy

Reader, I have a confession to make [hangs head].  I have not been bathing Dorothy as much as I ought.  My pug, Tulip, pretty much got monthly baths, until she was very elderly -- since her walks then consisted of toddling down the sidewalk with a handbag, say, instead of romping in the mud and underbrush.

But Dorothy is a rough and tumble gal and gets dirty.  She will wrestle with her friend Josie Beagle on the wet sidewalks of downtown Philly.  She will gladly walk in mud.  In short, she walks around the city and gets Philthy and I don't do much about it.

Dorothy, returning home with a muddy face a few months ago, 

upon which she just received a cursory toweling:

When we were in Maine, and had the luxury of a laundry tub, I did give her a bath with the help of my father.

Here she is feeling very sorry for herself:

And then here she is drying off with the help of the sun and fresh Maine breezes:

And she was clean for a while.  And that was nice.  But the time for her next bath came and went and still I did nothing, except wring my hands a bit and wear more perfume up by my nose.

And who knows how long that would have continued, except that a week or so ago I was told by Sean that Dorothy was, well, stinky.  So I did what comes naturally to me and threw money at the problem, even though I don't have money to throw, and made Dorothy an appointment at the groomers.

Sean tried to make Dorothy nervous by telling her that all her brindle bits would get washed off and she would end up a small white poodle.

But I don't want to be a poodle:

But today at 2:00 I brought her down the street to Doggie Style, and she happily trotted off with the groomer, without giving me even one glance.  I got a call at 3:30 that she was ready to be picked up, and she emerged from the back room all sparkly and gleaming!  I had forgotten how white her whites could be!  Her nails were clipped, her ears cleaned, her teeth brushed, and her fur was very soft and sweet-smelling.  And the best part, according to Dorothy, was that while I was paying at the cash register, the shop assistants gave her several treats from a treat bag!  Bliss!  This pleased her so much that I had to pull her across the slippery floor towards the door, her clean legs scrabbling futilely for purchase as she struggled to remain united with the shop girls and the cookies.

Now doesn't she look beautiful?

Too bad the screen is not scratch -n- sniff.