Getting peed on

While I have two daughters and they are the pride and joy of my life, I also have two dogs and they are the humor in my life. Riley is a 90 pound Wiemaraner. He is a beautiful shade of grey, with haunting light blue eyes. He is rather obtuse, oblivious to the existence of any other creatures in the house, including humans. Reggie is a 5 pound toy rat terrier. Reggie is a tiny chocolate colored dog with large stand-up ears. He is often mistaken for a chihuahua, but his legs are longer and his body leaner than any chihuahua I've seen.  I maintain his face looks as much like a bat as it does a dog. 

You can imagine the attention they attract when we walk them together. Few people can pass without commenting on them. A recent problem has developed as these two young males have decided they want to leave their mark on every tree, shrub and rock that we pass on walks. When Riley decides he has sniffed out the perfect place to lift his leg, Reggie thinks he had better race him in to mark the spot first. This most often results in Reggie getting peed on, unless the human walking them prevents it.

On a recent summer evening my 20 year old daughter, Emily was walking the dog and Reggie was indeed marked by Riley. When she returned from the walk, she decided to give both dogs a bath. Neither dog is particularly fond of baths, but are quite fond of treats. You can usually get them to come to you and cease whatever they are doing,  by simply shouting "Who wants a treat?" So, Emily grabbed a couple treats and went to the bathroom and shouted "Who wants a treat?" Both dogs came running. Emily grabbed up Reggie and attempted to close the door behind Riley. But Riley recognized what was happening and without even taking his treat ran out the door and to his crate. 

In our house, the dogs' crates are their homes. It's a safe haven, and Riley at almost 2 years old, has learned this lesson well. The door to his crate was closed, so he barked and stared, barked and stared until I came and opened the door for him. There he sat, in his crate for the entire time that Reggie got his bath. 

When Reggie gets out of the bath he runs madly through the house in fits and starts, madly throwing himself against all surfaces to dry off: carpets, furniture, legs, even toys. When Reggie's drying tour led him into the room where Riley sat safely in his crate, Riley realized that his sibling rivalry was stronger than his aversion to baths. Indeed, he did not want Reggie to have anything he didn't have. He pushed ope the door to his crate, walked into the bathroom, climbed into the tub and barked until my daughter came in and gave him a bath. At least I got two clean dogs out of the deal.