Widow and Luke ... Bath Day Blues

Well, the kids named the new member of our ever-growing family and their choice was as weird as the new member himself. They chose a conglomeration of many suggested names by the readers here at Associated Content, which I initially thought was fair but when I saw what they came up with, well you decide. His name, I thought was Lucky Diego but the kids quickly corrected me that it is in fact L.D. Diego (Lucky Duck Diego). I just call him Waddle. As you know, this story is late and there is a good reason (more like a bad one) for it. It is kind of complicated so I will start at the beginning. Last week, when we got back from the park, my wife and I decided that the dogs were too dirty to enter the house; actually, she accused all of us of this, including me. So, it was now time to get in the long bath line, which formed at the minute you exited the car. I quickly ran to the garage shower to beat the crowds. My wife said that the plan was to wash the pups first since that would probably get the kids really filthy and sweaty. So we ran the water and tested for temperature friendliness and Widow was summarily placed in. Thus ended his long love and trust for us. Note to myself: (Widow hates baths) The moment he was placed in, he went berserks. He was freaking out and splashing water in a giant wave of froth. He kept leaping and squirming and jumping towards the edge of the bath until he managed to go get loose and run squirting out into the house. Note to myself: (Never bath dogs in the house) Widow ran so fast that his wet little paws could not grip the floor properly and there came a series of crashes into the walls as he tried turning the corners in the house. He was wildly trying to make it back to his only house haven, in the closet in my study. Although this totally freaked out the kids and my wife, when the cloud of bubbles and suds had cleared, in the air, there was the image of a terrified Widow, hiding in the corner shivering as if to say, "What the heck was that all about?" After a few seconds of astonishment, the kids burst into uncontrollable laughter. Note to the readers:(about laughter in my house) There are rarely any small laughs where the kids are concerned; both of the kids are like laughter junkies. They can't get enough of it. They have always been that way. Whenever something funny happens they just double up and roll over in laughter and this can be quite embarrassing at times. Once at church, a woman in the front pew across from us reached down to retrieve her collection plate money. She had dropped it and her wig had fallen off. My kids thoroughly embarrassed us. The way my son was howling, I thought that he was going to loose a liver and my little girl was in tears holding her belly. Needless to say, we had to find another church. Having said that, the event that had just transpired and the fact that my wife and both kids were covered with suds after trying to keep freaked out pup in the tub (well, as we looked at each other for a moment the laughter was soon to come). And that is what I entered to find; my wife and kids laughing themselves silly in the bathroom. They were covered in suds along with the freaked out puppy Luke, who is probably even more frightened now witnessing this, and me being totally confused. "So you got Widow all done. That was quick," I said only to be met by more thunderous laughter. Little did I know at the time that little puppy coward was know dripping wet and hiding directly on top of my wireless keyboard which was on the floor in the closet. Finally, they calmed down enough to tell me what had happened and I set out to find the little water coward. He was not hard to track, his wet paw prints were very apparent in the hallway and his inability to negotiate the corners was clear by his little wet head marks that were made from him sliding into the walls again and again. He was backed into the dark closet, his soapy face peering out through the darkness and whimpering until I arrived with a little bribe. The puppy treat soon persuaded him to give up his closet fortress for my drying blanket and snacks. Having regained Widows trust I set my sights for his brother Luke. So with one pup wrapped in a towel, I approach the bath once more. More laughter from inside. I look in to catch the site of Lucky Duck swimming around a petrified Luke. The duck was quacking up a storm and wiggling his tail feathers in excitement. Apparently this was right up his alley and he was delighted. All the while, the pups stared at him in silence as if wondering, "What was this thing doing?" We let Luke sleep in the house that night, considering his life-altering experience and we did not hear a peep out of him or Widow all night long; strange. When I sat down to write of the week's events (in particular Saturday night) I found my keyboard, it was soapy and wet. It took me four days to clean it out before I could get it to work right but I was pleased that the puppies were alright and that I did not need another visit to the doggie therapist.