A Losing Battle

Sogn and I have been battling it out for the past few weeks. He likes to roll in rotten fish at the dog park, and I can't live with him after picking maggots out of his collar. Yes, this is gross.

The battle usually goes something like this:

We go to the Minnehaha Falls dog park where Sogn plays in the river with the other dogs. That usually goes well, it's the walk after the swim when we encounter the rotten fish. Sometimes the dead fish are near the river shore, sometimes they are left in areas from which the water has receded - but their location is unpredictable and once Sogn finds a fish and sticks his face in it it's hard to get him out.

The result is unfortunate and usually the full impact of the smell is unknowable until shutting Sogn in the back of the car. At that point, the full effect of the small has become apparent to both Sogn and myself.

Trying to protect the back seat from the Sogn smell

When this happens, I try to leave him in the backyard for a while to air off but that doesn't always do the trick. When airing out doesn't solve the problem and it becomes apparent that Sogn needs a bath the real battle begins. When it's nice out, we can at least have a bath outside. But I feel bad about this because it means I have to tie Sogn to the steps in the back and spray him with the hose. Although I tell him what's going on, he always seems surprised when the water shooting out of the hose is aimed at him.

But, when the weather is bad outside we have to have a bath inside and this is NEVER good. Sogn is smart enough to have realized that going into the bathroom is not a good thing and even though he loves to swim he does not like the bathtub. It's me vs. a 70 lb, wet, soapy dog who is trying his best to climb out of the tub.

Sogn, clean, but moping around the house

Although in both situations I win, because he smells better and I'm confident that after a bath and a brush he doesn't have maggots crawling around in his fur we are both worse for wear. I'm upset because I'm wet, the house is wet and I've usually been stepped on a few times. He's upset because he doesn't know why he got woman-handled and probably also upset because he doesn't smell like fish anymore.

You can be sure he's feeling ashamed when he puts himself in his kennel

I can't wait for the world to dry out a little bit more! I'm hoping this battle ends soon!