A Spunky Snake and A Clean Dog

I went outside to put some garbage in the garbage toter and ran into a rattlesnake. He was crossing the driveway by the parking area. I ran inside to get the .410 and Rick. Luckily the snake wasn't moving too fast and he was still visible, so Rick shot him. He was a spunky snake because even with his head gone he attempted to coil and raised a good 9" of his forward section straight off of the ground. He was only about 2 1/2' long and was probably heading for the culvert underneath the driveway.

This morning we gave Eric a bubble bath. Rick wanted to do it outside with the garden hose, but I didn't want Eric to get too cold. Also I thought a nice warm bubble bath would feel good on his hips. Even though our master bathroom's tub is a garden tub and slightly sunken in, Rick had to lift Eric into the tub. I used Eric's special shampoo which is a blue-purple color and takes the yellow out of his white coat. Eric is an easy dog to wash. He won't shake unless you get water on his head and he will quietly sit in the tub while you scrub him. I used special gloves that have rubber nubs on the palms. The nubs massage his skin, as well as catch hair. I brushed him and used the blow dryer to help speed the drying process and spritzed him with his doggie cologne. He was all done and ready to go, but we could not get him to step out of the tub. We tried bribing him with pretzels and Milk Bones, but he just couldn't and won't do it. (I had visions of Eric spending the rest of his days in the tub.) When Rick tried to lift him, Eric started snapping at Rick so we had to muzzle Eric. Once muzzled, Rick lifted him out of the tub. Next time I will take Rick's advice and use the garden hose.

For a after bubble bath treat, I gave Eric two little scoops of ice cream in an attempt to apologize for the whole drama of exiting the tub. Literally on the bright side, Eric is so white that he is almost blinding. He looks neon white, if that is possible.