For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 17, 2013

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    curmudgeon68  over 11 years ago

    Thank you Cesar.

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    arye uygur  over 11 years ago

    I remember this one. When I was a kid we had a little dog who would suddenly become vicious and fearsome when she sensed she was going to be bathed. She would get behind the toilet bowl and the only way we get her to the sink was for me to clip on her leash (if I dared to get near her) and pull her. Once in the bath she began to love it.

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    ellisaana Premium Member over 11 years ago

    says ellisaana less than a minute ago

    I seem to have struck a nerve yesterday with my comment about cellphones vs watches. Many of you like your watches. That is fine, for you. (sorry for this long ramble, but here goes:)I own a few wrist watches, but rarely wear one. Years ago, my mom gave me a beautiful gold analog watch as a graduation gift. It kept great time, on my dresser. Every time I put it on my arm, it would go crazy, gaining or losing time at random. Took it to 2 different jewelers. Both said it kept perfect time while they had it. Apparently, it became magnetized when it was on my arm.The first few battery operated watches I tried would do the same thing. Since I needed to know the time during work, I finally found a cheap digital watch which kept time. It was ugly as sin and it made my skin break out. Or I would snag it on something while working. I ended up carrying the watch in my pocket. (couldn’t carry a purse. I had too much other stuff to haul around. (clipboards, cameras, rulers, various tools and gauges, my glasses)The moment I retired, I ditched the watch. I carry 4 things: a small wallet, my glasses (sun or inside – one pair on my face, one in my pocket) and a cellphone.The phone displays the time on its face. It is a place to store my grocery list and a calendar for doctor appointments. It has a calculator, a camera and an alarm clock (if I want to nap) I rarely use it to call anyone. I don’t talk on it while driving and if it rings while I am out in public, I push a button and send the call to voice mail.To the person who said it was “incredibly rude” to look a cellphone to get the time; is it more rude to surreptiously glance at the face of a phone when you aren’t in a conversation with someone, or to be constantly glancing at your wrist while some is talking to you?The fourth thing in my pocket? I always carry a pen. Not quite as good a weapon as a pencil, but it will do in a pinch. Plus, I never know when I might have the inspiration to write poetry. I have never learned how to type with accuracy.

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    ellisaana Premium Member over 11 years ago

    That is too true. It’s uncanny how dogs can differentiate between words: ride, walk, bath; even when spoken in the same “happy” voice.

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    Keith Kunz  over 11 years ago

    dogs like water but hate baths. its because dogs in the wild don’t bath the dirt helps keep them cool.

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    Hawthorne  over 11 years ago

    I never say where we’re going; I just say ’let’s go’, and assume full cooperation. Which is what I get, which is good, because they are large and I am small, and also old and infirm.

    If they discover that, I could be in trouble!

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    jeanie5448  over 11 years ago

    we spell a lot around our dog. She knows go, bye bye, bath, treat or cookie, walk, and vet. She also knows when it is time for her flea/heartworm pill and hides. lol

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    IndyMan  over 11 years ago

    At least, we finally get reminded that poor, lovable, Farley is still with us. How I love him.

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    alondra  over 11 years ago

    That’s good advice for bathing the cat too. You can’t hold the cat and try to get stuff together, that cat will squirm. If she senses it’s bath time she goes to hide under the bed. So I get everything ready and casually pick the cat up off the bed, give her a few cuddles and calmly bring her to the sink. Then she sees what’s going to happen but it can take place much quicker and be over and done with sooner without as much grief.

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    loves raising duncan  over 11 years ago

    John, you know better than to say the “B” word!

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    route66paul  over 11 years ago

    I have found that a tall kitchen trash can makes a great bathtub for cats. 6 in of soapy water and you can hold them down and wash them. It is almost impossible for them to get out(claws can’t get anything to hook onto – except you).

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    angusdad  over 11 years ago

    I just went through this last week. We didn’t say a word, but he knew and hid under the desk. The funny thing is, once we get him in the tub, he likes it. I had a dog once that all I had to do was tap the side of the tub and she would jump in.

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    summerdog86  over 11 years ago

    Dogs hate baths because baths strip them of their “doggy smell”. That’s why they roll in smelly stuff right after a bath. They want that “doggy perfume” aura around them to feel comfortable.

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    gobblingup Premium Member over 11 years ago

    Maybe saying "treat’ will counteract that?

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    danlarios  over 11 years ago

    if you can read this your good

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    sbwertz  over 11 years ago

    I swear they can read our minds. I can just THINK about taking my dog for a walk and he starts to dance. He is half sharpei and has a problem with fungus in those tiny tightly folded ears. If I even think about putting drops in his ears, he is GONE. I suppose it is some kind of body english they read.

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    Gretchen's Mom  over 11 years ago

    Whenever we give our dog a bath, it’s never discussed in her presence (or, if it is, we have to spell it out) because she knows the word “bath” VERY well and runs under the bed to hide if she hears it. The same with her bath supplies. I always have to gather them together when she’s not looking because if she sees me with her shampoo, conditioner, towel, hair dryer and rubber sink mats (we bathe her in our kitchen sink because she only weighs 9 lbs.), she knows what that means and again, I have to pull her out from underneath our bed. I don’t think she’d mind getting a bath half as much as she does if it didn’t include having to get her face wet but I’m afraid there’s just no getting around it; her face has to be washed and rinsed too. For a 9-lb. dog, she can REALLY put up a fight though! One person alone can’t do it so it’s a tag-team job for both my husband and me when it’s time for her to have one. Luckily she loves being blow-dried so that’s not a problem and then afterwards, she runs around and acts really crazy (we call her our “wild child” when that happens!). It seems as though she’s happy to be clean and fresh-smelling again . . . she just hates the process that gets her there!!!!! ;-)

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    koakley1  over 11 years ago

    I sing to my dogs and talk in an excited, happy voice (WOW!!! What a wonderfuly little puppy you are!!!) while giving them a shower. They don’t seem to mind it too much, especially since they know they’ll get a treat afterwards.

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