​​​​​​Because humor is funnier when you know it's true.

Don’t wash, don’t tell: Walking the dog

My friend Beth asked if I’d walk Butch, her Labradoodle, while she was out of town for a week. Husband Bob would be at work during the day, and Butch was a high energy dog who needed a long mid-day walk. She’d happily pay me the going rate for walking the dog.

“I’d be glad to,” I said.

Several days later, I stopped by so Bob could give me a key and show me the ropes. I learned where the leash and harness were kept. Butch stood patiently as Bob showed me how to put them on correctly.

“After he comes in from a walk,” Bob told me, “we wash his paws.” He filled the large kitchen sink with soapy water. “He doesn’t like this part, but he‘s good about it.” Kneeling, Bob put his arms around Butch’s legs, then lifted up the large dog and stood him in the sink.

“That looks unsanitary,” I thought, as Bob washed each paw, drained the water, refilled the sink and rinsed them again. “Not to mention time-consuming.”

Then Bob took a baby wipe from a nearby container, lifted Butch’s tail, and briskly wiped his butt. “We always do this too,” he said.

“Eeeew,” I thought.

He lifted Butch from the sink, put him on the floor and dried his clean paws with a wash cloth.

“You go through this every time he goes out?” I asked. I was beginning to understand how Beth kept her house so clean.

“Yup, He resisted at first.”

“I’ll bet he did.”

“But now he’s okay with it.”

It seemed a little over-the-top to me, but what did I know? I didn’t have a dog. I decided to ask around. Maybe every dog owner performed an in-the-sink paw wash and over-the-counter butt wipe after walking the dog. It could be one of those little dog-owning insider secrets that other folks don’t know about. At work the next day, I queried my dog-owning co-workers.

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