Choya's First Bath at Home

If the government can close nail salons, hairdressers and barbershops, it's only logical to close pet groomers too. I'm thankful that Choya's fur doesn't grow long like a Sheltie or a poodle's. Her double-coat never needs a trim, and daily brushing should soothe any itches and rake out stray hair in her undercoat. While the Shiba Inu is a ridiculously high shedding breed, when it comes to grooming and personal hygiene, they're fairly low-maintenance overall.

I have no issues with the trimming of nails either. Even with the lockdown circuit breaker regulations in place, we play by the rules, and the dog will do short bursts of sprinting with either of us on her twice-a-day walks/runs. The amount of walking is sufficient to file down her nails and keep them manageable. The groomer doesn't have to trim it much either. In January, I bought a nail grinder, in anticipation of lockdown measures. The nail grinder is useful during these two months.

Which brings us to the niggly bit about baths. Apparently she loves swimming, but doesn't quite fancy the bath or a shower. Her groomer is always amused at how timid and silent she goes when she turns up for her monthly baths. A Shiba Inu technically only requires a shower once every six weeks. They're super clean. Choya gets her paws disinfected, wiped and moisturized daily. She's also wiped down after every walk. We won’t have the luxury of the groomer’s help now. For these two months, we'll have to bathe her ourselves. 

It was finally time for Choya to have a bath. Her injured paw is still healing, but it isn't serious enough for the bath to be postponed. Grabbed her into the shower cubicle and washed her down. Not much of a struggle there. She didn't mind warm water washing over her legs and her butt first. Rubbed in the shampoo with hands and a brush. Left her face and snout to the end. She doesn't like her face and snout being rinsed, but I can get it done without water going into her ears.

Once done, she shook off the excess water and then got rubbed down with a towel. Then we carried her out to the patio to be blown dry with the hair dryer. Hurhurhur. Singapore's heat makes it convenient for her to dry out fairly fast and not catch a chill. The last thing we did was to brush her fur and her teeth, and wiped the ears dry deep. She seemed perfectly fine after the bath, and merrily rolled around on the floor and carpet. She got a fair chunk of cheese out of the whole thing. Oof.