[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka We used to have an outdoor/indoor cat, but I do not mind the cat smell, and she was quite tidy. Though sometimes we'd need to wash her paws if she was outside during the rain, but we never had a "washing sheets because of animal" issue.

I want to say the fur of your dogs is quite short, so maybe that's why there is no lingering smell? I think it's the fur that smalls, mainly, regardless of whether the dog is clean or not.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I've encountered some smelly beagles and other short-haired breeds, so it's not all about the fur. Actually, one of the beagles has a tendency to lick herself and she has rather smelly saliva, but even my mother has a limited tolerance for the smell and she calls it "Exceeding the EU norm of stench" and then the dog goes to the tub. She's actually pretty eager to hop in the tub, because she expects to be given snacks for it. 😂

... Then the other one you have to haul in, because she doesn't want to. She could be hiding under the bed or somewhere downstairs.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Do you use dog shampoo when you wash them? It could also be that, we do not really use any "made-for-dogs" grooming products because those are wasted on outdoor-only dogs, financially speaking.

I wonder what is "the EU norm of stench" these days?

Our dog is more or less indifferent to water. We only wash her in the river, so she does not know what the bath is, but when in the water she is eager to fetch. But when she wants to show her not liking something, she actually refuses treats. For example, sometimes when we have people over, we need to lock her up in the garage. And when we need to do it, we put a little dog treat there fore her to eat and so that she would be more willing to go inside. But she still refuses to go in, and after we make her, as a protest, she leaves the treat untouched.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Yes, I do use special pet shampoo. It generally lasts for a long time, it's the human shampoo that doesn't survive long in that household. 😂

Generally it removes all the scuff from the fur, but if there's something particularly nasty they managed to get into, like a really polluted local stream, then it takes a few rinse cycles (which those dogs don't really have patience for, so recently my parents just had a slightly grey beagle).

Dogs are pretty clever. The older of the beagles is like that too, sometimes no matter how fancy the prize is, you can't convince her to follow.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka My dog is black, so it's convenient, no matter how dirty she may get, you can't really tell 😅 But she actually enjoys being watered down from the hose, though she would always try to "eat the stream", she catches the water stream with her mouth. So it looks like she is thirsty, she does not really like water getting on the outside of her, only inside.

And she enjoys games more than treats, you can't always convince her with treats, but she is always up for a game.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch What games do you play with her?

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Mostly fetch. What other games are there?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I sometimes throw a handful of kibble from a place higher up, for example the upper floor window. Then it gets spread over a larger section of the garden. It's fun to see two noses glued to the ground, running around.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka I guess I could try it from our balcony, but it is not interactive enough for her, when she plays, she likes human to be more actively involved.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Ah, I see. Hounds don't generally find fetching fun. My first beagle would do fetching indoors after a bath, because she was feeling cold. So she would bring a knot to throw it until she was all warmed up, then abandon the play. She also did that on arrival to the cottage house which gets extremely cold in the winter.

The two I have now wouldn't do that. The ginger monkey has shorter attention span than three seconds. The other one is more like 'Great, you threw it, now go bring it back yourself'. But finding hidden stuff is a fine past time for dogs who like working with their noses.

Unfortunately, they are also very good at finding less desirable things.