First Bath!

I knew that I wanted to get Jane in our tub for a bath sooner rather than later as I had no idea how she'd handle it, but I didn't want to wait to find out until it was absolutely necessary.  So yesterday I made it a goal to give her a bath.  At first I wasn't sure how to start because I used to be able to tell Beren to take a bath and he'd climb in the tub.  Of course, when I tried to tell Jane this, she had no idea what I meant.  I eventually realized I'd have to pick her up.  I'd never done that before and didn't know if she'd be okay with me doing that.  Thankfully, Jane is probably the most tolerant dog I've ever met.  I mean, she's a bit scared of absolutely everything because so much is new to her, but she likes me enough that she tolerates whatever I ask of her.

Anyways, once I got her in the tub, I was slow to introduce water and kept it only on her legs.  I slowly worked my way up until I thought I had her completely soaked.  She was doing really well so I decided to continue and soap her up.  She seemed to like me rubbing soap all over her.  But I discovered that quite a lot of her hair was actually still quite dry.  I definitely hadn't remembered how difficult it is to get a dog's hair actually wet.  But we eventually got there.  I also had forgotten how long it takes to rinse the soap out of their fur.  I finally was ready to dry her off.  I also had forgotten how difficult it is to dry a dog's fur with just towels, but I got her hair brushed well and eventually we just went outside for the breeze to finish drying her.  I couldn't believe how shiny and pretty her coat looked!  And once it was completely dry, I was shocked at how much softer she felt.  

We ended the day with the first real cuddles where I finally got her to be in my lap.  It's been a joy seeing her grow more comfortable and happier every day with us.