OUR LITTLE SQUISHY

Squish is one of our dogs, a Boston Terrier, who we love. But Squish has a few "issues" that have come to the spotlight in the last day or two. Yesterday our floor guy started the huge job of refinishing the wood floors in our entryway and kitchen. It's a long process that will take the entire week because they need to be sanded, filled with putty, sanded some more, then sanded again. Then he will seal them, then sand them one last time. After that's all done he will put a couple of top coats on... and hopefully by Friday night... we will be done! Not only is this a pretty dramatic home improvement project, it's costing us a pretty penny, so it's important that we do our best to keep the floors looking nice for as long as possible. This means the dogs and any indoor cats needed to have their toenails clipped. Dodger and Jasmine don't enjoy having their nails clipped, but we can usually get them done with some distraction and other various techniques. Squish, on the other hand, has been impossible to clip for the past six years. He literally loses his mind over it. He starts into these spasms and we can't make him hold still. We've tried holding him down, wrapping him in blankets, distracting him with treats- all for naught! Jeff reminded me that I HAVE to have a solution for him so I decided to make an appointment with our usual groomer to have a bath and his nails clipped. In the past I have avoided doing this because I've been afraid he would be mistreated since he is such an idiot about the whole thing. But, I made the appointment and was just not going to think about how they would do it, put it out of my mind, and pick him up after it was all over. So guess what? Not even the groomer could get the job done!!! I'm serious! Now I was starting to feel really panicked about it. I decided to go to Petco to see if the groomers there could sedate him, or maybe if they had a doggy straight-jacket or something. I talked to them and they said they couldn't help me either unless I was willing to subject him to a technique that sounded, well, downright abusive to me! Now if you knew Squish you would be shaking your head at this point because he is a small dog, so sweet and loving and obedient. I talked to some other people at Petco and finally decided to buy some new clippers and give it another try at home. We got him home and tried all the usual stuff that didn't work- no surprise. Out of desperation I decided to try covering his head in a blanket and had both kids holding him down with all their strength. Slowly, and yes painfully, we got the job done. Woohoo! By the end we were all panting and terribly stressed, but it's done! After he had a treat, we took him to the self-serve doggy wash and gave him the bath he was supposed to get. He didn't like that much either, but most of the fight had left him and he submitted without much trouble. Poor little Squishy. He's had a tough day.