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Dear Nanny Fran,
I have a very special sweetheart who needs
a bath. She is 60 pounds and with my bad back I find home bathing
difficult. What do you recommend?
There are many wonderful groomers in the
county; however, there are “special needs” children and
children that professional groomers refuse to groom. There are also
“special needs” owners. I am one of them. I need to
love my Amy! I need to spend time with her hugging her, telling her
how much I love her, telling her how thankful I am that God has let
her be in my life through all kinds of life threatening aliments,
etc. I sure there are many “special needs” people in
the county like myself.
I buy the highest quality foods for her
because I want her to stay healthy and be with me for forever! The
only way to guarantee that is with an excellent diet and all the
love in the world!
With this in mind I discovered Munchies, a
health food store for pets, in the Forest Lakes Plaza in Oldsmar. I
had the most fantastic experience there with my Amy. Munchies has
an area in the back of the store where Amy and I had our
“quality time together” and she got a bath — from
me. No, I didn’t clip her nails; although, clippers were
available. She and I take many walks so her nails don’t
really need tending to. Shampoo was provided and I used it. Many
varieties are available in the store.
The bathing tub is elevated and there are
lovely carpeted (no slip) steps leading up to a larger platform at
the end of the tub. The tub itself is the size of the average
bathtub and it has a special floor that allows all water and hair
to simply disappear under the puppy’s feet. There is one
simple water nozzle to operate that has about a 5 foot long hose
attached. I was able to easily reach every square inch of
Amy’s body with the hose. I also want to mention that I was
grateful for the elevated, carpeted (again no slip) platform that
is on the floor next to the tub. If that had not been in place I
would have had a difficult time reaching all of Amy’s body to
massage in the lovely shampoo and then again massage the area as I
was rinsing it. I am only 5'5" tall. Before we arrived at Munchies
I had groomed Amy to remove a great deal of undercoat. She’s
a short haired dog; however, they shed as much or more as any long
haired dog. I recommend grooming; I prefer the Furminator, and
removing any tangles or mats before the bath, not after.
I want to describe the pure joy I felt as
I hugged my sweetheart. She was totally at ease in the quiet
environment. While soaping her up, rinsing her and towel drying her
I was very well aware that I was noticing any lumps or masses
anywhere on her body. Early detection saves lives. I know this for
sure!
Guess what! She knew in those moments how
extra special she was. She knew that she was the center of my
universe. She was not competing with other people or animals for my
attention. She felt my loving energy go straight into her heart and
soul… how lucky we both were to share the experience.
For information you can telephone Munchies
at 813-925-0449. You will need to call ahead to schedule an
appointment. They also have a heated therapeutic bath for sore
muscles, rehabilitation after surgery, etc. You most certainly need
to call ahead to reserve an appointment for the heat therapy.
© 2007 Francene Mattucci. All Rights
Reserved.
Francene Mattucci founded Never Say Good
Bye Pet Sitting Service in 1994. Call 727-512-3206, visit
www.TampaBayPetCare.com or email
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
with
questions for this column.
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