[Gpdd] Care: bathing and dandelions

[Carla Martinez]

Wheeks and thanks for the dandelion info. Several people wrote to say their
pigs love the homegrown dandelions, but Christina's comment made me think,
maybe we have different kinds? I haven't put on any fertilizer in awhile so
will probably just wash our dandelions with Veggie Wash and see if Snickers
and Snowball like them. Tomorrow or the next day when it quits raining I'll
go outside and see if it has the sticky milky sap and see if the leaves are
too thorny. I think we do have the ones with the white sap although it is
worth a re-check. That's still okay, right?

About baths, Leah was saying she is afraid to bathe Brownie Bear. So I want
to reassure you Leah that I felt the same way! I thought Oh they're so
sensitive, they'll be upset. Maybe they'll even lose trust in me. But I had
to give them a lyme dip so I summoned up my courage to bathe them, dreading
it the whole time. To bathe them one at a time, I randomly picked the first
victim, the one who seemed to need it the most:  Snowball. I had my husband
standing by to help if they struggled and protested too much.

I put a little water in the kitchen sink, up to his ankles (or was it knees?
:) and poured nice comfortable warm water on his little back. And then some
pet shampoo from the vets. And surprise, surprise! He liked it! Or else he
is just a very docile and sweet piggie. And his not-so-docile companion,
Snickers, liked it too. It was great. A super bonding experience, you need
to get brave and try it! Afterwards I wrapped them in towels and let them
sit on a covered heating pad turned low til they were mostly dry. They
looked like furry little innocent babies peeking out of their towels, so
cute! (It just makes me shiver to see how cute they are.) So over three
weeks I bathed them both three times each and they did great. Really! It was
not bad! It's kind of fun. Now run and go bathe your Brownie Bear and tell
us how it went! You know she deserves it! : )

Carla, Snickers and Snowball