Big, Hairy Dog

This story starts with my dog, Gatsby. He wasn't always my dog. My youngest son, Logan, got Gatsby in the second semester of his first year in medical school. Gatsby is a Beauceron, a French Shepherd, and the small puppy that showed up in early 2013 soon grew into a wonderful 105-pound dog.

Gatsby spent a lot of time with me over the four years that Logan was in medical school. By the time he left for residency, I had claimed Gatsby as my own.

Recently, Logan flew in to spend 36 hours with us before spending the rest of his short break with his wife. He arrived late on Wednesday night, and the first thing he did on Thursday was to announce that Gatsby needed a bath.

Gatsby likes water a lot... especially creek water, pond water, and puddle water. Yet, he does not like bathwater at all.

Even though I had to admit he had that distinct doggy smell and was in full shed mode, bathing him in my house was not anywhere on my list of pre-Christmas activities.

Logan prevailed. He gathered dog shampoo, a water pitcher, three big towels for Gatsby (plus one towel for himself), and a dog brush. Then Logan closed the bathroom door and gave Gatsby his first bath in at least a year.

I must give Logan his due. Gatsby emerged with a shiny, fluffy coat and even pranced around a bit so we all could admire him.

But, but, but, when I went into the bathroom and saw the pile of dog hair that was left in the bathtub, my appreciation for the work Logan had done vanished. The tub was full of wet, black dog hair

And the tub stayed that way all day Thursday.

When I mentioned that the bathroom needed to be cleaned up, Logan ignored me. I mentioned it again, still no response. By mid-day, our Christmas Eve festivities had started, and I stopped suggesting that Logan should clean "his" mess.

But after some Christmas Cheer, I saw the situation in an entirely new light.

I realized that bathing the dog was not just Logan's job or my job; it was a team job. Gatsby was OUR dog. And OUR dog needed a bath.

Logan's TEAM GATSBY role was to get a very reluctant 105-pound dog into the bathtub and keep him there long enough to bathe him. That is not something I could ever do.

My role in TEAM GATSBY was less strenuous but also important.

When I finally viewed bathing this giant dog as a Team Project, our individual skills were well deployed.

I'm part of this wonderful team composed of many different teammates who come into and out of my life. They make contributions only they can make, and I will continue to make my own unique contributions when I can.

And I'll try to do it even when I'm "drafted" to be on the team. BTW I closed the bathroom door and waited for the tub to dry. On Friday, I used a vacuum cleaner to suck up the hair. I may not bring the muscle to the team, but I brought my brain.