Because it's been unseasonably warm on the East coast of the USA this year, the ground has never frozen. This means that any rain creates a muddy situation because we've lost some grass in the yard in different places.

In addition, our little alpha dog, Declan, takes some strange pleasure in chasing our tri-color Collie, Dougie, all around the place. I call it "training," but I think it's really a herding instinct that's being fostered by their behaviors.

When the "training" is done, it's time to go back into our house.den. And, that's the time for feeot cleaning. This involves, of course, cleaning the dogs' feet so that all the mud & dirt they managed to collect doesn't become part of our decor.

Here's a shot of two of our Shetland Sheepdogs, Declan & Lily, immediately prior to having their feet cleaned:

You can see the old towels we saved for this purpose over Declan's head in the background. And, that's a piece of Dougie on the right-hand side of the picture. _________________________________________________________________________