Mud, mud, glorious mud

I've always had a crush on Gene Wilder. In "The Producers," he plays Leo Bloom, a nervous accountant who is prone to attacks of hysteria. In one classic scene when Bloom is in the middle of a hysterics attack, Zero Mostel's character, Max Bialystock, throws a glass of water at Bloom to calm him down. Bloom responds: "I'm wet! I'm hysterical and I'm wet!"

What does this have to do with one German Shepherd named Dieter? Well, the dear boy loves to dig a hole where the sump pump water jets into the yard. Today he was working at enlarging the hole and was coated in mud from his paws to his underside. We brought him onto the deck and hooked his leash up to a support to keep him from spreading the mud too far. That was part-one of his hysteria. Then we hooked up the garden hose and washed the little mud puppy off on the deck. By that time, he was doing a great Leo Bloom impersonation.

Neither hysterical nor wet here.

The whole event turned out not to be so bad, because Dieter loves to try to play tug-o-war with me when I try to towel him off or dry off his paws. He also shook himself dry and managed to splatter his human pals with the water, too. So much fun.

He's all nice and dry now, has had his dinner, and is thinking of other dastardly deeds to attempt.