Stink-N-Flea-B-Gone

Why do dogs love to roll in stinky stuff? This is one of Molly's favorite activities and it's a mystery to me. I read that humans can smell about 300 scents and dogs can distinguish about 10,000. But still -- can't they tell the difference between stinky and not stinky? I guess they just have different criteria.

Without the stinky alert, it can be hard to tell when a black dog needs a bath, so I just give her four baths a year. Of course, if she exceeds the stinky threshhold, we make exceptions. A couple years ago there was something heinously stinky in our friends' yard. Molly found it was irresistible... and she had four baths in a week! On one occasion, she was so foul, we hosed her down in the driveway.

Molly was getting quite fragrant, but today that was actually a secondary issue. Something has been eating me alive at night. Bite after bite after bite. Molly's not scratching and I can't see anything on the floors, the sheets, etc., so I decided that a flea bath would be like a bowl of chicken soup: it couldn't hurt.

One of the greatest inventions of this short century has to be the dog wash station at our local pet store. For $10, you can wash your dog (they provide all kinds of fancy shampoos and fragrances), and the tubs are raised so you don't have to bend over! Once in the tub, you clamp a collar to a ring on the wall: there is no escape. Each station also has a high-powered dryer. I'm telling you, they thought of everything. It is such a bargain to make that big mess there and not in my tiny bathroom.

A store employee helped me lift her in and out; Molly refuses to walk up the ramp. There are four tubs, and only one other was occupied; a couple was washing a 100lb German Shepherd who was so distraught, he could hardly move. I used our own flea shampoo first, then washed her again with the fancy stuff. She particularly hates having her face washed, but she endures the bath pretty well, a stoic martyr. The dryer is another story; she absolutely quakes. I know we took care of the stink; I'm hopeful that we also solved the critter issue. But if she finds something else to roll in, we're going right back to Doggie Gitmo: I bought a whole pack of dog wash coupons.