F*ing Dog

This morning started at 6:00. I put the dog outside and staggered back to my bedroom to pick out what to wear for the day. Then I heard my dog barking like a maniac. What the hell?

I went to investigate and opened the back door to find
1. my dog standing by the fence, barking like a maniac
2. the neighborhood skunk just on the other side of the fence, looking pissed
3. a pungent aroma in the air.

This morning, by 6:02, while I was still half-asleep, I got wrestle my dog into the bathtub and frantically scrub her down. Oh, it was delightful. All the while, my dog was all bewildered and giving me those eyes like, "but mom, why are you being so mean to me?"

Good news: I was able to scrub my dog well enough that she smells almost entirely like shampoo and hardly like skunk at all.

Bad news: All that dog washing in my bathroom has made my bathroom, and, by extension, my house smell like skunk.

Worse news: This has made everything in my house smell like skunk, including the clothes I wore to campus today, which forced me to tell all of my students, "If something smells gross, it's me!"

Worst news: This morning started off cold and rainy. It has progressed to colder and snowy. There's no way I can air any of the skunk stink out.

So now I'm hiding out at home, too afraid to go anywhere 'cause I know I'm saturated with skunk smell. Delightful.

This is why there's dog hair on my bed

This week I goofed off on the photo-taking front, and so, instead of my usual fare, I give you a portrait of my dog. Her name is Sherman (in honor of Sherman Alexie) and she's a pre-owned beastie I picked up from the pound. The white streak on her nose is only on that side. She's special that way.

Dog Loathing

My dog has a persistent and vehement loathing for The Guy. A few weeks after I got her, I had a get-together for Memorial Day at my house. He came, my dog barked at him a lot. She also barked lots at another male friend who came on his own, as well as the married men who looked at her and/or tried to pet her. This is when I began to suspect that my pre-owned dog may have been abused in her past.

Yesterday, I had another get-together. In the past few months, I had begun to think my dog had gotten over her man hatred. She's best buds with my dad and brother and has no problem with guys when we're at the dog park. A while back I let in a guy trying to sell me a security system, and she didn't pay any attention to him at all.

First guests: a married couple. Dog didn't like the guy, but only got bark-y when he tried to pet her, and as the night went on, not even then. Next came some gals and my family. Last came The Guy. He walked in the door, my dog's hackles went up and they were not friends. She seemed to like him a bit when he had a plate of food in front of him, but once the food was gone, so was her good will.

So, my dog still hates The Guy's guts. I feel kind of bad for him, because he does everything right with her, but she still can't stand him. Feels symbolic somehow.