stinky, stinky stinky? HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY!!

I'm seriously considering sticking my dogs in a Hefty bag. Sticking them in a Hefty bag, tying the ends TIGHTLY shut, and then putting said back out on the curb. Why such drastic measures? Because my dogs SMELL. They smell BAD. Almost indescribably bad. And I don't know why. I went to work today, then went to the grocery store, and then came home. I grabbed some of the groceries and carted them into the house, where I was immediately jumped by my attack dogs. I bent down to say a quick hello, and then ushered them outside to potty. I grabbed the rest of the groceries and went back in the house. I bent down again to give the girls a more proper and thorough greeting and that's when it hit me. The stench. That smelly smell of something that smells smelly. It smelled like old, rancid, left-on-the-counter-too-long goat cheese...with metallic overtones...like someone had added rusty nails to the mix. I smelled it on Shelby first. I was a little overwhelmed. She followed me into my bedroom when I went to change, and jumped up on my bed. Then my mom came in, and went to say hello to the girls too. "Don't pet Shelby!" I warned. She asked why, and I told her to have a good sniff. "Oh my GOD, what IS that?!" she asked. THAT is a very good question...

I took her into the bathroom and decided to try and wash some "stank"off. Yeah. It turns out my wipees that I use for emergency "bummy checks" dried up. I tried re-hydrating them by running some water over them, but to no avail. They did not come back to life. Their slightly flowery scent did not return. Damn. I didn't have anything else. Oooh! Lets try some essential oils! Those are good and strong, and the few I have Shelby seems to like. I put a few drops on my hands, rubbed them together and applied to Shelby's head. Then I crossed my fingers and smelled my dog in some bizarre, backwards version whats supposed to happen.

No change! Now she just smelled like old, rancid goat cheese with essential oils added in! Dammit!!!! Well, there's nothing I can do about it right this second. I had other stuff to do, like make dinner, iron and some other things around the house. It wasn't hurting her, and I just figured I could snuggle and kiss parts of her body other than her face and head. Then I bent down to take a toy from Heidi and I smelled it on HER TOO. Did she get it from Shelby?!?!? Was it spreading like some form of noxious gas???

Now I was not only completely bemused, but...a little worried. Having a stinky smell on one dog was bad enough, but...what if they both got into something? I figured Shelby might have rolled in something outside, or stuffed her head onto something...because that's what she does. She rolls in smelly seaweed at the beach, and head-presses and rubs after eating. She also eats poop. Heidi does gross things too, but different types of gross things: eating socks and undies, and licking body stuff-like her scabs on her surgery site and blood (eeeewwww....) So the thought of them both eating something gross is odd...and scary.

I looked EVERYWHERE. They only have access to the kitchen, living room and my bedroom when we're not home. I just cleaned the house on Wednesday. And we always make sure everything is picked up before we go in the morning. I couldn't find anything. Not on the carpets, floors or furniture. I thought maybe one of them had gotten sick and they both ate it ? (Yeah, I know. Even though they're Shelties, they're not all perfect all the time!) I found nothing. Then I searched outside. Still nothing. I'm really puzzled.

All I know right now is that not only am I going to be rearranging my schedule to fit baths in in the next few days, but I'm also going to be keeping an eye out for anything weird: any weird behaviors or any weird physical signs that they did ingest something not meant for Shelties to eat.

On a happier note, Heidi continues to improve day by day. She has no more scabs and her scar is nice and pink (which equals healthy!) She does have a few more fluid pockets that are from suture reaction; some of her internal sutures are making her skin angry-they are making little pustules that rupture and which allows the suture to poke through. The surgeon told me to pull them...so I did. I've removed about 6-7 inches (in various sized pieces) from the little wounds. I've kept them clean and put antibiotic ointment on them, and most of those are healed too...although I did find one or two that haven't burst yet when I checked her tonight.

We've been to the beach twice, and will continue to build up all of our strength and stamina. She's playing tug with her toys like a FIEND and just wants to go Go GO!. Shelby's humoring her and playing with her a bit, but shes definitely enjoying getting out and about too...and being able to chase the birds again! The weather is getting nicer, so we'll all get more active over the next few weeks. Hopefully by the time the really nice weather comes, we'll be in decent shape to really get out and enjoy it! (More on that later).

Keep your fingers and paws crossed for us and the smell. I'm so used to snuggling and kissing them all over; I'm like some weird drug addict who huffs my dogs. They each have their own individual sweet smell: like the mixtures of the various places we go outdoors, essential oil blends that we use for flea/tick repellant and just overall cleanness. I have to say my dogs are NOT the stinky kind...they don't even usually smell when they get wet! I'm hoping the baths will do the trick. Otherwise, we will be DESPERATELY looking for some kind of "doggy febreeze"...or some Sheltie sized Hefty bags!