I LOVE poo. I like a munch on sheep poo, a good bit of horse poo while out for a walk and I like to check out and sniff that of my fellow hounds. My favourite by far is fox poo. I can’t help it. It sings to me, calls out and entices me. It doesn’t matter how much She Who Should Be Obeyed bellows and waves treats at me I just have to stay with it. And roll in in. And roll and roll and roll.
I am not alone. Jess has a more subtle approach. She likes to dab it behind her big floppy ears. This is particularly effective as SWSBO doesn’t see it and only finds it once we have been allowed back in the house and the aroma permeates the living room. I have short sticky up ears so I have to make do with a good roll. The foxes are cunning, and hide it in the entrances to rabbit holes, but Big Ears and I have become experts at seeking it out. The best time to do it is on a dry day when we have been taken out for a walk by car so there is no chance of it being washed off before we get home and the people in the car hang out of the windows.
When we get home SWSBO deploys hers secret weapon. First of all we are tied to the fence to prevent escape, and then we are left to contemplate the error of our ways while she goes in doors… and then she appears with it…
Tomato ketchup. I hate it. SWSBO rubs it all over us, paying particular attention to our necks and collars. It is quite funny when it happens to Jess, as, being white, it turns her pink for a few days. Thankfully nothing terrible happens to me. Then she leaves us there, still tied to the fence, for a few minutes while she gets the hose pipe ready and finds the dog shampoo. This makes me whimper and shake but she is mean and doesn’t seem to care. The smell of fox poo and ketchup is worse than the small of the poo alone, it has to be said, or rather so she says but that doesn’t stop her. Here is a picture of me, smelling fine and dandy, awaiting the ketchup!
After we have been left to fester for a minute or two she washes the whole lots off and then applies some dog shampoo and rinses again. This is really hateful. We now smell totally disgusting… all fresh and fragrant. At this point I like to run up the garden and roll in as much mud as possible, but sadly the heady musky smell of the poo has gone completely. It’s a trick she learnt on holiday in America apparently. They use tomato juice to remove the smell of skunk spray and the ketchup is a ‘great’ alternative’.
I feel sorry for her really… I may hate the ketchup treatment… but it won’t stop me. Not ever!
Grrr!
Diggers xxx
