We were walking through our pretty flower fields again, the little purple ones blooming here and there above the grass, as they do so beautifully.
After we ran a short sprint, Macy dropped to the ground and began rolling around in the cool grass with her belly up to soak up the sunshine.
I love when she does this because the elation on her face just makes me so happy! She snorts and lets her tongue hang out as she rolls. Then I usually indulge her by kissing her all over her wonderfully fuzzy belly. There is nothing like playing with a very happy dog!
Unbeknown to us, however, there was danger lurking.
The grass in this field has been growing rapidly and is already quite deep. What neither she nor I realized was that--hidden deep within this particular patch of grass--there was the unfortunate remnants of another dog's droppings.
When I noticed the smushed inconvenience beginning to smear itself all over the beautiful fur of her darling back, I began to yell, "Oh, Macy! Oh, no! Get up! Oh, Macy! Oh, dear!"
But, of course, she was too happy rolling around to think anything of it. She probably thought my exclamations where joyful ones, because I usually make happy squeals when I see her rolling. It's like I want to participate somehow, at least with my voice.
Finally, after lots of rolls, she got up.
And then she looked at me rather...bewildered. Was there...something...wrong?
Our minds became clouded with a horrible smell. We ran home, but of course the smell followed us. No matter how fast we ran, it managed to keep up with us. It was like we were being chased by something terribly awful, only the reality was that it was hitching a ride on poor Macy's back!Once home, my girl was definitely IN for it! She undoubtedly needed a bath and a good scrub-down! I barely had the time for this because I needed to take a shower myself before darting off with some friends to an event, but I was going to have to make the time. There was no way I could let her into my house looking like this!
I hooked her up to my deck and went in to get her doggie shampoo, the hot pink scrubbing / massaging gloves I got at the pet store, three fluffy towels, and (of course) her little orange rubber duckie. This aquatic adventure would be a first for both of us. I made sure I was wearing crappy clothes.
Her tail tucked itself between her legs, and her sad little face seemed to express sorrow for having gotten herself so dirty. But I loved her every second, praising her as I scrubbed while reassuring her that we all can get dirty sometimes.
When I turned off the hose, she was a sad, soapy mess. Her beautifully thick coat of fur had absorbed a few gallons of water. I then rinsed her clean, let her dry off for a bit, and then welcomed her into the house and pat her down with those fluffy towels.
Then I rushed off into the bathroom to take a shower myself. Ironically, I couldn't find a towel when I got out of the shower, and when I did locate one, it was a crappy thin one, which left me somewhat damp...and also jealous of Macy.
Shortly thereafter, my friends John and Greg had arrived, ready for our departure for an evening out with friends. But the unfortunate smell seemed to remain.
"Does it smell like poop in here?" I self-consciously asked. Both guys shrugged. They seemed to neither notice nor care, really. They were just eager to get going.
So off we went, leaving Macy at home.
Later, when we were all about to drive home, John said to me, "Oh yeah...when you get home, you might want to look behind Macy's ear."
"What!?" I asked.
"There's a little something behind it," he said.
With horror, I learned that when I got home I would see a sizeable bit of something tucked behind her ear. Supposedly I had missed it during my cleaning of her; and this, you see, was the reason for the lingering smell which the guys conveniently pretended not to notice. Argh!!
So why didn't John tell me?
"I didn't want us to run any later than we already were," he laughed. And Greg laughed, too. Argh! Boys!!! Do they not care that the health and dignity of my sweet Macybaby had been compromised?!
At least it made for an interesting story to tell!
