As I mentioned in another thread, I’m currently house-sitting for my brother and his wife while they’re on their honeymoon. This includes taking care of two cats and two dogs - one husky/malamute mix and one mix of that and “Who the hell left the damn door open when the dog’s in heat?” (golden retriever). I’m well-versed in caring for cats as I’ve had them my entire life, so the cats are easy. Food, water, cuddles, kisses and 'Don’t scratch me!'s. Dogs are trickier for me. I know the whole food/water/walks/treats thing, but their behavior is harder to figure out. For instance, the female dog (the husky/malamute) Nalla stood in front of the television this afternoon while I was watching EastEnders and howled every time someone spoke. I’m not sure if she was just trying to get my attention or if the East End London accents were hurting her delicate ears, but it was annoying, especially when I was trying to lust after the oldest son of the Ferreira family on the show. We went for a walk. The minute we got back inside, she started howling again. She howls for no reason, apparently. If the wind blows, she howls. If I breathe, she howls. I’m learning to ignore her.
However, I’ve been sitting here reading email for awhile now, and about an hour ago, I began to smell something…well, putrid. I looked around. It smelled like one of the cats had taken a dump in the computer room. I didn’t see a cat, nor did I see evidence of this supposed dump. I got up and went out of the room, then came back and the smell was gone. I shrugged it off as being my imagination and went back to my email. This happens again. Again, I dismiss it. Then it happens one more time. I turn around and Nalla is on the bed, Simba is laying on the floor. Nalla’s staring at me as the smell wafts under my nose again. And I swear to God…she’s smiling at me. And then I realize what’s happened - that smell isn’t from one of the cats - it’s coming out of her ass!
Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m a cat person. I don’t recall my cats ever letting a fart out that smelled quite this bad - like a squirrel crawled up this dog’s butt and died. For cats, they can fart pretty well, but they have nothing on this dog. I have no idea what she’s eaten to do this - I’ve given her nothing but food, water, and a Milkbone or two - and she had those earlier in the afternoon. Still, she’s happily laying on the bed ripping them off. And I swear to God, she’s still smiling at me. She could be laughing. Like I said, I’m still trying to learn this whole doggy-body-language thing.
Ava