Living With Oreo

It's been awhile since I've posted about Oreo. Nothing much has changed regarding our favorite (read only) Portuguese Water Dog. He sleeps, he eats, he gets walked.

But the other day, Oreo did engage in one of his favorite pasttimes, namely rolling around in digusting things. Whereas you and I might live by the motto "Stop and smell the roses", Oreo's guiding principle in life is "Stop and smell the disgusting rotting animal matter and then, if possible, roll around in it."

Cheryl and Sarah took Oreo for his evening constitutional and made the fatal mistake of letting him off his leash. To Oreo, that just means an open invitation to find the most revolting and smelly things he can and then cover himself in it. This time, it was fecal matter.

Oreo's little misadventure meant, of course, that there was an unscheduled bath for the pup that night. Not something that Cheryl and Sarah had planned but not something they could avoid either. Luckily, for me, I could opt out.

I remain amazed, puzzled and disgusted by our dog's penchant for rolling around in anything that has rotted and stinks to high heaven. Sadly, I think this is standard operating procedure for all dogs. One would think that if you've been given an enhanced sense of smell, you would want to use if for good rather than evil.

For dogs, however, the world of smell is topsy turvy. In fact, I suspect if Oreo were presented with roses, Chanel No. 5 or pure vanilla, he would turn up his nose. Now a sizzling T-bone steak - that's a different matter. At least we have one olfactory thing in common.