A Little Extra This, A Little Extra That...

Oh, my sweet girl, Extra. We're having one of those days again around here.

Last time we're pretty sure that she had an "incident" because she ate the fertilizer we'd just put on the grass. It's a fancy non-toxic "safe for kids and pets" kind of fertilizer. The guy at the store said specifically that, "You could let your dog eat it right out of the bag, and it wouldn't kill her."

It's true. It won't kill the dog. But you might wish it had. Because, as we found out the hard way, the result is very messy. Very smelly. Very, very, nasty. But at least she's alive, and there's one corner of my house where the dog kennel is kept that is super-duper disinfected.

(duper? What is duper? Can anyone tell me, please??)

After that last time, she spent about a week solid outside. I was pretty sure that I was never going to let her back in.

But then I got sentimental about it. I felt bad about her being outside all the time...wouldn't she be more comfy inside? (see what you've done to me, Mom?) So she came back in.

And, after escaping the yard yesterday and getting into who knows what, it happened again last night. Only worse. I actually gagged at the smell.

So now she and her brother are back outside. I think it's for good this time, at least for her. I know, I know, she's used to being an inside dog. She's so good. She can't help it that she was sick. I'm so mean and cruel.

But for those of you who think I should let her back in, just picture this: Oh, never mind. I was going to go into grotesque detail about how our house smelled and looked at 4 AM this morning, and then ask you to picture my little Thomas just learning to crawl in the middle of the whole mess. But I won't. Trust me. It's an awful thought.

And hey, I was just cruising through some of my favorite links, and found that I'm not alone. There are other dogs out there who, after spending time as a house dog, are now outside dogs...all due to their gross and smelly doggy ways. I'm in good company.