Get Your Stink On

Blueberry is a pretty girl. Actually, we refer to her as our supermodel, because she does have stunning good looks and she is actually very tall for a female greyhound. She's taller than a fair number of males that we meet. She's also a very smart girl. Just ask my husband, since she's almost got him trained. There aren't too many dogs who can steal the food right off your plate and make it disappear within an eyeblink. She knows just how to charm us to get what she wants most of the time, as well. All in all, she has matured from a somewhat wild and unpredictable two year old hound into a reliable and sweet eight year old. She is the alpha dog in the pack, although she rarely does much to assert her authority. She's a true blue brindle, her body is blue (the color grey in greyhounds is referred to as blue) with a few faint blue fawn stripes. A lot of people say that blue dogs have a lot of quirks. I don't find that to be true with her, she's a pretty normal greyhound in most respects. Still, she has one quirk that baffles me.


I should mention that greyhounds are sighthounds. That means that they hunt by sight and not by scent. Sometimes I suspect that Blue didn't get that memo. She seems determined to be a bloodhound, following the instincts of her nose instead of those from her eyes.


Blueberry has to have a certain "stink" to her at all times. She is very particular about it being just so. If it starts to wane, I will often catch her in the bathroom doing this crazy little roll and dance with the bath mat. She'll cock her head and push her body along across the bath mat, her back arched up and doing a crazy dog track like nobody's business. Normally she is very elegant and refined, but in this stink-acquiring moment, she throws all caution to the wind and attacks it with abandon.

It's not just our bath mat that gets the crazy roll treatment, however. After a bath, she goes crazy, rolling against the couch, the dog beds, the carpet, our bed and anything else she can rub up against. Most dogs have the post bath zoomies, but she has perfected it to a hilarious art form. I might also mention that Blueberry seems to live to make us laugh. I have no doubt that if she were human, she'd be doing stand up comedy that everyone would flock to see. The look on her face when you start laughing makes me think that she is laughing along with you. So, when we start laughing during this routine, she really throws herself into it. It doesn't have to be in the house, either. She will do it outside in the yard or even on a walk if she finds a particularly intoxicating aroma. It doesn't matter if she's in the finest collar she owns, when the urge hits, she has to follow it.

I really wish I knew what was so compelling about getting certain odors around her neck that was so motivating for her. It's just one of the things that remains an enigma about our charming girl. I guess we'll just have to be content with watching the show. Hopefully the bath that's planned for Saturday won't send her completely over the edge.