Last week our training and blogging friend KB waxed poetic about how much she loves the smell of her beautiful, brilliant lab K. I chuckled because I feel the same way about Lilly. Don’t get me wrong. After a day playing outside in the pastures, creek, and pond, she definitely smells like a dirty, mountain dog. BUT, her day-to-day scent is sweet. It must be individual, though, because Tom could not disagree more.
He often says his pillow smells like Lilly and that it makes his eyes water. Or, when I rave about how fresh she is after a bath, he says he only smells soap PLUS Lilly. He uses more colorful language than that, just so you know.
I can only assume that we each perceive smells, like colors, in different ways.
During our trip to PC’s Pantry, I grabbed some rosemary-scented “deodorizing” shampoo from Earthbath. I figure with cold weather coming … perhaps I can appease Tom’s nose somewhat. And, who doesn’t love the smell of rosemary?
So, the weekend’s happy, happy carnivores got baths.
We refer to this as the canine version of Bed Head. It’s known as Bath Butt at our house.
Once the dogs dry, I give them a vigorous furmination, and all is well. Even Tom said Lilly looked SUPER SHINY that evening.
I’ll have to dig around. I made a big batch of dog soap years ago that had MANY kinds of oils and skin conditioners in it. I might have a few bars tucked away somewhere, but in the meantime, I really like this new dog shampoo. It’s called Mediterranean Magic. Ooooh La La!
However, I’m willing to keep eye drops, antihistamines, and inhalers in the house so that I can live with dogs because I literally cannot imagine life without them. Like air, like food, like the blood pumping through my veins, these canine souls buoy me.
It’s worse in the summer/late fall, but more because they bring pollen in the house on their fur. Usually, though, in the winter, I don’t have to take any medications. I just accept that I’m a little stuffed up most of the time. I accept that sometimes when we cuddle, my eyes water.
I feel sad when I hear about allergic people going without dogs. There was data presented back when I sat on the board of the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy that showed allergy doctors often recommended people get rid of dogs (or cats), even before they knew if there was indeed an allergy to the animals themselves.
When I was a kid, I had those awful tests … where they poke allergens into your skin and measure the results. Two separate times, they poked me 100 times in my back and 22 times in each arm. It turned out I was allergic to pretty much everything they tested, including something called “smut,” which cracked me up. I had years of allergy shots, and things are much better now than when I was a kid. Before they figured it out (at age 13), everyone just thought I was sick all the time.
So, I’m allergic, but I share my days, my nights, my heart with dogs … who I think smell pretty darn good.
P.S. Personally, I think the “hypoallergenic” dog thing is a crock, but if anyone else would like to weigh in, please do.
I’m glad that you love the smell of Lilly like I love the smell of my dog!
I have constant congestion – allergies the doc says. But, I refuse to be tested for a dog allergy. Who cares? I’d never live without dogs. You and I share that sentiment!
“Bath Butt!” I love it. I am stealing that. And I’m another freak who loves the smell of dogs. Each of my dogs smells different – Maddie has her own smell and Gobo has his. They both smell doggy, but in different ways. I love it!
About the allergies issue, I totally understand that and have known several people who feel the same, including a former editor of mine, a totally macho guy who took Claritin every day so he could have kittens!
I used to be severely allergic to cats, but hanging around an ex-boyfriend’s cat, who liked to sleep on my head, cured me. I would rather sneeze all day than not have animals in my life. I also question the “hypoallergenic” animal thing, and I think that people tend to make a huge deal out of allergies when in many cases simply not rubbing your face against the animal, and washing your hands after petting the animal, can go a long way toward drama-free coexistence.
Ugh. I know that dirty mountain dog smell. When we built the basement in the office, I wanted to put in a walk-in dog grooming shower. Emma smells so bad after running in the woods sometimes that we don’t want her in the house (we have her though). I’ll have to try your new shampoo.
Doctors are now finding that babies who are exposed to animals and live with animals have far fewer allergies as adults and have a stronger immunity system. Isn’t that cool? I just wish more people knew about this and then once they knew about it – believed it!
Ha! Hamsters make me laugh anyway. The info sheet on one of my sister’s chemo drugs says to tell the doctor if you are allergic to hamsters. We cracked up. They must have done some recombinant thing with it.
I don’t have allergies, but I’ve said numerous times before to myself that if I ever developed them, I would NEVER be one of those give-up-your-pet people. I can’t live without my animals, and I’d take a sniffly nose or watery eyes any day to stay with them.
My sister goes for allergy shots, so I hear all the time about how much they stink. They do seem to make a significant difference, though.
Ha – I always tell B that she smells like a hamster. To be honest, unless our dogs have recently rolled in something gross or have just been washed, I don’t usually notice that they have much of a smell, good or bad. (Except for B, who smells like a hamster.)