A puppy by any other name . . .

Sometimes I just don't understand why my family does the things they do.

For instance, this past weekend was a great weekend. My previous post will attest to that. But that was Sunday; Saturday was another matter. I mean, I did have fun and all: it was a beautiful day and I had a great time napping keeping watch in the sunshine on the entryway carpet. I had plenty of food and water. My toys were all close by. The Mommy had gone to pick up some things for her walk on Sunday and Alpha was outside working in the yard. All was well. Then Alpha came in the house.

He was all dirty and he smelled great! But then he did the funny thing: he took me upstairs, removed my collar, and invited me into The Little Room in the bathroom. Of course I went - why wouldn't I? I thought he wanted to play a game or something. He then closed the door and proceeded to GET ME ALL WET! There was no place to go, the water was inescapable, it was all warm, and frankly I did not like it one bit. Was this some kind of sick game?!? Why was he doing this? I could see no point in it at all.

Next came the smelly stuff. He smeared it all over me and rubbed it into my fur. It got kinda sudsy and it had a very unpleasant scent; kind of a sweet smell but not a good sweet, you know? He continued to get water all over me and even put my face right into where the water was coming from. I had to summon every last ounce of strength to "stay" like a good puppy - I really wanted to bolt out of there but where was I to go? When was the game going to start?!?

I gave up hope that there was ever going to be another day where I would be happy and dry, laying in the sun dreaming of bunnies and bouncing balls. I resigned myself to it and sat like a good puppy, silent and dejected, as Alpha moved me around, rinsing off the foul-smelling goo with the stream of warm water that seemed to have no end. For Tin Tin's sake, all I wanted to do was to play a game. How could things have turned out so poorly?

Then, just like that, the water quit.

"Stay." I tensed. Something was happening.

"Stay." Alpha opened the small door and got out.

"Stay." Gosh, did he really have to say it so many time? (yeah, I was poised to run!)

"Come!" Then the most wonderful thing happened: the game began! It was the Chase Me game!

Finally caught in a mess of towels!

I got to run all over the bathroom while Alpha chased me with a big towel - several towels in fact. He finally caught me but not before I was able to have so much fun running and shaking and shaking and shaking! He would rub me down with towels and then I would wiggle away and the game would begin again. What fun! The Mommy came home while we were playing and told me I was a good puppy. I found out later that she was the one that put Alpha up to it - go figure!

So now The Mommy and Alpha say I'm all cuddly, soft, and sweet-smelling. And I'm beginning to wonder: the whole time The Mommy was telling me, "You stink!". . . that wasn't a good thing?

The Silent Naked Puppy