No it’s not a mistake. The name at the top of this post is correct. That’s right, this is Lisa, Horst’s wife. I figure since you hear from him everyday, and Bo occasionally, maybe it’s time to stick in a female perspective every so often.

I thought I would post some cute stuff, feature a Dogster dog of the week, and give you a behind the scenes look at life in the Hoefinger household where the pets outnumber humans 2 to 1.

So…last Thursday Horst took the dogs for a walk down to the nature trail in our neighborhood. It’s a mile walk through the woods with a creek for the “kids” to play in. Not surprisingly it’s their favorite part of our subdivision. When the crew made it back home I noticed Logan, our beautiful rescue Berner, stinks. I’m not talking about regular dog stink. No, I’m talking hold your breath or you’ll be sick stink.

I mention this issue to Horst who doesn’t notice anything is off. Of course, this is the guy who forgot to change the kitty litter for a week while I was away. After all these years, I guess my expectations are still too high. A couple hours go by and I tell Horst he’s got to take Logan outside to bathe him because I can’t take the wafts of odor coming my way anymore.

After much prodding, Logan finally got his much needed bath, but to my dismay he now reeks worse than before. Not only is the original odor coming from him, but now it’s infused with that wet dog smell. Not a good combo, especially for someone with a sensitive nose. I hoped that when Logan dried, the smell would go away. It didn’t.

As is customary in our household, at bedtime Logan jumped up on our bed. The fan overhead, instead of supplying a refreshing breeze, swirled Logan’s bouquet about the room. I thought I would pass out. Seriously.

It was then that I realized his anal glands must be full and that he partially expressed himself. Self expression is good, anal gland expression is not. For those out there who know what I’m talking about you’re probably going “ughhhhh” at this very moment because you know the smell.

I jumped into action and ran to get the wet wipes. I told Horst to grab Logan’s tail and lift it. I was going in.That’s right, on the bed we sleep on, I was wiping my dog’s behind. It wasn’t pretty.

The first thing Friday morning I called the vet for an “emergency expression.” I brought Copper along for the appointment because I had the feeling she was full too. Bo would have to wait until the next trip.

The tech that took care of Logan came out and said “You will not believe how full he was!” I smelled Logan, and even with the just applied ‘booty spray’, that smell lingered. Copper was also full and expressed. I asked the vet how on earth we could wind up with three dogs who have anal gland issues. It just doesn’t seem fair. Her response “You must have won the anal gland lottery.” Ummm….I would have taken cash.

The tech told me they could teach me to do it myself if I wanted, I declined. There is some things in life that are just worth paying for.This is one of them.

So there you have it, just another day with the Hoefinger’s. Now it’s time for you to fess up, share one of your smelly dog stories. I’ll give 50 zealies to the Dogster with the funniest story. Give me a bark.