What a Nose Knows
My mother has a dog of a nose. She can smell anything and everything, right Daisy?
When I was a bad teenager, she could always smell things on my breath that shouldn't have been on my breath. And she always uses her nose to test whether food is still good or not. She's big on expiration dates, the first thing she checks when she visits: "This salad dressing expired last year!" she wails as if it simply sitting in the refrigerator will spread some sort of pox to everyone in the house. When she buys any meat from the store and is unwrapping it to re-wrap in for the freezer (double bags!) she always smells it first. If she sniffs more than three times, you know it's going to be thrown out, because it "just doesn't smell right."
And now she is sensitive to all smells and will yell down the stairs to Daisy, "What are you spraying, frying, lighting, cleaning, etc."
But no human nose can beat a dog nose. Their sense of smell is up to 100 times better than ours. Can you imagine the torture they go through? You know how we salivate when we smell something yummy when hungry, like baking bread? Imagine what they go through when they smell a roast in the oven and are hungry? Poor things.
And certain breeds have even better noses than other canines, like hounds. Just ask Peanut! He will whine in the utility room because he is smelling some food item left open. I'll look and look and look, wondering what the heck he's after, only to find ONE MORSEL of dry dog food that happened to roll under the washing machine. And yes, I have to move the machine and remove the morsel or Peanut will worry himself (and me) to death over it!
Just think of all the work dogs do for us with their nose: helping find lost people and bodies in rubble; sniffing out drugs and bombs; and working dogs who hunt for and get rid of varmints. For thousands of years they've helped humankind.
And now, they are being used to detect cancers. I'm sure you've seen some of the TV shows about this ability, detecting cancers that many medical tests can't even find yet. And they can be trained to do this.
So just remember all that dogs do for us just with their noses. Then add all the other things they do for us: help the blind and disabled, sense seizures in people with epilepsy, protect us and most of all, just loving us as our loyal and faithful companions.
What amazes me most is that most species prefer being with their own kind. And even within one species, like we humans, most prefer being with those most like themselves. Yet dogs, it seems, prefer being with humans. If you've ever been to a shelter where dogs have each other for companionship, they all go nuts and want attention from any human that comes near them. I'm sure you see this in your own pack if you have more than one. Sure, they'll play with each other, but the center of their universe is their pack leader: the human.
We should always remember the things they do for us and always treat them like the wonderful, loving and grateful beings they are.
So how people can chain one up and leave it in a yard 24/7 is beyond me. In fact, it disgusts me. So I surely don't feel the least bit guilty when I admit that I like dogs better than most humans.
Picture above is Amy's (k9rescue) dog Charlie. What a fabulous face--and nose! Charlie lives with dog siblings Jake and Nikki and human siblings Emily and Zach, and of course, Mommy and Daddy!
posted by Sandy at 9/09/2007 02:50:00 PM
Pet People
39 Comments:
Cats are sensitive to smells too! That's why I always wash their dishes after each meal. I certainly don't want fresh food on a USED plate and with their superior senses of smell, I am sure my fur-children can smell icky stuff even more. I always give them water from the filtered water tap as cats can smell bleach easily. I don't even like the slight smell of chlorine in the water!
What's funny is sometimes a kitty will smell something on my fingers and make a weird grinning face. If I see that face, I go wash my hands rigght away. Whatever it is can't be good!
Charlie has such a beautiful smile on his face! A handsome boy indeed....
Sheba is the one which has to give Cat Scans with every entrance to the house. She will stand at the back door waiting for us to re-enter after we have been doing yard work! No matter how hot, dirty or tired we are when we come in from the yard, we must pause long enough for her to get her sniffer on with us! When we enter the front door from an outing into town, she greets us also and we must pause in the entry way long enough for her to sniff. It gets very aggravating when we have our hands full with grocery bags but we must appease the baby!
Cheetah is not such a sniffer but she loves the smell of bleach! If she smells it on my hands, she bites at my fingers and rolls her face all over my hands and then rolls in the floor as if she has just had a sniff of cat nip! Bleach does not seem to affect Sheba in this manner. I have to be really careful with bleaching anything for fear of Cheetah getting into the bleach! The girl’s favorite treat is for us to bring them a fresh bird feather into the house. They love to sniff the smells then play with the feather until they feel confident they have killed the bird!
Hunter has a nose that drives me nuts. He must sniff everything; your drink glass, the dishes coming straight out of the dish washer, us when we get out of the shower. He even goes as far as sniffing the other dogs when they come in from the yard even if he was just out there with them. That's a typical retreiver for you.
If I wash Mattie's bowl too often she won't eat out of it. I guess b/c it no longer smells like her bowl. I used to put the bowls in the dishwasher once a week until Mattie refused to eat out of hers. Now it's more like once a month. It still takes her a couple of days to use her bowl again.
Sandy, Your mom and mine sound alike. She hates all kinds of smells. Anything that has a strong sent like bleach or nail polish remover and she throws a fit. She also can't stand anything that smells like coffee or Lysol. I think Lysol would have to be the thing that sends her over the edge the most. I like it and have to remember not to use it when she is around. She is so sensitive to it that I could have used it the day before and she can still smell it.
She also smells the milk before drinking it everytime even if I just bought it. She also check experation dates and cleans out my cabinets when she visits.
Well, Adrienne,when you are here in Nov.,me, you and Daisy can discuss mothers and smells. Daisy will have your rolling, as Mom lives with her. My mom hates anything scented and must have unsented everything. She HATES candles and will freak out if she smells a scented one.
My cats sniff too, but not like the dogs. Catfish loves to sniff Tarzan's butt and would leave his nose there all day long if Tarzan stayed still. I've never seen Tarzan sniff Catfish's butt though.
Sandy, talking about how animals have that sensitive smell reminded me of a story from one of the animal rescue places we got a letter from wanting a donation. It breaks my heart to think about it,but they said this poor little puppy was so hungry and it kept going to the screen door of these peoples kitchen smelling the good smells coming from within and they would shoo it away. this kept on for a solid week before they took it to the shelter! How can people be so CRUEL? It kills my heart! At least the poor little thing finally got taken care of and fed all it wanted but for that horrible week it had to smell that good food and whined and cried and got nothing! How that hurts! I pray he now has a home with all the food he ever wants.
On the smell thing, well I guess I'm in the same ranks as your Mom. I have the most sensitive smell and it can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the smell. If it's food it's good but when it comes to other smells it can give me a terrible headache and make me sick to my stomach. That is one of the reasons my smoke allergy makes me so sick so easy. It does help when in a resturant and trying to figure out what is in a food you want to recreate at home though. My daughter and son-in-law will say hey Mom whats in this? What's that taste? 99% of the time I can tell you.
Oh and how do we trust anyone on smells who licks and sniffs butts?
My girls canned treat foods dishes do go in the dishwasher every day. I just talked about that on another blog subject. I also put thier water dishes and dry food dishes in the dishwasher just not as often.
I never use a dishwasher, I just don't trust them. I have seen too many dishes come out of the dishwasher with little bits of stuff on them or still greasy. I always wash by hand so I can feel the crud on the dishes and any grease. We don't have a dishwasher in this house but if it did I would use it to store extra dishes and tupperware.
We would use only paper plates and plastic cups if we didn't have a dish washer. I refuse to wash dishes by hand. I had to do it growing up and will not do it now. I will even wait for it to finish with one load to run it again if we have too many dishes for one load. Everything goes in it, all tupperware, pots and pans, EVERYTHING! And if it's too big to be put in the right way, I will wait until it's empty and lay it in the top rack all by it's self.
Alice, you just have to buy the good washing soap and it has to be liquid. Everytime I buy powder it leaves a residue and gritty crap. Also none of the gerneric soap either.
I totally understand you not using a dish washer Alice! I was the same way as you until we bought this house. I would use the dish washer to store all the Tupper and plastic ware and it was great for the cookie sheets too! Everyone would laugh and make fun of me when I told them I hand washed everything. When ever I used the dishwasher, I would either break or chip something or the thing would come out with dried on crude! Plus I would run out of forks or glasses before plates or what ever. Then I would end up washing something so we could have a full place setting at the table. The thing was more trouble then it was worth to me. When we moved into this house 6 years ago, it had an outdated Harvest Gold colored dishwasher. The Saint wanted to put in another one but I told him to just make another cabinet in the hole where the dishwasher came out of instead as it would be more useful then a dishwasher to me. He reminded me that it would have to be something temporary as a dishwasher is a selling point when trying to sell a home today. We would have to put one in anyway some day so I decided to go with a dishwasher and store my Tupperware and cookie sheets as always. But I decided to give our new dishwasher a try and believe it or not, the thing works great for us! Now I still rinse off all the crude and hot rinse the greasy or cheesy dishes before loading and I have yet to break anything. I bought an extra set of flatware and plates and we rarely run out of them before a full load! I love how squeaky clean the dishes feel after they are washed in the dishwasher. I never use it for any plastic or pot and pans as I do them by hand….
Back on the Main Topic. I have a sensitive smeller too. I smell stuff all the time from far away and it drives the Saint nuts. He doesn’t smell too much because he once worked in a sewer plant. After working there, you seem to loose your sense of smell I guess. I hate going into a restaurant and trying to eat just after they have mop the floors with Pine Sol. That about makes me gag! A hospital smelling like formaldehyde or rubbing alcohol is a real killer for me as well as Moth balls. Just saying all these gets my nose to itching! I have a sensitive taster also. Being sensitive to taste and smell can indeed be a handicap of sorts for me….
When we moved here to Clarksville, we moved in with a friend whom we knew in California. She had a dishwasher. I put the clean dishes away. We used name-brand liquid soap and I always had to re-wash stuff by hand because stuff would come out of the dishwasher still greasy and cruddy. She has since moved back to Fresno to be closer to her kids and grandkids. This house didn't have a dishwasher and when we bought new appliances, the professor asked me if I wanted a dishwasher. I said no. I like washing dishes by hand. Since there is just the two of us and the fur-children, there is really never that many to do. I like looking outside the kitchen window and I like the feel of the hot, soapy water. It helps the mild pain I have in my fingers.
I think it's great that you all love your dishwashers, but for me, it hot water and Dawn for our dishes.
I got an email about the Wags to Witches Bash. The professor wondered if the Pet Bloggers could sponsor a table. Are there any rules for sponsoring a table? We would be willing to pay half of the sponsorship to help bloggers who maight not be able to afford it. The professor really thinks I need to meet you all. We would be an hour or so late because he has to work that Saturday but we are planning for it and I am thinking over costumes for us.
What do you all think? Is this possible? I'm not sure if it is restricted to businesses or what.
Ok, now my opinion on handwashing dishes. First of all it is too much work although I have certain items I won't put in and handwash instead. If I do hand wash I put tons of Dawn on the dishcloth then do each item seperately then rince with hot water. I cannot fill the sink with water and detergent then wash because---- heres where you may find me quirky, once one thing has been washed in that water I feel like it is dirty water. I do not leave the faucet running as that wastes water but I turn it on for each thing that I rince. I love my dishwasher and couldn't do without it! It is one of the best inventions ever! And as Adrienne and Skeetr said if you get a really good dishwasher and detergent ( I use liquid Cascade too ) then you will get not only clean but very clean dishes. You can't use the temp of water with your hands as the dishwasher uses.
Alice, the table sponsorships for the Humane Society Bash are $500 per table. I believe the tables seat 8 or 10 people. I don't have my stuff with me here at work, so I am going off memory. I am sure of the price though. I don't think there is a business restriction, but I will check tonight. I will be going to the Board Meeting tonight. I can let you know the details later on.
OK..I ALWAYS sniff eveything before I eat it...I think you are crazy if you don't. My nose can tell me what its going to taste like before my mouth does.
I will never forget when I was young my dad picked up the carton of milk and chugged it. It was so old it had clabbored(is that how you spell that?) See..if he had only sniffed it first.
I love a dishwasher too. I have started using the tablets that are half solid and half liquid and those seem to work well for my dishwasher. I have no fancy dishes tho so I don't worry about anything getting damaged. When You Should is gone we eat off paper plates and use plastic cups exclusively....the less work the better!
If the Bloggers sponsor a table, like me and the professor will pay $250 and some others can chip in and pay the rest, what about the Bloggers who can't afford the $50.00 a pop? Can they be allowed in as part of us Bloggers?
Luckily right now, our financial situation allows us to donate money. The professor doesn't have the time to help and my physical limitations are such that this is the best we can do.
Once you find out how this works, Stacey, let me know! I think you understand what I am proposing, just not sure if it is possible withing the rules. Is there a set limit? Who would be considered a member of the Bloggers?
Anyway, if we can do this, great, in any case, the professor and I are planning to be there!
Oh my goodness I must get back up to Clarksville for the Wags to Witches bash so I can meet you Alice! I have not received an invitation to it so don’t know the info on the event! So if someone would be so kind to forward me a copy of the invite on my email address, that would be nice.
When is the bash??? We are going to VA to visit the Saints family the first weekend in Oct but maybe just maybe I can talk him into taking me to TN for the bash. If not then maybe he will drive me half way and a wonderful family member (Mom are you reading this) could meet us half way and pick me up for the remainder of the journey. But Gee how would the Saint find his way back home without me telling him the way! ha ha... Anyway, I need to some how get my brain to work this one out. Is a costume mandatory for the event? The Saint would not dress up well, I did see a tee shirt at Wal-Mart today that was orange with Black letters on it that said, this is my costume, deal with it... He might wear that if I bat my puppy dog eyes if he goes all the way to TN with me... But then we will be back in Nov for Daisylouu and Adrienne meet so I might be pushing this with him. We will see how much clout I have with the Saint over this one.
Hey, the Saint just walked into the room and I would not let him see what I was writing. He was in a joking mood and I gave him a quick briefing of the above mentioned and he was smiling so I think this is do-able people!!! So someone send me some info on the event!!!
Okay, Pam… the reason you don’t like to wash dishes by hand is simply because it takes you too long to run down a dish rag that your fur baby has stolen from the sink!!! LOL sorry I missed your phone call today. I will be home and inside all day tomorrow because we are expecting rain so call me some time tomorrow (Wednesday)
I do enjoy washing dishes by hand too… The Saint and I do the dishes together each night and we some times skip the dishwasher. We have the best conversation while doing the dishes whether putting them into the dish washer or washing them. I envy you having a window over the sink Alice! My next house WILL have a window over the sink if I have my say about it! If I knew we would be in this house for a longer period of time, I would have the pipes moved under the house so the sink would face the sunroom windows instead of a wall….
Pearchart what you are willing to do is great! I think it is also a great idea for us to get a table as a group but don't know if Fly Boy's schedual will allow us to attend but if we can we will. I know it will really be a fun night.The Professor is right we do need to meet you in person. I hope we can all work this out.
Skeeter, it's funny but Brittany never brings us a dishcloth just the washcloths. I think she must like the way the soap smells on them or something, weird huh? And I will call you bacl tomorrow, Wed.
P.S. Ya'all who actually LIKE to wash dishes, well you're just all crazy.
Skeeter, I will forward you the official information by email.
Here is the scoop on the sponsor thing. It is not limited to a business. It can be a family or any group. It is $500 for a table of EIGHT people. This is $100 more than buying each individual ticket ($50 each). The extra $100 gets the business (or group) sponsorship rights. Meaning it will be in the ads in the paper, it will be mentioned by the DJ during the evening, it will be featured on a table topper thingie. Sandy could do a "Pet People" logo for us that Amy will use for our group in the print advertising and on the tabletop. We could use it to plug our blog.
Now, the catch is that one person would have to pay the $500 and register our group as the sponsor. They would then have to be responsible for getting reimbursed by the others for their tickets. You will get actual tickets that must be given to the Pet People that reimburse you for tickets. There will be NO TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR!!! So, IF Alice and the Professor want to pay $250, then the remaining 6 Pet People would have to pay the other $250. Or each of the 8 would pay approximately $63 for each ticket. Or however Alice decided to handle it. IF she does want to go that route. Alice, I'm going to let you organize this if you want to do it. Since it was your idea.
OR, all the Pet People that want to go can just pay $50 for each ticket and meet up at the Fur Ball Bash and sit together.
Personally, I think the Pet People sponsoring a table is a great idea! If you can't get 6 others to commit, I will be one of the 8 to complete the group, but I probably won't get to sit much. I'll be working somewhere at least part of the night. I don't know where or what my duties will be as of yet. October 7th is the cut off for buying tickets. They have to have a confirmed count for the meal at that time.
Hope all that helps. Skeeter, tell the Saint he just needs to find a job HERE and he won't have to do all this traveling!!!!!
Do we have six other people who want to be part of the group?
We will be happy to pay the sponsorship up front and anyone who wants to can pay me back whatever they can afford that night... preferable cash so I can bid on stuff!
My email is on the blog list so let me know if you want to be included in the Bash Group. One other thing... I do NOT want to be recognized for this. It will be the Pet People Bloggers. I have promised to severely punish the professor if he EVER has anyone sing happy birthday to me in a restaurant.
This is for the fur babies...
Alice,
Count me in for two tickets! If the Saint will not go with me, I am sure, I will find someone in my family that will.... Oh, I am getting excited about this!
We will probably have more than 8 people, but we don't need to sponsor any more, one will get us recognition as a group. I'll be two people, maybe three, as I want to bring Jamie, my coworker and adopted son. I don't know if The Boss will come; he came to other HS dances, so I'm guessing yes.
I guess we'll have to get a count, but Alice, if you are willing to do that, you can give the tickets to whomever you want for whatever price you want! You'll have to get Skeeter' tickets for her, since she's out of town. I'll just buy my own. I guess we'll have to email out the details!
And Pam, if Flyboy can't make it YOU can still come! Girls night out!
As to dishes. That's one chore I don't mind. I like to look out my windwow and watch the birds, and I find it soothing. I do use a dishwasher, but put only plates, glasses and utensils in it. I wash all other stuff by hand.
Ok, Alice, count me and Fly Boy in on your table. Sandy's right I will just ride with someone if he has to be out of town at that time. This will be fun!
Pam, Pam,Pam.You need to learn what The Boss has learned: I am ALWAYS right. :)
Sandy---are you going to design a PET PEOPLE logo for us??? Amy said she would use it in the advertising to help plug our blog. Since we will be a sponsor, we'll be right in there with the banks and all them prominent folks. Hee hee. Ain't it grand?
I will do that and send it to you all as soon as I can.
Okay Alice, I don't have to work the dance after all, so I want to reserve the last two seats at the Pet People table!!!! That should make us, you and the Professor, Pam and Flyboy, and Skeeter and the Saint!! Woo Hoo, won't we be having fun now???
And Skeeter, IF I CAN FIT in my dress, I plan to be a WENCH!!!!
Stacey,
Will Sweetie be able to contain himself with you as a Wench? He will have to fight Dragon off of you! I wish we could all go as Wenches and Dragon show up as a full fledged Green Scaly Dragon! That would be great! I bet those which read but don’t Post with us, when they see the Logo in the paper, they may have to get a ticket to see if we are Wenches! I am going to look for a Wench outfit but it will probably not be as nice as yours... What ever anyone comes dressed as, I am sure we will all have fun… Saint will probably wear that orange tee shirt or a Texas get up as he is Texan and likes his hat, boots and belt buckle… He does look right handsome in his Texas garb…. Kind of turns a gal on.. Okay time for me to shut up before I get too excited…. Tee hee
I am coming as a .... wait for it... CAT. I found a HUGE caftan so I will feel comfortable and wear some cat ears and paint whiskers on my face. That's it for me. I considered... briefly, ... a toga. Cat is better.
We're still thinking about what to dress up the professor as... Maybe a hunk of cheese...
Hey Now,
Ya'll hold on...I want to come too! I know I am not on here alot but blame it on Skeeters Bro as we live at the ballfield nowadays! haha..JK Skeeter, that guy- he's SUCH a great coach and my kid is learning SO mucH!I am having issues with the email so if info was sent out that way I can't get it yet. When is the bash and is there a way I can still come? I am confused as i thought ya'll were talking about a different party and just realized this. Can someone please give me the info here on the blog or call me? I am sooo out of touch these days.
All you have to do is buy a ticket for the dance when they go on sale. They just got the idea to sponsor a table for Pet People so we get a logo and mention on all the advertising! Good PR for the blog.
There will be more than 8 of us at the dance (the sponsor table holds 8), so we just need to get there early to save another table next to the Pet People sponsor table so we can all be together, though it's a buffet, not sit down, so we can all move and mingle!
Or we can all dress up as pets of some kind! Dog, cat, whatever. I think that's what I'll do. Dress up as a dog. How to accomplish that, I don't know. LOL. We can be a pack, half cats, half dogs.
Ok ,I can tell ya'all right now. Fly Boy has agreed to bring me to the Fur Ball but has said and I quote" I will NOT dress in any costume"! But I'mhappy he is at least willing to come with me. And I probably won't dress uo either but I will be there. We will still bid at the auction and party with all ya'all!
P/Sou never know with me, I might just change my mind and find a costume, whatever we will have a great time !
Tell Flyboy it's for the precious furbabies! Use guilt! Use those feminine wiles! Promise him anything! Or tell him you won't do the nasty unless he does! LOL
I'm sure we'll all have a good time. My "costume" is barely a costume, so it's all good!
Pam, Get him one of those shirts at Wal-Mart... they are Orange with Black letters that say, "this is my costume, deal with it!" That may be what the Saint will wear, if I can get him too. He does not partake in any fun. He is sooooooo boring...... If I cant find a Wench outfit, I was thinking of a cat too! I was even thinking of being creative and being the Cat Lady but how does one pull that one off????
Alice, the Nasty??? You naughty thing you... tee hee
Sandy, you are female and want to go as a dog.... Not sure I would go there as Dragon might have a lot to say over that one..... LOL
Alice, I could threaten not to do the nasty for months and that would not change Fly Boy's mind about a costume,ha. Maybe just maybe if "You Should" is coming and he agreed to it O'Malley and I might be able to get them to wear some work related thing like black ski masks or something,haha. What do you think O'Malley?
I say let him wear a Flight suit and he can go as a Fly-boy!!!!
Awwh, I love Halloween. I would trade every holiday for Halloween, even my birthday! Most years the Foreman and I go as something together. 2 years ago we went as Shrek and Fiona. We won the costume contest that year. I have great pictures. We haven't deceided what we are going as this year. Ya'll should dress in pairs. I know the woman on this blog can get what they want when they put there foot down, costume or not! HA!
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