Stinkbag

One of the unfortunate side-effects of living “way out,” is that every so often a stray dog wanders by. Some are strays, some are lost, and some are dumped. I guess the cowards that had the dog didn’t know what else to do with their unwanted mutt, so they drive “way out” and dump the dog.

In the year or so that I’ve lived in Creekistan, we’ve had a few dog visitors. First was Sirius. http://creekistan.blogspot.com/2006/05/sirius-black-dog.html. I was able to “lose” him by having him follow my car for a while, and then I sped off. Another car passed me going the other way, and he got confused and followed the other car..

Then there was Max, who our good neighbors were considering keeping. He was a long, short, bowlegged dog that was good at escaping and chewing up everything. He would wander the ½ mile between our house and our neighbors, seducing our dog, Bandit, to follow. He was a bad influence, and I was glad when he wandered off, never to return. I think I spotted him one day, about 5 miles away.

Occasionally we see a dog that I’ve named Ghost. We only get glimpses of this light-colored dog late at night. We suspect he may belong to someone who only comes to the area to visit or camp nearby.

Right now we have Stinkbag. This dog showed up the day after Christmas. He is the ugliest, smelliest dog I’ve ever seen. He looks like a cross between an old goat and a wrinkly Chinese dog with bowlegs. And he smells like he’s already dead. He’s got a collar but no tag. He won’t leave, preferring to sit on my welcome mat, blocking our door.

The dog warden can’t do any pickups until next week. Stinkbag better wander away, or he’ll get arrested. I hope he doesn’t die before then.