Smell-names

Yesterday, Dad did it again. He took my smell-name away.

I know that Mom and Dad don't like my smell-name sometimes. I hear them say I am stinky. (No, that is not MY smell-name.) I hear them tell each other to stop petting me, because it makes my smell-name come out more. (Yes, that part is true.) And I hear them say, "Nima needs a bath!" And when they say that I hope that they will be too tired to do it, because I work hard to make my smell-name. It takes a long time to put one together, and you know that if you go out with the wrong smell-name it can be big trouble for you!

If you have a good smell-name -- one that says you are strong or tough or scrappy or know where to find food or things that make you sick with super powers -- then other doggies have to respect you. They will know that you are important and that you can be a leader or a good helper. But if you have a bad smell-name -- one that says you are weak or afraid or never leave your house or don't know how to do anything -- then other doggies will not respect you. They will know that you are a problem or a weakness for them and they will hate you and chase you away... or worse.

I work hard to make a good smell-name for me. On our walks, whenever I smell the fresh ground that people put down on the grass sometimes, I try to roll in it right away! At the park or at Doggie Goddess, I splash water out of the bowl and then lay down in it. Then I dig up the ground and roll in it all over! And I play pee-ball as hard as I can. I do all of this as much as I can, because I want my smell-name to stay on me as long as it can!

And because I work so hard I was finally able to get everyone to know me as cow-compost-smell! It is a good name, because it is a strong name that says I am tough and scrappy and know lots of ways to eat things to get sick with super powers. And doggies know right away that they should respect me the most!!!

But Dad has ruined it in the worst way! Not only did he take away my strong smell-name and replace it with a weak one, he made me feel less at the same time! So now my new smell-name is my real name. First, he saw that I did not want to take off my strong smell-name, because I crouched down the lowest. But he came and picked me up -- which tells me that I am tiny -- and carried me into the big bowl that I cannot get out of... because I am too tiny. Then he put the water with no smell on me, and he scrubbed the slippery stuff that smells like fake-flowers deep into my fur. Then he soaked me more in the water with no smell and rubbed it all in with the big cloth-things. Then he picked me up and carried tiny-me out of the big bowl.

And now it is terrible, because when I go out everyone will know me as flower-puppy smell. And I need to find some freshly put down ground, or a bowl of water and some old ground to dig up and roll in quick, because that is a very weak and small smell-name, and it will be big trouble for me.