Sammy our Beagle had been fussing about her butt for a couple of days so we went to see the Vet, Linda. It turns out that Sammy's anal glands were full. This happens to some dogs. They need to be, as they say in the business, "expressed". Some groomers also provide this service. And you think you have bad tasks in your job.
Anyway, there we are, with Sammy on the exam table, me at her head, Bobby Lee the assistant holding Sammy's squirmy body and Linda the Vet at the business end. As Linda was lifting Sammy's tail and explaining how this was not a big deal, there was a "pop" and a large quantity of the most foul-smelling liquid you can imagine sprayed out of Sammy's little behind. It covered the counter, the pamphlets and the magazines. It shot out on the wall, coating the framed picture on the wall and the right half of Linda. We all collapsed in laughter, unwillingly taking in more of the foul air with every intake of breath. Only Sammy was not amused. I assumed this had to be a regular thing but it was a first for Linda, who has been a Vet for a long time.
It was really funny and unbelievably disgusting and the worst part was, she had only started! We had to stay in that little room and breathe that stench while Linda finished the job in her shit-juice coated lab coat beside a shit-sprayed wall. I thought I'd pass out from laughing so hard.
I asked poor Bobby-Lee, if there was anyone lower in seniority than her to clean up the mess. "It's all mine!" she replied with mock enthusiasm.
Dogs that drag their butts on the carpet are likely dealing with this issue. It's itchy and uncomfortable for them. It's cheap to get them relief. And I'm told it's normally a rather calm and quick procedure. Sammy has never looked happier. And I am grateful that her moment of expression occured in at the Vet's examination room and not, say, in our living room.