Nothing about what I’m going to say makes any sense. Whether or not you’re a fellow pet-owner, this matter is bizarre, and even disturbingly grotesque. But for those of us with pooches and kitties, well, we simply cannot get around the fact that…

Love stinks so good. 

Ever since a shih tzu breeder from Rioja Spain sent me a whatsapp photo of 3-month old Babs (short for Barbra), I’ve been devastatingly besotted. 

Her smell is… sickly but enticing, off-putting but indulgent, downright gross but decidedly lovely. To put it bluntly, her smell drugs me.

It’s typically dogs who do the sniffing. But in this case, I’m the sniffer whiffer. 

Every time Babs gets back from the groomer, I’m devastated. Suddenly, the so-called “frito chips” essence I so long to whiff is missing. And let’s be honest, this distinct sooty festy musty fusty smell is likely a wondrous potpourri of sweat, mucus, piss, street and god-knows-what-other mysteriousness. Ironically, I’d never dare let myself emit a smell like that. And I’d most certainly never find it attractive on anyone else.

A bit ironic, don’t you think? 

This no-less-than-powerfully-pungent scent acts like a bonafide drug. Her paws, her moist nose, her belly and her ears (by far my favorite sniffy spot), all draw me in, and no matter how really disagreeable their odor may logically be, her odiferous fumes bind to my olfactory receptors and I’m entrapped, compelled, and wildly addicted. The moment I pull away, oh no, I need more. The poetic swirls of parmesan, corn chips and sourdough fill my brain like a hit from a drug and I just can’t get enough. 

All you anonymous pet-scent-addicts, I know that you know what I mean, and that I mean what I mean. One snifferoo and we’re lost. But it’s not so absurd as it may seem to non-sniffers. The phenomenon can be accurately defined as an innocent inherent chemical process, in which pheromones are released, inducing a magnificent burst of oxytocin and dopamine.

When Babs sits perched at my feet or leaps up exuberantly, eager for my attention in a display of utter and desperate love and devotion for me, nothing could be lovelier. Except, of course, her stenchy sniff-enticing scent. 

When I nuzzle my nose into her soft scruffy head and inch ever so close to those potent ears, ‘tis unto my euphoric dose, as I finally get a hit, once again.

They say dogs are a man’s best friend but this stinkety ragamuffin whom I call Babs is more… something of a best poochie-paramour.

P.S. and FYI: In all actuality, this best smell in the world is a result of a microbial fermentation of yeast, bacteria, and fungus😉.