dog owner "why?" moments

There are certain moments as a dog owner where I have to ask myself, "Why? Why do people own dogs again? Why do we love them so much?" A prime example is when my dog is busy gobbling up cat poop as if it's a long lost delicacy. I swear she can smell it for miles because some times she runs right to it and before I know what is happening she has consumed every bite. It makes me feel sick and I often tell her, post cat poop snack, that if she licks me I'll kill her. Now I would never kill her, but I would consider a serious smack down.

I had another moment recently where I really pondered the above questions. My roommate and I had taken Cali to the park to play frisbee. We were walking back to the car by a pond and she was off leash. She stopped to smell something so I looked back to see what it was and then suddenly she was on her back flailing herself in the white gooey substance with this look of grand pleasure. I yelled and ran over and yanked her up to find the substance caked on her neck. It looked like caulk, but it smelled like death. I am not kidding, it is the worst smell I have ever smelled. It smelled worse than any type of poop I have ever smelled. I have a strong gag relux and I almost threw up on the spot. Amy could smell it from 10 feet away. I dragged Cali to the water and tried to soak it down. I found leaves and tried to pull some of it off, but it was sticky and I was not about to touch it. We dragged her to the car and rolled down the windows before we got in, but as soon as we shut the doors the entire car filled with the stankness. We both gagged and stuck our heads out of the window. I am sure we looked crazy. We could barely breath it was so bad. What is really unfortunate is that is at least 10 mintues to our house if now more. Because I was in the passenger seat I was able to stick my entire head out of the window and though that was helpful I COULD STILL SMELL IT. Poor Amy was driving so her only relief was a tube of peppermint lip gloss that she kept shoved under her nose the whole way home. It took my scrubbing her neck 4 times to remove that smell. I still have no idea what that was or what possessed my dog to cover herself in it. I mean really, what are dogs thinking? "That smells rancid...I think i'll cover myself in it." Yuck.

Today, I was at the same park with a friend and Cali stopped to roll herself in something. I screamed because my nose instantly filled with the memory of that smell and I thought that if she had done it again I might just leave her there. Fortunately, it was not the same goo, unfortuantely my dog is still an idiot because this time she decided to roll herself on top of a dead bird. I repeat, "Why do people own dogs?"