May 12, 2010

White Dog came in to join our conference call with Prinnie and her parents to congratulate them on the successful forever home placement of their foster Eskie, Atka...and to share a sniffly sad tear over Atka's leaving. Steve looked down as he absently petted White Dog and asked her, "What is that black stripe encircling your snout?" The rest of us all wondered the same and made suggestions that were ruled out as Steve carried the phone and investigated giving a play-by-play account. "Nope, she did not dig up the tomato plants...besides her paws aren't black only her nose!" "Sue's paints are all safe and capped!" "No spills in the kitchen!" I called White Dog over and inspected the smudge...some of it rubbed off on my fingers like greasy charcoal (we have a propane grill). Parts of it seemed marker like. White Dog gave no clues but waited patiently as we guessed and deciphered the clues. Long after the phone call ended we continued searching for the answer and as we ready ourselves for bed, White Dog's secret is still safe...what caused the black muzzle mark is a mystery to us.