Mystery Solved!

As many of you know, we feed our dogs a raw diet, and that occasionally includes chunks of pork neck which has a harder bone than their normal fare, and requires a bit more chewing.  Dogs always eat in their crates or outdoors.  Fern isn't a big chewer or a big eater, and occasionally sets her pork necks or chicken back aside for later, under the edge of her crate rug - so Josie always checks Fern's crate in case it needs a bit of "housekeeping".

I'm absolutely paranoid about doggy odor, having visited too many breeders whose houses smell, well, doggy, something I would hate to live with.  When I walk in the door I always do the sniff test and can tell if a pup had an accident that Ron missed, or if anything else is amiss. I can't rest until I've solved the mystery.

When I came home from Waukesha Sunday night I noticed an "off odor", as if one of the dogs had barfed up half digested chicken.  All the rugs were clean, all the furniture throws were just washed, all the crates smelled fine, all the dogs smelled like warm fur.  I checked the fridge, the potato bin, everywhere.  Nothing.  I noticed it again on Monday, not a strong odor, but something "off", and again I checked rugs, crates, furniture throws, dogs, fridge, everywhere.  Nothing.

Tuesday it was too wet to mow when I got home from work, so I decided to sweep and vacuum the family room and kitchen which had not been done over the weekend as I was out of town.  As I pulled out one of the chairs in the family room, the smell got stronger.  I didn't notice anything at first, but when I took the broom out to sweep the corner, there was  something dark pressed against the baseboard.  Ah hah!  I grabbed a paper towel and picked up a very stinky chunk of pork neck!  Someone (that means Fernly, who inherited Grandpa Argus's habit of burying things) had squeezed between the chair and the wall to find a safe place to keep her uneaten dinner from being stolen by someone else.  We had pushed the chair back in place, effectively keeping her prize safe.  Ugh!

Mystery solved!