“After the dogs realized we weren’t going to kill them, they came out, heads down, tails wagging low, slowly crawling out of the crates,” Eskelsen said. “When we saw Dogma … We both just started howling. She looked so funny! I commented that I was sure her being totally orange meant this was her doing. Mike insists that she was probably trying to be a good girl and just got the blowback from the fan — because she’d never cause any trouble! I’m dubious.”
As the couple surveyed the damage, they quickly came up with a plan. They sent the dogs off to the groomers to get bathed and hoped they could clean up the house in the meantime. They figured the dust would just vacuum right off, but they quickly realized it was going to be a little more complicated than that.
“We thought since it was just dust, a vacuum would take care of it — but that’s when we noticed, much of it was a lot more … paste consistency,” Eskelsen said. “As we investigated, they had peed in the chalk, walked in it, and then walked it all over the house. We found some other wood and metal polish creams and waxes that had also been walked all over the floor and chair and couches.”
Thanks to the dogs, the house was very red, and it wasn’t going to be easy to fix. They had to throw out their couch and chair, and even after tons of cleaning, the floor still had a reddish tint. Eventually, they tore that up too. Apparently, the whole thing had just been a message from the dogs that they really thought the house needed a makeover. Message received.
The dogs came back from the groomers nice and clean — except for Dogma, who still had a bit of a reddish tint to her that took a while to fade away.
Despite all the work it created, the couple still thought the incident was pretty funny. but are also definitely taking steps to make sure it never, ever happens again.
“We still laugh about it,” Eskelsen said. “We did eventually have the floors pulled up and replaced with tile, and the dogs have their own tiled room now, behind a baby gate, for when we’ll be out for too long.”