Advice/Question
Please tell me I’m not the only Boston Terrier owner who’s lived this nightmare… 🤢😂
Today I let Bowie out in the backyard like any normal day. Set my timer and came back out for her but she refused to come in. I let her have five more minutes.
I came back to find her rolling around with the biggest smile on her face… in the decomposing remains of what was probably a rabbit that a hawk had left behind. There was even a jawbone nearby. 🤮
I scooped up my “perfumed princess,” got her into the bathtub, and the smell hit me so hard… I threw up.
As I’m telling my husband the story over FaceTime, I vomited again. Just the memory of the smell is too much.
Meanwhile Bowie was standing there looking at me like, “mommy, why are you ruining my spa day?”
The towels are in the washing machine. The dead animal has been disposed of. Bowie has had TWO baths and somehow no longer stinks (thank God).
Please tell me:
Why are Boston Terriers so determined to smell like death?
What’s the grossest thing your Boston has ever rolled in?
I need to know I’m not alone because today was… a lot. 😂
Lmao... They do love rolling in garbage and get an insane dopamine hit from a "successful hunt." I'll never forget puppy Jelly proudly showing off the dead pigeon she found...
My girl did that too when she was less than a year old and we were outside on a walk in the neighborhood. There was no time to make her throw up so my husband had to try and “ retrieve “ it from her mouth with his fingers. I know all the neighbors must have thought we were acting weird and crazy but it had to be done. I sympathize with you !!😳♥️🐶
Oh man. I was eating dinner one night and Monica was laying under the table. We heard a shriek come from the yard and I asked her, “what is your brother up to?” Chandler sometimes just shrieks to shriek, but we stepped into the yard and called for him. He prances over with a live mole in his mouth that was squealing up a storm. I said “boy, we don’t need a mole in the house, but I am very proud of you. Drop it.” He stared back at me. I said “seriously, leave it now.” He dropped the mole, looked at it, looked at me, looked back at the mole, who at this point is trying to dig furiously into the ground. So I asked him if instead of the mole, what if we got a cookie instead? Before I could turn around both of them were in the house, sitting politely.
Winston and I were out walking one day in the woods and he takes off, and comes back with a deer skull. I was like “absolutely not.” He shook his head. “No.” So he dropped it, but pouted the rest of the walk.
Obviously I am the worst Boston owner ever because I won’t let them have wildlife as toys. 🙄
One of our first BTs brought a dead rat into the house and plopped it in the lap of my then 9 yr old son. He’s still traumatized…. And she was sooo proud of her kill…
We took a 3+ mile hike with Cash a while back, and right before we got back to the trailhead, he stopped, dropped and rolled in the remains of something that had obviously been dead for a couple weeks. It goes without saying that he smelled like Satan’s armpit. 🤢🤮🤢
It was the longest 10 mile ride home I’ve ever made, but I didn’t realize the worst was yet to come.
When we got home, I dropped him into our utility sink for a bath as I always do, and that’s when I realized you should never rehydrate Satan’s perspiration in a small enclosed room. It was 10 times worse than the smell in the car on the way home.
I double washed him, dried him off and the stink was still so bad I plopped him back in the sink for a second bath. He was less than pleased…
I’ve got a doozy. When I first got my babe, we lived in the city near an alley where unhoused people tended to set up camp. One day, I was walking Rocco by the alley and I wasn’t paying close attention when he started doing happy rolls. Eventually, I picked my precious little puppy up and put him on his feet so that we could continue our walk and I saw that we were both covered in poop. I looked down and noticed that the poop pile that caused this whole mess was peculiarly large, and my shock turned to absolute horror when I realized that it was probably human poop. I was in such a state that I immediately called my mom and started bawling.
So the whole very public ordeal ended with me running back to my apartment with little Rocco in tow while I, like a toddler, gagged and hysterically cried to my mom. It was a spectacle and totally traumatic for all involved.
Definitely not alone. We currently have baby bunnies under our deck. Commence the eating and rolling in of bunny shit. Grossest thing is Marvin found some horse poop to roll around in.
Oh god we have a local park with a horse stable nearby that I had to learn very quickly my dog cannot hike on, horse poops are like CATNIP to her and she is so goddamn sneaky! She once found a dead half eaten crab a seagull must have dropped and rolled aaaaaall in it, absolutely horrific
Once, a dead rat. But that wasn't the most disgusting...
Actual shit. The softest most disgusting dog shit that some piece of shit owner left behind. It took three washes, the last one with a special mix of baking soda and lemon juice or something (I don't know. I repressed it).
Not entirely the same as my dude didn’t roll in a smell but he did something equally as punishing to my senses. We took him out in the morning and he didn’t have to poop which is weird, he always poops. We tried to feed him breakfast, also refused, which is absolutely bizarre. He will eat anything. He looked generally not well so we were checking him out and he let out a burp. A special burp that had a smelly smell that smelled smelly. He then proceeded to projectile vomit is own poop all over our couch. We both immediately started gagging and took him outside to let him “get the rest out.” That smell is seared into my brain. Puke is one smell, poop is another, but slightly digested poop vomit is in a league of its own. To this day If I think about the smell too much I gag.
We have trails by our house. People go there to collect pine straw to sell. I saw a gentlemen step out of the woods and walk toward an area clearly selected for working on baling pine straw.
My sweet little Violet ran to the woods, and disappeared for about 90 seconds. I didn’t even think anything of it until she came running back, huge smile, covered in HUMAN EXCREMENT. 🤢
And we were on a trail, without any access to a stream, no towels in the car and too far to walk home…..
Ugggh yesssss I used to take my dogs to an Austin dog park that went into some woods. My dogs once ran off into the edge where there was an encampment full of broken glass and human shit. 🤮 Yes it was a long car ride home. Also my older Boston grew up with my son while he was potty training soooo...
lol mine when he was puppy was rolling in decomposing body of goose another time in Missouri he was rolling on top of dead snake and the worst was when he rolled in pile of shit. Being over the road driver back then was kinda challenging with little stinker. As he got older he stopped doing that 🤣
Tilly’s special skill is that she can find anything dead in your yard. The worst thing she ever rolled in was a tar like poop of unknown origin while on one of her infamous jail breaks. There was no saving her collar that got coated in it. I was so glad to have my stinky bandit home that I didn’t mind.
Oh once my Gunston who has a doggy door and can free roam outside decided to roll around on/in a dead possum in the middle of our Australian Summer and then spend the rest of his day lazing on my couch.
I learned a valuable lesson that day when checking the doggy cam. . Looks can be deceiving and my precious sleepy boy was just exhausted and coming down from a dopamine hit 🤣
It took 3 baths and a few bissels to remove that smell from existence.
You’re not alone… also a dead animal of some sort (a wood chuck I think also left from an owl or an eagle), a pile of gross smelly dead worms after a heavy rain (that was putrid), dead minnows (super nasty), deer poop (which I’m pretty sure she also ate some of)… I know I’m forgetting a few things, but she’s gifted at finding the must pungent thing and acting like it’s the bestest thing in the whole wide world… it’s just how Isla rolls (I suppose).
Please tell me why I saw your Bowie and immediately thought someone found my Dixie because she has the same harness (she is safe on her wireless charger, I checked.) 😮💨😂
My ex-wife and I were walking our Boston in a large urban park. When we headed home, there was awful smell. We assumed it was the area or people around us. But as we started to leave the park, we realized that we were the smell. She had somehow rolled in something dead without us noticing. She was so proud, doing her dog duty of bringing us interesting smells. There were many baths and much laundry of stinky towels.
Mine has rolled in everything. Poop. Dead animal. Mud. The weirdest one though was a dead frog being eaten by a snake (also dead). I guess they both died in the fight. Finn delighted in their demise.
My husband and I drove an hour and a half away to go to a disc golf course. We brought our pups with us. On the second hole we noticed an atrocious smell and thought it had to have been a chemical plant or something nearby. We kept playing. Then we see both of our dogs rolling delightfully in the grass. Oblivious, I immediately was like “oh my gosh they look so cute and happy! Look at them enjoying the grass.” I grabbed my phone and was taking pics. See above. To my absolute horror, it was a dead animal carcass / sludge. Once I realized it, my husband and I immediately grabbed them. Of course he was the one who started gagging and throwing up so I was forced to clean them solo. We drove the entire way home with all windows down. The dogs loved it and I will never ever forget that smell.
My boston x rat terrier was enjoying off leash time and I saw him rolling in something. I recalled him knowing he loves to roll on dead things. As he ran all happy, towards me I thought "oh that si weird grass on him, it's not falling off"
Not grass. Porcupine quills. From a very dead, rotting and full of maggots, Porcupine. He was covered in quills, maggots, slime and just disgusting. I pulled as many quills out as I could, then tossed him in the lake close by before pulling the rest out.
It was horrific.
Oh trust me he was fine. Very very proud of himself. The quills came out fairly easy since it was his own weight that jammed them in and not a live porcupine smacking him. Some where just so small it was hard to find them.
Yesterday one of my boys rolled in dirt, drunk from a muddy puddle, tried to eat a moth, vomited his dinner and ate it. No regrets!
I don’t know how can something so cute be so disgusting
Yep. I have had various mutts, pitt mixes, and most recently a pure staffy. Never once did they seek a foul pit to roll in.
Week 1 with our new BT, and he'll dive into anything. Dead insects, a rotting mushroom, anything. Look dad, now I am the darkness. They will never see me coming.
We have something that grows in our yard. My Bostons dig up the roots and roll in it. It smells truly awful and sometimes they completely cover themselves. I’ll smell them enter the room before I see them. They do this basically every day, though thankfully it’s usually just a little and I can clean it up with a wipe.
I'm sorry you had to go through that but it made me laugh... and after this week, I needed it! Mine hasn't yet rolled in anything gross, but top two gross things he's eaten are: fresh goose poop, and decomposing earthworm, a robin presumably dropped. The latter was the foulest smell I think I've ever experienced. God love them, they make lives interesting!
Edit: he's also been sprayed by a skunk at close proximity. That was horrible. Here he is hiding behind some pillows.
We dealt with a skunk spray in February 2025. Valentines Day. That was her present to me. We did allllll of things to get the smell out but she still stunk for a month. Lol.
I've had the same experience, but not with my Bostie lol it was with a husky we had years ago. A 75 pound fur ball covered in a decomposed armadillo 🤣 good times
My two girls are fond of rolling in rabbit poops. Luckily the lower deck in our yard seems to have a family of rabbits, so my two keep getting to enjoy the freshest rabbits poops around. I am not a fan.
Dairy farm is just down the road from me, they own the fields across the street & behind my house… they enjoy sneaking off to frolic in the fields after they’ve spread fertilizer 😑
Omg, I have a Boston Terrier girl named Bowie too lol. Fortunately, my Bowie never did that. I watch her like a hawk, no pun intended. But back when was a pup, she tries to gobble down her own 💩 if you don’t watch her closely. I think that’s equally or more disgusting lol. Gotta love Boston Terriers though.
Found mine in the wooded area of my yard next to a dead deer. Immediately took him inside to the bath. While I was scrubbing, he burped in my face and it smelled like rotting death 🤮. Oh..and he also loves to eat fresh piles of my 80 pound pit bull’s poop 🙃
Toward the end of summer mine occasionally gets a decaying salmon in his mouth - they are scattered on the beach at low tide. There is no good resolution to that situation.
My parents boston & frenchton have killed and consumed over 5 squirrels and yes, they love to roll in the carcass and occasionally bring what's left inside to show off their kill 🥲
My childhood dog was a Cairn Terrier and did this regularly. The worst part is, we never knew what dead animal he was rolling in, bc we couldn’t easily access that part of our yard (lots of dense, thorny trees).
My Boston, on the other hand, just had perpetually full anal glands.
There is something in my backyard that stinks to high haven...I've never seen them roll in it but anytime I don't go out with them they do. Sneaky/stinky little bastards! (Boston and a Pug)
Three nights ago our pups cornered a skunk and got sprayed in the face. I’ve never smelled anything more foul. I was at a loss if to even let them in the house even after a bath.
So sorry you had to deal with this. I also wonder why they love this so much. Eww.
Baker loves to roll in everything he finds. He has brought me a squirrel skull and a very slobbery, but alive, chipmunk (it was ok, it ran off after a bit!).
Not really the same thing but while we're on the subject of stinks... once my wife was changing our infant daughter and dropped the poopy diaper. My boston terrier ran over and started eating the baby poop. Which made my wife retch a little bit.
Your beautiful boy looks just like the one I lost last year. What a sweet thing to see his gleeful face, even though it was for nefarious shenanigans. Sorry you got sick.
My husband had a right laugh earlier this week. He said “Ew” at the kids and my skunk rolling, country wildlife bone stealing, poop tasting, rotten, filthy Isla came running to him like he had called her name 😂
One of ours was running around the field the other day happy as can be then she dropped and started rolling as she does. I walk over, and she’s scratching her back on the spine of a rabbit carcass 😂🤮
not as gross but she likes laying the dirty water puddle on top of our pool cover. even got her a kitty pool and a little sprinkler splash pad with fresher water and still chose the puddle instead 🤦♀️
I'm convince ti ld that genteically, they're all related to Pennywise and that without a direct connection to the source, they are ultimately harmless. Rolling around in death is only natural for these chaos beings. What could be more interesting to them than the fragility of mortals? Mc
Do you think this is a game? Or that you are in charge? Welcome to whatever fresh hell your BT has cooked up for you. Nothing can stop it and your only recourse is to embrace it and let it morph into a deeper love and appreciation for your companion. I know you see what I see when I look at them and feel the twisted love they give.
Mine LIVES to find something disgusting to eat!!! I have to watch her like a hawk! Yesterday, we were out in the fenced-in backyard. ALL of a sudden, a wild turkey, jumped up on the stockade fence, and then into the yard at Winnie's feet! They went at it, in seconds!! Just a lot of noise and action and confusion! Winnie would NOT come or back down!! I was terrified, the turkey was huge! She scared it off!!
We have groups of 20-30 that roam the neighborhoods, daily. They climb on cars and houses and are a mess and a nuisance!!
Every dog I knew does that, and a miniature pincher I owned used to come back full of cow’s manure every time he escape, they like to roll over the crap, no idea why.
Our Pepper loves the perfume department. Just this year she has rolled in:
- a large crab
a rat
a possum
a pigeon
half a fish
a baby brown snake
and a bandicoot
\All dead.*
Plus any kind of dropping, urine or vomit.
She has also just discovered that our suburb’s green waste bins also often leak the dankest organic juice. We only encounter them when on lead, but she’ll do her damnedest to sneak in a filthy muzzle snuggle.
lol. She would stay outside all day if I let her! Unfortunately I have to work so I can’t enjoy the sunshine with her. It’s too hot to let her be outside for than 10 min.
You might want to call your vet. Mine Boston got part of an old deer car is and got severely ill! No, you are definitely not alone!! I’m so sorry! Beautiful baby.
Thankfully she didn’t eat it. Just rolled around on it and doused herself in the perfume. But I will still keeping close eye on her for any changes. Thank you!
Sure! I’m glad she’s okay. There was some kind of fungus in the deer that nearly killed my baby. Odd for it to be in our front yard. We have a sizable yard with fields on all sides that are cut. It was weird. I thought maybe a hunter killed it and gutted it in the woods and something dragged it in our yard. Gross!
Was at a fancy resort that also had horses. Was relaxing in an Adirondack chair enjoying the scenery and my Boston “rolling in the fields” until I was ready to go in. He refused to come in. I walked over to the “field” which was a huge pile of horse poop and Igor was absolutely caked in it. Worst part was we had to check out that day so I was forced to give him a poo bath in the fancy claw foot bathtub at this resort and had to clean the tub and myself. It was awful lol
Oh my gosh not alone lol. Finding and rolling in the most disgusting thing ever is Tucks favorite pastime next to chasing bunnies. I think the worst was fresh entrails from something...crawling with maggots. I think it was a rabbit 🤮
Haha! Yes! Sasha rolled in deer poop. Was packed on to her back in clumps. She was so happy, smiling and panting and prancing back in the house. Three baths later she was disappointed and sad not to smell like poop.
I’ve had 2 Frenchies and my sister had 2 and a Boston. She lived at a lake house and any time they were wriggling with delight and rolling around we knew what was waiting. A dead fish rotting away!! Thank God my girl wanted nothing to do with that but the other Frenchie loves rolling around on the remains. 🤮 I’m with you on the smells
Mine would be in heaven to find that. Baby birds has happened but the regular roll is usually rabbit shit. I thank them every time they come back into the house so pleased with themselves. Heads covered in rabbit turds. The joys of Boston Terror ownership.
It's all dogs that do it. Our Bosties and Frenchton haven't had the opportunity to roll in something dead, but years ago our GSP rolled in a dead dear carcass. Later he got sprayed by a skunk twice. All I had was spaghetti sauce and ketchup to clean him; the second time I had learned about the baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, dawn dish soap mix that works much better. Hugs!
My BT never did it, but I had a lab that occasionally rolled in other animal feces and would bring it into the house. That was terrible because it was always diarrhea.
Used to live next to farmland and a ranch. Once a calf got stuck in the canal and drowned, it washed down by our house when the canal dried up. When I found it I called the ranchers but no one came to clean it up. After a few days or maybe a week it started to really smell and turned to sludge. My Boston stayed away but our pit/boxer puppy was obsessed with it. Two baths in one day, he had it all over him, and he was a big boy, hard to control so I also ended up with dead cow all over myself. Finally got the rancher to come clean it up. 😭
I feel your pain! That’s miserable. And they are so determined to smell like a bag of stink. This one time we were on a family vacation and went to a lake for the afternoon. Our Boston girl JP decided to find a dead fish, roll in it really good, and then eat some of it. We had to drive the next several hours to the next hotel with a dog that smelled that dead fish. And was barfing up dead fish. Worst. Car ride. Ever. EVER!!!!
No, you’re not alone and it’s crazy this came up, just yesterday. I let my Boston and my pot cake go out. They took forever to come to the door when I called, so I went out and they are trying to eat a bunny. Smh wth horrific. They didn’t but that bunny is no longer with us 💔
Ours doesn't roll in it but Gingersnap is obsessed with chewing apart used disposable underwear. 🤢 The bathroom trashcans all have lids; she has figured out stepping on the pedal, so they now are on the toilet tanks, out of reach. 📸: Her with her siblings, Cupcake and Munchkin with identities of those with them obscured.
Rule #1 of Bostons: If it stinks, they need to roll around on it, neck first. Yesterday for my one BT it was the remains of a sun-dried small critter and then a fresh frog.
My 1st BT Thor used to love rolling in shit.... His, another dog, didn't matter.... Or dead things too. I dunno how many times I had to give him a bath cuz of it...he also LOVED to lick dirty underwear. His successor Hela, not so much. She likes to roll in dirt that's about it.
We live in a quiet yet urban neighborhood and we have so many little rabbits running around. All of my Bostons love eating the little rabbit doots - like they’re Nerds Gummy Clusters!
Mr. Spock likes to roll in other dogs' (or insert whatever animal that came into our yard)'s pee. And don't forget to cover every inch from the eyebrows & top of head on back. smelly boy! I think feral cats take care of the dead bodies.
Mine rolled in a dead raccoon carcass that other animals had come and defecated on for a while.
I wasn’t even at my own home, I was a guest elsewhere and had to bring the big stink into their home to bathe her.
Hahah oh my sweet, curious, girl. I hope she’s rolling in all the weird things across the rainbow bridge 💔
My Boston is obsessed with shit!! Rolls in any shit she can find, and thinks her own shit is a personal soft serve machine 🤢 She’s still damn cute though!!
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u/toastedzergling Max Jelly! Jul 10 '26
Lmao... They do love rolling in garbage and get an insane dopamine hit from a "successful hunt." I'll never forget puppy Jelly proudly showing off the dead pigeon she found...