A few months ago when we replaced our wooden floors in the master bedroom with white carpet I knew it would be a little challenging to keep it clean. But with only the hubs and me how much trouble could it be? I knew we would really have to clean our feet or take our shoes off at the door, but it was really pretty. I was so interested in getting the house back in shape that I didn’t worry too much about the practicality of white carpet. This week I have been reminded once again that stuff happens!

Our little dachshund, Missy, is such a well-behaved little girl that sometimes I almost forget she is a dog. She is such a part of the family, and absolutely never has an accident in the house, well, almost never. A while ago I walked out of the master bathroom and literally let out a yell when I spied a pile of something dark on my carpet.

“It can’t be! Oh Missy, what have you done!”

I inched closer and closer hoping against hope that I wasn’t seeing what I thought I was seeing. The nearer I got to the big brown blob my nose confirmed the unthinkable had happened.

Yes, my smart little girl had for some unknown reason pooped on the carpet. I almost gagged as I cleaned it up. I scrubbed and scrubbed, and thought I had gotten the stain out. I went on with my day not thinking too much about the accident until I walked into the bedroom later and saw a spot with a distinctly yellow hue.

At least it’s not chocolate brown. I couldn’t help but smile at my little joke. We tested a new carpet cleaner on an old scrap piece, and were determined to get that stain out. We really hoped the new cleaner would do the trick, but after the shock wore off we realized that it wasn’t such a huge deal. It was after all only carpet, but this mishap put some other actions into motion.

You see our bedroom was supposed to be off limits for our black haired beauty, but she figured out that the door didn’t shut properly. All she had to do was give the door a nudge with her nose and it sprung open. We had intended to fix the door latch for quite a long time, but put it off. I guess it is fair to say that the carpet incident was really our fault for not taking care of that door when we first noticed it.

Thankfully, the new carpet cleaner did the trick. I just walked into our bedroom, looked at that pretty white carpet, and walked out shutting the door behind me with a click. The carpet is clean and fresh, and the door has been fixed. Now we have to be more careful to keep our daughter — oops, I meant dog — off the carpet!

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.