Smelly dog story!

OFF-LIMITS . . . Shirley in the Church Inn pub doorway

Landlord bars pongy pet from pub

A loveable pub dog has been banned from her own home because her strong, ripe odours were putting regulars off their ale.

Landlord Julian Taylor imposed the sanction after customers at the Church Inn, Uppermill, complained about the eight-year-old Afghan’s strong, ripe odours.

The pub, with its famed 250-year-old brew house, has just scooped the top prize in the coveted Own Brew Pub of the Year category in the Good Pub Guild 2010.

And the citation praises the premises for encouraging families and people with dogs to bring them.

But Julian, a 42 year-old father-of- four, has now put a notice at the entrance to the pub (below).

He said: “I imposed the ban before we won the award. I was very reluctant to ban Shirley from the pub bar and dining area but she does give off a strong odour.

“She is a real favourite with all our visitors and sits on the door step to meet and greet customers.

“But unfortunately, despite all our efforts to keep her neat and tidy, she insists in rolling round in the fields with our ducks, peacocks and other livestock.

“And despite us regularly cutting and combing her coat and giving her a pet shampoo — she immediately heads off to join her pals rolling around in the muck.

“The trouble is, she sits near the pub’s open fires on cold days — or comes inside during warm weather. She gives of a strong, distinctive smell. It can be quite off-putting for some visitors.”

Pub regular Trevor Booth said: “Shirley is loved by everyone but she definitely gives off a very strong whiff of the countryside.

“She sits wagging her tail at everyone at the pub entrance. However, since the ban, that’s as far as she goes.”

Some customers have been known to smuggle Shirley in through the side door and hide her under a table. But it’s never long before Julian spots her — he simply has to follow his nose.

Trevor added: “Shirley is a really affectionate dog but we all reckon she doesn’t really know how strong she smells after she’s been lying with the livestock in fields near the pub.”

Local vet, Ian McConnell, who has a practice in Uppermill and Mossley, said: “It is quite common for some breeds to roll in animal matter — particularly after they have been shampooed.

“They don’t like the scented fragrance of the shampoo and want to disguise themselves.

“The habit goes way back to times when dogs would stalk their prey and didn’t want them to know they were there.”