Evidently, the last time we took Bella in to the groomer, they forgot to do the sanitary trim
. After Bella pottied this morning on her potty pad, she was trembling, had her tail held tightly down, and she looked miserable and ashamed. We praised her and gave her a treat because she pottied in the right place, but we still knew something was wrong. She wouldn't lift up her tail. We gently pried up her tail, and there was a dingleberry matted into her fur. I put on nylon gloves and tried to pull it lose, but it smeared and got further ground into her fur. We ended up having to give her a special bath (we just gave her a bath last weekend). She was much happier afterward. We're taking her in to the vet this afternoon for a sanitary trim. The next time we take her to her regular groomer, we're going to tell them what happened and ask for a discount on her next grooming to pay for the vet's sanitary trim. I was impressed with Bella being able to tell us that something was wrong--she's a smart girl.
Lesson learned: Check your dog over thoroughly at the groomer to make sure they didn't miss something as obvious as a sanitary trim.