Skunked!

It started off like any good Monday should-with a bit of unwelcome excitement.  I was happily rolled up in covers when the distinct smell came drifting throughout the room.  The smell that all dog owners try to avoid at all costs, because although the remedy is cheap, the work to fix the problem is is hard.  I immediately popped up and realized although S'more had come into the bedroom she was not the problem the whiney, bouncy dog locked in the backyard was, Molly.  It was just that S'more had to sit next to Molly on the ride home and she was a bit miffed at getting the aroma. 

The pups on a skunk free walk.

Let's back up a couple of weeks.  Several weeks ago Dustan took the dogs out to our favorite off leash walking area.  He and S'more came upon and surprised a skunk early one morning.  Luckily, S'more being a worldy dog knew exactly what that white stripe meant and slowly backed away from the skunk and Dustan and her were able to make a clean get away.  I've always said a skunk is as scared of you as you are of it, so if you can move slowly, no one gets hurt.  Then probably a week later walking through the woods the three of them came upon another skunk.  S'more once again used her age to her advantage and didn't make any sudden movements.  Molly on the other hand, who had missed the first encounter, dove head first into the brush to start to chase this new critter.  She obviously has never encountered the striped-colored kind.  Luckily, after yelling and probably freaking out, Dustan's calm returned and he and S'more started running away from the woods (and skunk) and called Molly's name.  Molly does not like to be left out and she quickly came running with them.  She probably thought they were going to go off and do something great and she didn't want to miss out.  Twice Dustan had gotten lucky on their morning walks.  You know what they say about the third time.

Which brings us to this morning.  I was happily dreaming in bed as the pups and Dustan left a little after 6 for their morning constitutional.  It started out like any other walk, dogs happily running around smelling things, Dustan walking behind them and generally it was a happy morning.  Less than 15 minutes into their walk things changed.  They came upon a skunk.  Dustan and S'more were smart and slowly backed away.  Molly, being young, not so wise with age, and I'd say this incident confirmed it, never having had a real skunk encounter made the not so smart choice or as we say in kindergarten, she made a bad choice.  She took off through the brush and brambles chasing as hard as she could that fluffy little ground hovering mammal as fast as she could.  (For effect you should now imagine Dustan yelling.) As she was closing in on the critter, they're not very fast, he apparently made the decision to open up on her.  It was a good direct hit which sent her scurrying back to Dustan and S'more who immediately wanted nothing to do with her.  There was nothing left to do but turn around and head home. 

There aren't too many good ways to be awoken in my opinion.  The smell of skunk has to rank right up there as one of the worst.  Remember I was awoken by the dog who hadn't been hit by the skunk.  The one in the backyard was terrible.  I immediately threw on some old shorts and went to the pantry where I keep my de-skunking kit.  Here's what you'll need: 1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 1 tablespoon Dawn dishwashing soap. It has to be DAWN!  It says right on the bottle, "Dawn helps save wildlife".  I always use liberal amounts of Dawn, way more than the 1 tablespoon, if a little is good, a lot has to be better, right?

I mixed it up in a large bowl and headed outside with husband in tow.  Luckily, Molly likes to be near us so she wasn't completely opposed to the bath as S'more would have been.  At one point she sat down and really seemed to be living up the massage she was getting.  Dustan did the honors the first time through.  There is no need to wet down your dog before you start applying the solution.  Just apply it straight to the coat and concentrate it to the location where your dog was hit.  Or if you're really lucky like us and can't figure out where that was, just apply liberally all over working it into their coat.  Usually it takes two applications to get the majority of the smell out.  After letting Molly dry out for a couple hours this morning I went ahead and did a second application right before lunch.  It wasn't as easy as I had to do it by myself.  It's easier to either have two people or do it in the bathtub (I personally only do this in the winter, with the fan running on high and a strong beverage).  Don't forget to soak the dog collar in this solution as well.  It hold skunk smell incredibly well.

Molly is smelling fairly good right now.  I wouldn't say she smells as good as she did pre-skunk but then again she is a dog. (To be fair to my readers S'more and I are sitting in the TV room and Molly is in the living room, her choice.)  To smell it on her I do have to get close and put my nose up against her, which she thinks is really, really weird that I keep coming up to her and sniffing her.  Humans!  S'more had a great time this morning as well.  She usually gets a little miffed when we spend time with Molly and exclude her.  Not this morning.  She sat in front of the sliding glass door and watched the action and laughed.  I took a picture of her laughing but I had to open the sliding glass door becasue Molly had shaken so much water on it by this time it would have been fuzzy so some of S'more's smirk isn't quite as smirky as it was when we were chasing Molly around the back. 

Molly after her second bath this morning. 

S'more laughing at Molly from the comforts of the house.