Over the years, I have had more than a few occasions to smell the nearby presence of a skunk, though fortunately never have we had a direct confrontation. This despite curious dogs, and more than a few known critters in our neighborhood.
Unfortunately, last night around 2 AM, our dog managed to break that streak, and after running from the backyard, we discovered a rather pungent odor. It was enough to permeate the house, and wake up the wife, and the dog was none too happy as well.
What followed was some rather frantic google-searching, followed by a series of baths for the dog. In the process, we tried every remedy we could find and obtain, and the dog no doubt felt it was being water-boarded for all the wash, rinse, repeat rounds.
First attempt was a basic bath – no luck there. Then we tried vinegar and baking soda – some impact, but not much. Next attempt with a mix of vanilla and vinegar – peculiar smell, but still not much improvement. We didn’t have tomato sauce, so we substituted tomato paste, smeared onto the snout of the dog (where the smell was lingering). Although the dog looked like it was being murdered, or had committed murder, not much of a change in the stench (though the dog was much happier licking off the paste). Finally, following a quick trip to the local store, the wife tried a round of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and Dawn dish liquid – which seemed to finally make a difference. The dog was left, wet, cold and scared, to curl up under a thick towel, and we tried to get back to sleep after a 3 hour battle, working to ignore the strong smell still in the air.
This morning, the smell is still there, and numerous articles of clothing, blankets, towels, linens, etc, are going thru the laundry. The dog, having apparently forgotten all about the skunk, is happily sleeping on the coach, her fur never having been as clean and soft. She is now referred to as “Skunky McSkunk Face”, and it will be a while before we forget the events of August 2018.
