Sunday, June 28, 2009

Skunked

Every dog owner dreads it. Every dog owner looks at the bottle of de-skunker in the pet store and hopes that they never have to use it. I have looked at those bottles before and thought, “hmmmm…maybe I should buy a litre and have it on hand just in case……”. Of course, I never acted on that thought. Of course, my dog Otis gets skunked. Of course, I’m at home by myself in the middle of feeding Ellie. Not only does Otis get skunked but he comes into the house (the side door is open) and he sprays the slime all over the house – upstairs and downstairs! Poor guy was totally dazed. After I was able to get Ellie safe in her crib and away from all things skunkified, I found Otis downstairs lying in pool of drool. He was traumatized. This was not a day of “a dog’s life” especially after we had already been chased down by a big mean x breed looking for an afternoon snack while we were out running. Both Otis and I had had our adrenalin rushes for the day.

Regardless, I was now faced with the challenge of de-stinkifying my house and my dog. Oh bring it on……..I’ve just managed to calm my teething child after hours of whining and crying……I can handle it! No pet stores that I knew of were open at 8pm and I wasn’t sure how I was going to clean up Otis. Thankfully, my answer was just a few keystrokes away and after a ten second google search, I discovered a de-skunking concoction that was guaranteed to work: 1 litre of hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup baking soda and 1tsp of liquid soap.

Problem. I couldn’t leave Otis at home to potentially skunkify the couches and other furniture that had so far remained untouched. I was also not about to pack up Ellie in the car with a stinky dog covered in drool and skunk juice. Arghhh. What to do!? I called my dog owner neighbour down the street hoping she would have some de-skunker on hand. Not home! Asking for help is really not my specialty but I had to admit to myself that I needed it! With some trepidation, I called a friend to lend a hand – thankfully Bob was willing to pedal his way to the drugstore to fulfil my request for one litre of hydrogen peroxide. Not doing much on a Friday night? Well, trust me to add a little excitement in to the mix! Okay, maybe not but it was My excitement for the evening! Anyway, thank you Bob!

Good news. The peroxide mixture worked and my pup smells squeaky clean. After about four hours of cleaning, laundry, dog washing and candle burning, I was able to get the house clean again. I even got in a little extra exercise by getting down on my hands and knees and scrubbing the floor. Little did I know that my afternoon run was my just my warm up for the evening! The air still has a faint reek in the basement but I think it will just be a matter of time before it clears out.

The next day, I find Otis in the yard chewing up the trellis under the patio where the skunks were. I had to give him heck for it but I could tell he was chewing with such a vengeance as if to say “okay, take that you stinker skunk………if I ever see you again…………you better watch your tail……..woof..woof”. Otis once got hit by a bicycle and now he clears the path instantly for oncoming bikes. I just hope he takes the same approach with any future oncoming skunks!

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