Things are about to get Skunky!
Ahh… I love springtime!
The snow is melting, the birds are chirping in the morning and our days are getting longer bit by bit.
Alas, there is one lil thing I must say drives a sharp sliver of fear in my heart as an early morning jogger, and that is the reappearance of all our hibernating friends.
Foxes… you’re swift and get out of the way quickly. (ps: thank you!)
Raccoons…. You’re not cute with your lumbering gait and delight in using my front lawn as a buffet table. (ps: I hate you!)
Skunks
… you, I have a very, very deep seeded fear of!
Slow and ambling, you seem to creep out of the bushes in that pre-dawn haze and catch me so unawares on my morning run that I do not think a 180-degree turn could possibly be done faster even at an Olympian level.
To be fair, I did have a rather…ummmm ‘personal’ experience with a skunk a couple of years back.
Picture this:
……a grand opening media event and gala out of town. I have primped my hair all ready for my early morning flight…packed…feeling good.
I open the back door to let the dog out for her final ‘bathroom break’ to see a baby skunk in the middle of the back yard.
Noooooooooooooo!
Before I can close the door not allowing to dog to go out, the beast (who never gets up, nor barks at any delivery person) bolts into the back yard in pursuit of our little black and white friend.
Yup.
#skunked
I cannot even begin to tell you the soul piercing stench of that close proximity spray. My poor dog was beside herself. In the humid evening air, I am chasing her around the back yard with a water bottle to at least get the spray out of her eyes.
Quick Google: “ what to do if your dog encounters a skunk”
Ahhh…yes! Tomato juice….so off to the grocer I go and grab 6 massive jugs of the stuff and dash back home. With elegant rubber gloves on I proceed to massage the aforementioned tomato juice into my poor dog’s fur. Naturally, being a dog when wet, there was a lot of ‘body shakes’ in the process. (No…it wasn’t pretty.)
Scent…? Yes, still very, very seriously there. Now of course my carefully coiffed hair is looking a bit matted, and my back yard looks like a tomato massacre has occurred.
Quick Google #2: “ what to do if your dog encounters a skunk”
Ahhh.. yes! Mouthwash. I hadn’t heard of that, but surely ‘minty fresh’ is worth a try.
Back to the grocer to gather up a cornucopia of Listerine, Scope and generic brand mouth wash in the ‘family’ size. Pooch now is enduring massage # 2.
Though my back yard has a very lovely minty scent on top of the eau de tomato….the pooch is most definitely still sporting the eau du Pepe Le Pew.
Gaaaaa…. What to do? Plus I have to relax, fall asleep and be up in 5 hours.
Serious Google #3: “ what to do if your dog encounters a skunk” on a veterinary search.
If a vet can’t help you….who can??
Off to the 24 hour pharmacy (grocer is now closed), to get the ingredients for this magical ‘shampoo’.
I cannot even begin to tell you how well this works! Even after the first application, it was absolute magic. After a second shampoo, it was like night and day… the skunk scent was a distant memory. Poor pooch ….all she had to go through with all those assorted ‘baths’.
So with all those late evening adventures, it is safe to say that I showered, tried to gear down a bit and went to bed.
Coiffed hair a distant memory….but a high hair messy bun is tres chic – right??
Xo – Sandra
Skunky Shampoo recipe
(I keep all ingredients in the garage too for me just in case- and I do not want to state aloud to jinx myself- I encounter one of these lil beasts). Please wear rubber gloves!
Single application:
* 2 473 ml ( or 4 cups) hydrogen peroxide
* ½ cup of baking soda
* 1/8th cup of Dawn (or grease cutting) liquid dish soap
* 1 cup warm water
Combine all in a large jug and mix well.
Pour over dog and massage into fur (use rubber gloves)
Allow to stay on dog for about 5-10 minutes
Thoroughly rinse off with warm water
Repeat a second time …just to be sure.
(Note: do not store this solution as it may become unstable; dispose responsibly… preferably on your dog)
Source: Wikipedia.com
Photo credit: Pepe Le Pew, Warner Bros
