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Saturday 22 September 2012

Skunked

Was it really only yesterday that I was saying there was a glut of tomatoes and I wasn't sure what to do with them?  The universe will always seek balance and it seems it's found a way to take care of my excess.

I put my dog out this morning and he went charging off the porch, the same way he has every morning for the past year.  Today however was different.  Today he flushed out a skunk.

I'm sure you know how this is going to end.  The skunk wasn't a little one either - this was a big adult that's been around for a while that I'm sure is used to big dogs and knows exactly how to shut them down.   I got there in time to see M. Le Pew up on his front legs and knew we were done for.  Jake couldn't have been more than 3 feet from this thing when he got sprayed.  A direct hit on his chest and neck.

Now the thing with a skunk is the faster you can get the musk off, the easier the whole thing will be.  I don't have tomato juice in the house - I can't stand the stuff, but I have 18 dying tomato plants with the remains of the harvest.  So carefully dodging the dog, I ran to the garden, picked about 20 tomatoes (didn't matter at all what shape they were it, or how rotten they might have appeared) brought them back to the house, dropped them in the blender my son had left out (small mercies - normally he'd get hollered at for this) added a splash of water and made a tomato slurry.  I don't think Jake was too impressed with it, but it did cut the smell remarkably well.  This bought me enough time to go online and do a search for how to deal with skunk on dogs.  I found that most people recommend peroxide, baking soda and dish soap.  Some recommend using vinegar if bleaching the coat is an issue for the owner.  Frankly, at this point in time, I don't care if this gives him polka dots, but I have no peroxide and lots of vinegar so that's what I did.


The dog smells much better now.  Don't mistake me - this isn't a miracle cure and I don't know where I'm going to put him tonight as he isn't coming in the house but it's better than it was.  My porch however, may never recover.

1 comment:

  1. I've heard Listerine works too! My FIL's dog got sprayed last night. I'm taking my bottle down to them today.

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