Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Of dogs and skunks

We have a skunk here at Thistledew - he seems to prowl between the two houses during the night. Once in awhile I get a whiff of his distinctive perfume when I go outside at night or very early in the morning, and believe me, a whiff is MORE than enough.

So, it was with some dismay that I discovered that Achilles (our boxer) likes to play with skunks. And the skunk, evidently, doesn't share that playful feeling, because he sprayed Achilles full-on. The odor was unbelievable, and poor Achilles was banished to the laundry room for the night.

Fortunately for us (and for Achilles), our second-favorite store is Tractor Supply, and they have a post-skunk encounter shampoo that works pretty well. Achilles still smells slightly musky, but nothing like he initially did. And this is really good, because he's managed to encounter the skunk twice more since that first time. The skunk still doesn't want to play - imagine that!

You'd think that three sprays of vile, smelly, burning stuff into your face and eyes followed by obvious human dismay and either banishment OR an immediate bath would be enough to convince you to leave a skunk to his own devices, but Achilles pushes on. That funny-looking cat will figure out how to play one of these days, and won't that be fun?

Terri

4 comments:

Lisa-Maladylis said...

hahaha our vet told us when our Airedale got sprayed that sometimes dogs just keep going back for more. I can tell you for sure that the tomato Juice just does not work. Hope he is smell free soon lol

amy @ Life in Pink Hi-Tops said...

I had no idea what a skunk smells like--obviously a city girl--until we bought our house. We live in an old subdivision. I smelled this awful smell. My husband told me it was skunk. Thankfully none of our dogs have come across this skunk! Because I can hardly stand the odor in the air!
thanks for entering my giveaway!

Thistledew Farm said...

This may sound funny, but if I go outside and the skunk is super odoriferous, like she's nearby, I actually say "Go away Skunk". It seems to work. I'm not sure if it's like an incantation or if my voice scares her off....don't comment!

Terri said...

Lisa, we didn't even try the tomato juice - we went straight to the skunk shampoo. Thankfully, it helps A LOT! I think your vet is right - some dogs just keep going back!

Amy, you have an awesome blog and I'm glad your dogs are sensible enough to avoid skunks!

Melissa, you are just so awesomely awesome that the skunk wouldn't dare disobey! :) Please stop sending him over to my side of the farm, though - send him the other way next time!

Terri