Monday, September 22, 2008

Eau de Pepe Le Peu

Hubby took Dog out for his late night walk and guess what? Dog took off like a maniac, pulling the leash out of Hubby's hand and ran right up to a small skunk! Hubby grabbed the leash and brought him back home but Dog had been sprayed in the face.

It's funny, but it doesn't smell like the skunk smell on the road when someone hits one. I went looking on some websites for what to do and "burning tires" and "rancid garlic" really do describe it pretty well. It's also not as strong as I thought it would be, but it's pervasive.

The best mixture seems to be Hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dishsoap (I already knew tomato juice was a myth), but we didn't have the ingredients and it's too late to be going out for them. Instead, I dug out the mango scented dog shampoo and washed Dog's face and head 3 times, rinsing well between. I wore rubber gloves and an old Tshirt while I washed him to try to protect myself. We could barely smell it after the 3 washings but now I smell it everywhere and I feel like I have heartburn because you can sort of taste the smell. Gross.

Dog is lying here looking miserable, with sore eyes although I think all the rinsing really helped. I think he was also trying to lick it off his face and he won't even eat his favorite treats. (I probably wouldn't want to eat if my mouth really tasted like skunk. The sensation I have is bad enough.)

I'd take him to the vet if I thought that would help, but I read a lot of people's comments including what the vet told them to do, so I'm pretty sure that I'd just be told to rinse his eyes and wash him repeatedly (probably with the mixture I don't have). But the only vet that's open costs $700 and I don't think he's in any danger. I may end up buying the peroxide etc. tomorrow and giving him a full bath if he still smells really horrible but there's not a lot you can do with the house other than cover up like brewing coffee, baking spices in the oven, putting out vinegar, burning candles, etc.

Fun. Fun. Fun. I hope I don't smell like skunk but who knows?

3 comments:

Bouncing Back said...

The vet will only do what you did, wash the dog with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap. Dawn brand dish washing liquid will help to cut the skunk oil and de-scent the dog.

Ohh I feel for you. It does wear off!

Anonymous said...

Hi Shevy: I realized today that I hadn't been back to your blog since I first discovered it. Did you know I live in Seattle?

I have two high-maintenance cats, no dogs - yet; Vintage Girl may be getting ideas!

Shevy said...

@bouncing back

Thanks. That's good to know. I had read that Dawn was best to use because of its grease cutting qualities so that's what I bought. I'm so glad it worked.

@vintage mommy

I don't think I did. Another blog I read, This is how I do it, is also based in Seattle. I hope you'll keep coming back to read. I know I'm checking you out every day!

I laughed at Vintage Girl getting ideas. When Dear Child was 2 or even younger Hubby used to take her to the park every day when he got home. She'd come back and only want to talk about how many dogs she'd seen, their names, what they looked like and if she'd gotten to pet them. So we got Dog. He's a miniature poodle because we lived in a small place at the time and we wanted something that would do well in the space, be sturdy enough to live with a toddler and have non-allergenic hair (I have asthma and wanted to be careful, even though I'm only actually allergic to cats, not dogs). I was checking lots of breeders, looking for a good one, and his litter was born about that time. I got to see pictures of him from 1 day old!