So, 11:45 PM on a balmy Saturday night, Rob has been asleep for a couple of hours and I'm watching TV. Grady has friends over, and they are all outside enjoying themselves around the firepit.
One of the guys casually mentions to Grady, I think your dog is playing with a skunk. Thats right. PLAYING. WITH. A. SKUNK. The outcome was inevitable. I heard a commotion and picked up the words "dog" and "skunk", and as soon as the back door opened, my worst fears were confirmed.
I dispatched Grady to rouse his father. Waking Rob at that time of night is not a task for the faint hearted, and no way was I going to be the one to wake him up with that kind of news. Grady gently shook his father awake and then wisely took a step back and whispered, "Otis got sprayed by a skunk" and took another step back just to be safe.
Meanwhile I'm frantically googling homemade remedies to get rid of the skunk stench, and Rob dashes off at to a 24-hour Shoppers Drug Mart to stock up on peroxide and dish detergent. He's lining up to pay and the woman at the counter views his purchases and helpfully informs him "You're gonna need baking soda with that." My husband replies "Is it that obvious?" She wrinkles her nose and says "Yep"
Back at home, Gradys's friends have quickly abandoned the garden and are huddled, gagging at the front door, as far away from the stench as possible, not realizing the damage is already done. Once Rob returns with supplies, he and Grady set about mixing the concoction in the kitchen. All pretenses of following a "recipe" are abandoned as they dump the bottles of peroxide and dish detergent and a box of baking soda into a large bowl.
The three of us (Sid was doing a pretty convincing job of pretending to be asleep) glove up and venture outside. Poor Otis had no idea what was coming. Choking and gagging we proceeded to douse the dog. Grady's friends called out a collective goodbye and beat a hasty retreat. Surprisingly the Peroxide/Dawn/Baking Soda remedy worked really well, and an hour later it was our turn to rid the odour from ourselves. As soon as Petsmart opened the next morning, Rob set off to buy a vet recommend skunk shampoo and round two took place.
We have half an acre for our back garden, with plenty of hiding places for wildlife. Desperate to avoid another such encounter, come nightfall, before letting the dogs out, Rob proceeds to walk up and down and around the garden, clanging a large brass bell to scare off anything that may be lurking. All he is missing is yelling "Hear Ye. Hear Ye". Our neighbours, unaware of the recent episode, probably think he's lost the plot. They're not wrong.
Add comment
Comments