Skunked!

Guess what? We learned some things about skunks last night! HoneyBear had a brief encounter with one in our back yard last night, around 10:00. A brief encounter is enough, tho. We let her out to do her business. Diane looked out the window when she heard HoneyBear growl and saw a skunk by our tree in spray position. It was already too late to save HoneyBear, but Bill didn't know it. He was trying to get the door open to get her into the house before she was sprayed. She came charging through the doggy door and he could tell that the skunk had gotten her. Our house still smells a little inside, cuz she dashed around a little as we were getting the doggy door shut (so the skunk wouldn't come in, too. We generally leave it locked except when she asks to go out.) So, we are glad this afternoon has been sunny, as windows and fans have done their work to air things out. It was pretty chilly this morning, but cold fresh air was definitely better than warm, slightly smelly air!

Our friend who lives a couple blocks over had warned us a while back that skunks from the park have been coming over and to have some tomato juice on hand. So, I managed to get HoneyBear into the tub while Bill grabbed a case of V-8 juice, and I slathered it over her. It really did seem to neutralize the odor quickly, and HoneyBear kept drinking it too. She apparently got sprayed some in her mouth, and the V-8 seemed to help that. So Bill looked on the internet as I slathered on 4 cans of V-8, and 2 sights said that tomato juice is not that effective, and will turn your dog's fur red. (Isn't it nice that her hair is red anyway? But tomato juice helped with my friend's dog and her dog is still white!) But that shampooing quickly is important, as it is worse if it dries. So, as I shampooed the V-8 out, Bill found a fizzy recipe with Hydrogen Peroxide, baking soda and detergent. So, that came next. Then another shampoo to get THAT out. We now have the cleanest dog in these parts, whose main problem is now static electricity cuz her fur is TOO clean, which makes the fur around her ears raise up and float in the air---cute, actually.

We also now have the cleanest bathroom in these parts! Can you imagine what things look like when a dog shakes after being slathered with V-8??!!! Bless his heart, Bill spent a lot of time cleaning in there, after I had rinsed and mopped up as much as I could with old towels. Also, he was out at midnight spraying down the part of the house that might have gotten some spray, too, so it hopefully wouldn't dry and linger. Have you been outside here at midnight in October? It is nice we can chuckle about this already! Today, we have allergy eyes and swollen sinuses, but we are thankful it wasn't all worse.