Skunked!

As I mentioned in our previous post, we had an unfortunate encounter with a skunk over the weekend. It was midnight on Saturday and Brad had just let the dogs out to pee before bed. We didn't see the skunk lurking in the bushes, but the dogs obviously did. They tore after it and were almost instantly sprayed (Douna directly in the face). By the time I got outside, Douna had picked the skunk up in his mouth and was shaking the crap out of it. Needless to say, the skunk did not survive.

So Brad got the hose and sprayed Douna until he dropped the skunk and we corraled both dogs onto the deck. We then spent the next 2 hours washing both dogs with a de-skunking shampoo. Now, skunk spray, up close and personal, is perhaps the worst smell on earth. It is overpowering. What's worse is how long the smell lingers after the actual attack. It can be WEEKS. So we had to relegate the dogs to the basement for the night. Of course, Hudson being the needy, anxious girl that she is, spent the next half hour, as we were trying to get some sleep, scratching and clawing and crying at the door. So Brad, at 2:30 in the morning, went downstairs, got the drill out, and proceeded to make a plywood fortress around the gate at the bottom of the stairs so they couldn't get out.

It worked. Hudson stayed downstairs and eventually calmed down and we finally got some sleep.

But it is now 4 days later and they are just now tolerable enough to come back in the house. So that was 4 days of not being allowed in the house, the poor guys. Thank god the past few days have been nice out--we have just left them outside to "air out". They have enjoyed being outside (and so have we) and nervous nelly Hudson doesn't have to have an anxiety attack because we are out of sight.

And what became of the hapless skunk, you might ask? Well, it sat dead on our lawn for a day and then Brad scooped it up (with a shovel) and threw it in the garbage can. But, of course, our trash pick up wasn't for another 3 days. So you can imagine what those poor garbage men had to deal with when they opened the can this morning. I'm sure it wasn't pretty. I lied when I said skunk spray is the worst smell on earth--rotting skunk flesh baking in the sun is.

The dogs are smelling slightly better now and Brad and I have finally managed to get the skunk smell off of our own skin, clothes and hair. The annoying, but kind of funny, part about this whole thing is that our shower is currently out of commission (remodeling) so we haven't been able to take a shower throughout this whole disaster. So, for 4 days, we have been forced to bathe ourselves in the kiddie pool on our front deck. How's that for a visual? I'll spare you the pictures.

All in all, it's been pretty nutty around here, but thankfully we're all feeling much better. Here's to a speedy (and fresh-smelling) recovery for Douna and Hudson!



--C.