Thread: Skunk!

We have two dachshunds in our house. A Full Sized Black and Tan - Henry, and a Minniature Red - PD.

I take the dogs out to the front yard each night before we go to bed to make sure they take care of business before they get locked up in the house for the night.

Lately, Henry (the black one) has started running out into the back yard as soon as we come back in for a last few minutes in the great outdoors. 3Reds used to shut the doggy door while I was outside, but she can't easily get to the door while she is in a cast.

Last night, Henry made his usual mad dash for the doggy door and went on out. Then I heard two or three barks followed by a yelp.

Before I could get to the back door to see what was going on, Henry comes tearing back inside the house, trailing a cloud of fresh skunk!

He ran through the kitchen, hung a right into the living room (and, as we discovered later, the couch, pillows, and blanket), then he ran back across the living room, through the dinning room, and into the study, where he launched himself onto another couch, pillows, blanket.

This happened in just a matter of seconds. As soon as the scent hit me, I started hollering incoherently, "Ohhh, Ohhh, etc." 3Reds was in the study, on the computer, wondering what in the world was going on. I couldn't believe she couldn't smell the skunk. When Henry first settled on the couch, she still couldn't smell anything, and I became hopeful.

But, hope was soon washed away in the overpowering cloud of skunk.

3Reds quickly abandoned the study. Poor PD (the red dog) had followed Henry into the study, and we quickly closed the study door, hoping to contain the smell. Henry was cowed on the couch, and PD had his nose pressed against the glass of the french doors, begging to be released.

The smell had already permeated every room in the house. As 3Reds and I stood there, talking about what to do, we realized we had to brave the study and get to the computer to find an anti-skunk solution. We'd heard about tomato sauce, but I didn't want to trust that without some evidence.

I found a recipe for Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking Powder, and dish soap, which we promptly mixed up. We leashed Henry, drug him out to the front porch and dowsed him in the solution.

It took two applications to make him decent.

We're still looking for a magic formula for the rest of the house.

As I sit here typing this, we have candles lit in every room. It is masking the odor, but Mr. Skunk is still with us.

I'm pretty sure he took up residence under our house last night.

Oh yeah, I set my live trap last night. The bait is gone this morning, but the trap remains empty. He's a tricky fella the Mr. Skunk!

WM