Hound LaPew

Today's greyt tale is written by Kathy Benninger about her adventurous hounds...

In my eleven years living in a rural area, my dogs have had a few run-in’s with skunks. The very first time it happened was 3:00 a.m. on a workday. Both dogs came running in from outside, through the doggie door conveniently located in my bedroom. I woke up immediately, wondering what that horrible smell was (because at first it just didn’t smell like skunk, it smelled like a dead carcass, a really dead carcass).

I got out of bed, went to the front door, turned on the porch light and I saw the skunk, still in my backyard. So did my greyhound. Although he’d already seen the skunk, indeed, been doused by the skunk, the new sighting got him going again, and he went right back out there, got doused again and then, of course, ran back into the house.

I’ve heard skunks only have one really good spray per encounter. If that is true, this skunk was truly blessed. By now the house smelled so bad I was getting nauseous and decided to get out and go to work early. I dressed and left as quickly as I could.

As I performed my normal duties at work, I was amazed that I could be so stinky even though none of my clothes had been in direct contact with either dog. The clothes I wore were still making me nauseous.

The office building where I worked was fairly large, approximately 50 people working in little offices along hallways and in separate working spaces, some areas connected by closed doors. By 10 in the morning, the entire building smelled like skunk and I was asked to please leave NOW. I felt like Pigpen in the Peanuts cartoons but instead of being followed by a cloud of dust, I was being followed by a cloud of stink.

I left work, as asked, and stopped to buy the ingredients for the MAGIC formula that I’ve found to work so well (16 oz. hydrogen peroxide, ½ cup baking soda, and 2 Tbsp. dish soap). This formula was given to me by one of the employees.

After washing the dogs in this concoction and also washing anything that would fit in the washing machine, the aroma soon left my home.

For a city girl, that was quite an experience – and definitely one that I will remember forever.

To be continued ...