Not so fast.
Last Thursday, "big dog" was out doing her nightly business and spotted an animal moving in the shadows. She - being the nosy Nellie type - decided to check it out. The animal was a pole cat, of course. You would think that white stripe and odor would tickle a memory somewhere in her dog brain, but apparently dogs have little recall and even less discretion. So she got skunked for the second time in as many years.
I distinctly recall her first encounter with a skunk. It was on my birthday two years ago. The spray caught her full in the face. Happy birthday to me.
That time, I followed conventional wisdom and trotted to the store and bought gallons of tomato juice and doused her. Then I tried hosing her down outside, followed by a warm bath inside. By the time I called the groomer, the bathroom was a wreckage of water and wet towels, and we were both cold, wet, traumatized and we stunk to high heavens.
At least this time around, I knew better. (Note to the uninitiated: tomato juice might work on humans or on a pet with dark fur. But not on a white dog. It stains their fur and makes them look like a pink punk-rocker dog. And it did nothing for her "aura.")
Fast forward to last week. After she spent the night outside (there was a lot of whimpering and whining out there), the groomers gamely took her on first thing in the morning. God bless 'em - that is a thankless task. I had them go ahead and clip her down while she was there...might as well get off most of the stinky fur while we're at it.So now her head appears about three times too big for her body, and she looks a little alien-esque. But the smell is dissipating quicker this time and neither of us is suffering any long-lasting trauma from another bathing ordeal.
Let's hope there isn't a "Close Encounters of the Third
Happy tales & tails,
