That is exactly how I felt yesterday when my sweet (?) boxer boy stuck his nose where it didn’t belong. It was early in the morning, before the sun was up and we were out on our usual two mile trek. I had his red blinking light on to warn drivers and I had my trustee flashlight to see critters – specifically skunks. I’ve been hyper vigilant since I’ve seen more and more skunks here in the piney woods of East Texas. We even had one trail after us one morning. I ended up running away as the dang thing would not get off our tail – but I digress.
Along our route there is a small loop which ultimately doubles back on itself and puts us back to where we started so we can take the larger loop to complete the two miles. It was along the double back portion (which we had already traversed with no skunky encounter) that the incident transpired. When it is dark outside, I make my little wonder walk in the middle of the road when the “forest” is dense along the edges. The last thing I wanted was for him to stick his nose in the underbrush and get squirted by a skunk. Well dang if that skunk wasn’t right out in the open along the road’s edge. I swear the little white striped furry menace was laying in wait for us. I had my trusty light moving over the landscape and didn’t see the thing until my poor boy walked up for a sniff – no there was no smell. It was curled up in a ball and I saw no white whatsoever. At the same instant that I realized what it was (basically as it stood up), I jerked my baby off his feet backward, but the nasty SOB let loose; Splat – all over the face of my four legged wonder. It was however a glancing blow – thank goodness. If it had been full force I think I would have thrown up.
We were right at the end of our street, so we made a beeline home and went into fix it mode. I left the dog outside (duh) and ran in to get tomato juice. We had no juice, but we did have a good supply of tomato sauce. Dumping the contents of the sauce can into a bowl, I zipped back outside. Holy Crap did he stink. I had presence of mind to grab rubber gloves and a heavy duty paper towel. I went to work. I smeared his head, chest and front legs. He threw up. I smeared some more. He threw up again. After about five minutes he started acting like nothing was wrong. I rubbed and rubbed and then got the hose. Boxer boy was none too happy about the water. Come to think of it neither was I since he was shaking red gook all over me. I washed him with dish detergent and hosed again. By now I was dripping wet and he smelled moderately better – or my nasal senses had been burned into non existence.
I left him outside to dry and went in to strip off clothes, heading for the shower and the laundry. An hour later, the dog still smelled pretty darn bad and so did the front area of the yard. I went into research mode with my trusty laptop and the internet.
Everywhere I turned I found the same thing. Tomato juice only masks the effect of a skunking. The best solution is the mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide, baking soda and liquid detergent. We didn’t have the full quart of Peroxide it called for so I cut down the receipt and gave it a try. AMAZING….it really does work. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t get rid of the odor completely, but enough that you can stand to have your little love bug come over and give you a slurp.
In case you ever need it – here is the receipt
1 quart 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
¼ cup of baking soda
1 teas. of liquid soap
Mix it together and when it begins to fizz get to work. Don’t get it in the eyes, nose or mouth. Work it in well, letting it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse.
I now have a supply of Hydrogen Peroxide just in case. And I have Fabreze all over the house. Everything I read says it will take up to two weeks for the stink to get gone. It will be a long two weeks!!
