Skunk 1 – Harley 0

If you grew up in the 1960s you might remember Pepe Le Pew, that amorous but smelly Looney Tunes skunk who was lovable but not really respected by his victims – I think mostly a cat? – who tried to avoid his passion, and yes, his odor.

This week my dog met her Pepe. It was not a good day. I was sitting in my office, gazed out the window, saw Harley suddenly jump away from the back ivy-covered wall, shake her head as if she ate something yucky, and start dashing around the yard. Hmmm? My little tri-pawed runs fast when there is something amiss. She ran into the house – yep, she was skunked.

I am on my 3rd and 4th dogs as an adult – besides a few temporary fosters. My first dog, Jasper, loved prowling around that ivy wall in the late evenings. Possums, raccoons, squirrels, gophers, feral cats, and other miscellaneous creatures – he kept them at bay and my yard was pretty critter-free. Although sometimes, as I sat on my front porch on a summer evening, I would watch a possum family wander along the wall. The mom would see me and then all of the possums would stick their faces in the hedge. Nope. Although your face is hidden, your back end is still visible and sticking out of the hedge. I see you. But I will leave you alone.

Back to my current pack. They are lazy – they don’t patrol my yard day or night. They are not used to wrestling with wildlife. They peek out to see if the weather is nice, do their business, eat some grass, which is a whole other story, and then plunk back down on the slip-covered couches and wait for me to walk them on a leash. They prefer a civil stroll than exploring wildlife.

So, having Harley dash into my house, waving around the scent of “Eau du Stinky Skunk” on a very busy work day was not fun. Quick! Google best way to kill the skunk smell. Everyone thinks tomato juice is what you use. Turns out all it does is mask odor but it doesn’t fix the odor. The current approved cocktail is hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap. I had two of the three ingredients and lathered her up and then hosed her down in the front yard. And I HATE tomatoes so I was glad I didn’t have to rub that on her.

Poor Harley – it was a chilly day and the water was cold. And while I was bathing her, Hailee sneaked into my office and ate my lunch. Taco Chili. Not good for dogs. I think they work together to drive me crazy. I caught Hailee in action, yelled at her and am still wiping up kidney beans from my office floor.

Fast forward to the next day. Harley smells pretty good. But there is still a lingering skunky smell in my house and it’s frustrating. Looks like it’s time to toss all the dog beds in the wash and see which Amazon “get rid of skunk smells in your house because your dog is stupid” products might work best to tidy up my house.

The good news is that I have no plans to host people at my house for the next few weeks so hopefully all will dissipate in time.

On the plus side, it’s a first world problem. The scent will go away. The dog is fine and very fragrant. She was due for a bath anyway. It makes a good story. Oh – and the banner photo – that was taken from my porch last year – the skunks are checking out the neighborhood.