Re: dog got skunked
My best dog ever, Didi, got skunked on a regular basis, it seems. I dunno why she thought chasing skunks was so much fun, but I think she finally learned a lesson when she got older.<br /><br />I lived in an apartment and there was a big field across the road. I took both dogs out at least three times a day. We're talking a pair of 90-ponders.<br /><br />One night, and it happened to be Memorial Day, I took them out into the field and unleashed them as was my habit. They usually behaved quite well, but this time they both saw something and took off at a dead run. Dread welled up in my gut as I knew what was about to happen couldn't be anything good. I took off at a run after them in. <br /><br />In the moonlight, I could see that Didi had caught something, and I immediately realized it was a skunk. She wasn't just getting skunked...she GOT THE SKUNK. I was screaming at the top of my lungs at her to let the damned thing go, and she did. But it was too late. The eau de skunk hung heavily in the air at the scene of the adventure.<br /><br />I was not pleased.<br /><br />I began scolding, and within seconds Didi was rolling on the ground, practically in convulsions. After about two minutes of writhing in agony, she stood up and barfed a few times. I told her I was glad she was barfing because she desparately deserved it.<br /><br />I began to wonder as we walked home what life would be like in my apartment for the next few days. Little did I know! <br /><br />A bath in apple cider vinegar probably did help somewhat, but I swear that the odor of skunk was present in that apartment until Labor Day of the same year.<br /><br />The odor that poor dog wore for six months was not quite the same as what you normally smell when a skunk lets loose. It was subtly different and far more powerful and unpleasant.<br /><br />I loved that dog to pieces (she'll sit at my side in Heaven), and to this day when I smell a skunk, I think of her...and oddly enough, the smewll of skunk brings on the warmest and most pleasant memories!