K9 Cops and Skunks, but not together.
In my past articles I’ve mentioned that February and March are mating season for skunks. My dogs are intelligent but not when it comes to skunks. You would think that an intelligent animal, once sprayed by the skunk’s nasty potion, would stay clear of the creatures. Not so with the dogs I’ve loved. Baylee, my daughter’s pit, has been sprayed at least 9 times, usually right in the face. She was so fast she would run up on the skunk before she knew what it was…too late. Every spring, like clockwork, one of my boys get sprayed. This time it was Briar. We always check outside before letting them out this time of year and on this particular night there was not a skunk to be seen or smelled. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay outside watching them. Hindsight is 20-20, and we should have stayed with them. We heard our daughter yell, “Mom, you better check your dogs! I smell skunk!” Of course, I popped up like a jack-in-the-box and ran to the door yelling for both of them. Briar, who usually comes quicker than his brother Branch, appeared around the corner. He had dirt on his nose and face, but that’s not unusual for him…he’s a digger. I bent down and sniffed him and couldn’t pinpoint any skunk oil. Branch seemed to be taking his sweet old time, so I was sure he was the victim or culprit, depending on how you look at it. The smell was so strong that it didn’t even really smell like skunk…just some potent vile chemical. I was sure Branch was dragging his feet because he knew he’d messed up. Briar had already gone into the house and climbed up on the couch beside Ronnie. When Branch finally reached me, I bent down and gave him the sniff test, too. Low and behold, he didn’t smell like skunk at all. I sniffed him from nose to tail tip…no skunk.
That’s when I realized my mistake. Briar had been SHOT RIGHT IN THE FACE, IN HIS NOSE MOUTH, EYES AND EARS, and I’d sent him to the couch. Long story short, I got the POOPH, Skunkless Wonder that I keep on hand. I sprayed him wet with it except around his face where he needed it the most. I soaked a soft cloth in it and rubbed gently around his eyes, nose, mouth, chin and even in his ears. It took at least 3 good soakings to get most of it. I then used the Pooph on my couch and anything else he touched, and it worked well. But to this day, two weeks later, his nose, breath and ears still smell of Pepe Le Peu when he was looking for love in all the wrong places!
I have to say here that Pooph, Skunkless Wonder works well if you don’t want or are unable to wet your dog all over. There are other commercial products that claim to do the same thing…get rid of skunk smell. Odorcide Skunk Off or Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover and others. I’ve found the absolute best skunk odor remover if you can get your dog in the bathtub and wet him all over is the homemade concoction of ¼ cup baking soda, 1 teaspoon Dawn dish detergent, and 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide. Mix these ingredients and rub them into your dog’s dry coat. Do not wet your dog first. Don’t get this mixture in your dog’s eyes or face. Rub it in and let it work for as long as you and your dog can tolerate it. Not more than five minutes. Then rinse with warm-NOT HOT-water. I also lather it up here when I add water to it. The Dawn breaks down the oil and helps remove it from your dog’s coat.
Just a note to fellow dog lovers, if you enjoy watching K9 Cops in action, catch the new show on A and E with K9 PD with Jim Belushi. Over 50,000 K9 officers are at work in our country. This show highlights some of their intense moments caught on camera. To quote A and E…” Jim Belushi returns to the world of heroic K9s-only this time, it’s for real- serving as host of the series, which captures the courage, precision and raw instinct behind one of law enforcement’s most formidable partnerships”.
An afterthought, do K9 cops get skunk sprayed? I bet they do!
As always
Enjoy your Best Friends!
Stay Paw-sitive
Until next time
Cammie and Crew
