Close the doors! Yes, yes! Yes! Hot, sticky summer evening in August 1977. My dad gathers us for a last family evening before I head back to college. Our schnauzer was begging to go out. My sister opens the patio door but does hold on to the dog. Dog shoots out, my sister wipes out in the wet grass chasing the dog. Both get skunked. Family runs out to the commotion. Dog does a u-turn straight into the family room. And from there it was a repeat of your story. Part of our family lore now but a nightmare that night. Your story made me smile over a silly, but good memory.
Oh what a hilarious recounting of a not at all hilarious in the moment event. You will never smell the Skunk Lite™️ again. You’ll now only experience Skunk Max™️ Any whiff of skunk will unlock a part of your brain, and it will be an assault, taking you back to that stupid o’clock hour you found yourself.
It was the eve of my wedding, my friend and I were in my basement doing wedding stuff and we got a strong whiff of skunk. It took about .047 seconds for me to realize in horror that my precious, loveable, golden doodle was outside. And another .97 seconds to realize the bedroom with my wedding dress hanging it it was open.
Thankfully, by some miracle I knew the priority was keeping Mackee out of the house. And hollering at my soon-to-be husband to go shut the window. Fast.
My gem of a MIL made sure to tell the story at the wedding, convinced it was an omen, and that to her shock, the wedding day was actually pretty good, even though she didn’t have much to do with it. 🙄
My condolences to you for having lost your skunk innocence.
Skunk Off by Thornell WORKS! I too had an experience like yours. My husband got home around 11:30 two sheets to the wind and let the dog out. Said dog promptly scared a young skunk and was sprayed in the mouth!! When hubby asked how he could help, I said just go to bed!!
Last year I learned many of these lessons when my chihuahua dashed into the hosta at bedtime. Because she got hit right in the face, I dashed her to the basement sink and wet her down. HUGE MISTAKE. I learned in the following days the chemistry of skunk spray: adding water causes it to bind to any proteins it finds. Like your dog's fur and skin and your own fur and skin. My expert consultant also advised the peroxide treatment which worked some. Fancy candles, coffee grounds, and bowls of charcoal briquettes and the house helped some, but it took weeks before I lost the paranoia about the house being smelly. Every time the dog got damp for 6 months though, the subtle pong resurfaced.
Thanks for making me laugh my head off as I started today, in the darkness of pre-dawn, due to my zoo demanding their AM treats. I just subscribed, and am glad I did!
Heard you on RMS, felt compelled to check out your Substack. Glad I did. This brought back memories of my girlfriend’s dog, DD, who adopted me. When we met, GF lived in a rural area of a college town, so wild animals were common. DD had 2-3 encounters with skunks during this time. Your essay brings that tart aroma back. Wish we had that recipe back then.
DD died late September of last year. GF & I miss her every day. Thanks for this bitter bittersweet memory!
New subscriber after seeing you on Rachel Maddow tonight (and seeing that you are a pup lover!). I have 4 dogs (and a kitty) and we have fostered 95 dogs over the years. This has happened to me, believe it or not, only 5 or 6 times. The hydrogen peroxide/baking soda/dawn combo really works! I laughed out loud - and yes, no blame here but any time there is a crisis and my husband is not home, I let him know. LOUDLY. :) hahaha
Dear Connie, we respect you, would help your husband if we speak. Ignore internet solicitations, at 84 & 87, at www.lewisfamilyfarm.com, knew Dick Celeste, others. Guided Les Wexner. Did his deals. Advised Bill Clinton, Knicks Dollar Bill. On MSNBC with Rachel Maddow tonight. Our favorite. We farm, NY’s 21st, Stefanik our favorite fascist.
Oh my! I laughed and laughed, thank you! I was recounting your early morning adventure to my spouse, who reminded me of our tuxedo cat’s encounter with a skunk family years ago. We can’t recall how we were able to get the scent off of him- but remember with crystal clarity how about a week later we found Tux sitting like a proud papa with the mama skunk and her kits. He had definitely learned his lesson! Thanks for the memories!
I feel your pain. Been there on more than one occasion, therefore I did have skunk product on hand that did not do its job. Our latest was at 5:30 am the morning we were to be leaving at 10:00am to drive 8 hours to our vacation cabin in Canada AND THE DOGS WERE COMING WITH US! I feared the border patrol at the Peace Bridge was going to pull us over when I rolled down the window thinking we were smoking pot in the truck. Fortunately, we got through without incident. One dog is now clear of odor, the other still stinks when wet.
my malinois got skunked a couple weeks ago, around 2am (north ridgeville). having had a boxer that got skunked 4 or so times years ago, (she never chased them, she'd walk up to them to see if the were a cat... they never were) i knew that dawn was the #1 thing to start off with in the hydrogen peroxide/baking soda solution, as skunk spray is greasy as a greaser from the 50's! you were much more careful and polite than i was about the bath giving. Jagger got a cold bath with the hose (the solution was warm) and much swearing. The neighbors love me as you can imagine. the other 2 dogs (malinois puppy and 13 yr old brussels griffon) were gleeful i am sure, since it was not them. and yes, the re-wetting keeps the memory alive for a couple weeks. i go out and check the yard now. horse/barn door...
Close the doors! Yes, yes! Yes! Hot, sticky summer evening in August 1977. My dad gathers us for a last family evening before I head back to college. Our schnauzer was begging to go out. My sister opens the patio door but does hold on to the dog. Dog shoots out, my sister wipes out in the wet grass chasing the dog. Both get skunked. Family runs out to the commotion. Dog does a u-turn straight into the family room. And from there it was a repeat of your story. Part of our family lore now but a nightmare that night. Your story made me smile over a silly, but good memory.
Oh, dear. But the cute face of Franklin hopefully makes up for things a bit. 🐶❤️
Oh what a hilarious recounting of a not at all hilarious in the moment event. You will never smell the Skunk Lite™️ again. You’ll now only experience Skunk Max™️ Any whiff of skunk will unlock a part of your brain, and it will be an assault, taking you back to that stupid o’clock hour you found yourself.
It was the eve of my wedding, my friend and I were in my basement doing wedding stuff and we got a strong whiff of skunk. It took about .047 seconds for me to realize in horror that my precious, loveable, golden doodle was outside. And another .97 seconds to realize the bedroom with my wedding dress hanging it it was open.
Thankfully, by some miracle I knew the priority was keeping Mackee out of the house. And hollering at my soon-to-be husband to go shut the window. Fast.
My gem of a MIL made sure to tell the story at the wedding, convinced it was an omen, and that to her shock, the wedding day was actually pretty good, even though she didn’t have much to do with it. 🙄
My condolences to you for having lost your skunk innocence.
Skunk Off by Thornell WORKS! I too had an experience like yours. My husband got home around 11:30 two sheets to the wind and let the dog out. Said dog promptly scared a young skunk and was sprayed in the mouth!! When hubby asked how he could help, I said just go to bed!!
Last year I learned many of these lessons when my chihuahua dashed into the hosta at bedtime. Because she got hit right in the face, I dashed her to the basement sink and wet her down. HUGE MISTAKE. I learned in the following days the chemistry of skunk spray: adding water causes it to bind to any proteins it finds. Like your dog's fur and skin and your own fur and skin. My expert consultant also advised the peroxide treatment which worked some. Fancy candles, coffee grounds, and bowls of charcoal briquettes and the house helped some, but it took weeks before I lost the paranoia about the house being smelly. Every time the dog got damp for 6 months though, the subtle pong resurfaced.
Thanks for making me laugh my head off as I started today, in the darkness of pre-dawn, due to my zoo demanding their AM treats. I just subscribed, and am glad I did!
Heard you on RMS, felt compelled to check out your Substack. Glad I did. This brought back memories of my girlfriend’s dog, DD, who adopted me. When we met, GF lived in a rural area of a college town, so wild animals were common. DD had 2-3 encounters with skunks during this time. Your essay brings that tart aroma back. Wish we had that recipe back then.
DD died late September of last year. GF & I miss her every day. Thanks for this bitter bittersweet memory!
New subscriber after seeing you on Rachel Maddow tonight (and seeing that you are a pup lover!). I have 4 dogs (and a kitty) and we have fostered 95 dogs over the years. This has happened to me, believe it or not, only 5 or 6 times. The hydrogen peroxide/baking soda/dawn combo really works! I laughed out loud - and yes, no blame here but any time there is a crisis and my husband is not home, I let him know. LOUDLY. :) hahaha
Please keep your insights coming including Reproductive Rights (state-side) a view. Following you on WP and now on Substack.
Great to see you on Rachel's show tonight.
Regards, Margaret
Dear Connie, we respect you, would help your husband if we speak. Ignore internet solicitations, at 84 & 87, at www.lewisfamilyfarm.com, knew Dick Celeste, others. Guided Les Wexner. Did his deals. Advised Bill Clinton, Knicks Dollar Bill. On MSNBC with Rachel Maddow tonight. Our favorite. We farm, NY’s 21st, Stefanik our favorite fascist.
Sen. Bill Bradley now at Allen & Company.
Well, considering some of the stink Sherrod has to deal with I'd call it even, sorry. (Imagine if he was in the House with those other Ohio people.)
This is the Connie I’ve missed. I needed a good laugh and your provided it, thank you.
Oh, Connie, you had me laughing out loud with this one. I could see every scene, especially how happy the dogs were to see Sherrod.
Oh my! I laughed and laughed, thank you! I was recounting your early morning adventure to my spouse, who reminded me of our tuxedo cat’s encounter with a skunk family years ago. We can’t recall how we were able to get the scent off of him- but remember with crystal clarity how about a week later we found Tux sitting like a proud papa with the mama skunk and her kits. He had definitely learned his lesson! Thanks for the memories!
I feel your pain. Been there on more than one occasion, therefore I did have skunk product on hand that did not do its job. Our latest was at 5:30 am the morning we were to be leaving at 10:00am to drive 8 hours to our vacation cabin in Canada AND THE DOGS WERE COMING WITH US! I feared the border patrol at the Peace Bridge was going to pull us over when I rolled down the window thinking we were smoking pot in the truck. Fortunately, we got through without incident. One dog is now clear of odor, the other still stinks when wet.
my malinois got skunked a couple weeks ago, around 2am (north ridgeville). having had a boxer that got skunked 4 or so times years ago, (she never chased them, she'd walk up to them to see if the were a cat... they never were) i knew that dawn was the #1 thing to start off with in the hydrogen peroxide/baking soda solution, as skunk spray is greasy as a greaser from the 50's! you were much more careful and polite than i was about the bath giving. Jagger got a cold bath with the hose (the solution was warm) and much swearing. The neighbors love me as you can imagine. the other 2 dogs (malinois puppy and 13 yr old brussels griffon) were gleeful i am sure, since it was not them. and yes, the re-wetting keeps the memory alive for a couple weeks. i go out and check the yard now. horse/barn door...