Not Again!

Yup, it happened, again. This morning, 5am, hubby let Seamus out for his "morning constitutional" and BAM! Pepe le Peux was lying in wait and "perfumed" the pup once more. Well, hubby powdered the dog with baking soda, but had to head to work. Normally, I'm very allergic to wet dogs, but I couldn't stand the thought of him having to wait until 9pm for hubby to get home and take care of him. Sooo, I reviewed the shampoo recipe I posted earlier, but decided I had to make a couple changes. Seamus' skin and eyes were still very irritated from his professional bath of Thursday. I really was worried about using Dawn in this bath water. I didn't want to chance it irritating him even more. Here's the recipe I came up with:

1. Mix 1 cup baking soda with 1 cup warm water
2. Add 1 tsp liquid castile soap. (I used Dr. Bronner's)
3. Scrub mixture into fur. Use a washcloth on the face.
4. Let mixture dry on the animal, about 15-20 minutes.
5. Rinse with warm water.
6. Let animal air dry.
7. Sniff and repeat if necessary.

I tethered the dog, outside, and began bathing him with the mixture. Trying to stay upwind and out of the inevitable shaking to rid himself of the stuff was a challenge, but I succeeded in covering him head to tail with it. I left the concoction on him the first time, for about 5 minutes, rinsed and took a tentative sniff. Better, but decided to repeat. This time, I left the cleaners on him for 20 minutes, rinsed and let him dry. While I was waiting for him to dry out, I made a cup of chamomile tea, diluted it with an additional cup of water and added some essential oil of lavender. Chamomile and lavender both are soothing to the skin. I went back out, sniffed him again and was quite pleased with the results! I gently poured the tea over him and massaged it into his skin. After he air dried, he was off to tell his sad tale to our other dog.

I would highly recommend this shampoo to anyone who's furry friend has a run-in with a skunk!