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!

Skunked!

Ewwww. Gasp, choke. That was me and my husband Wednesday night, outside at midnight, shampooing our small dog, Seamus. He'd just had his first encounter with one of our stinkiest neighbors. Pepe le Peux had spectacular aim. Got him square on the head! Knowing that tomato juice never worked against skunk perfume, (previous experience with another dog) we were afraid of getting anything in his eyes. So, we first dumped an entire box of baking soda all over him. Then, using baby shampoo, hubby scrubbed the dog, thoroughly. Even after several washings, though, poor Seamus was still too "fragrant" to come inside and had to spend the night in our enclosed mudroom. The next morning, we called a groomer who urged us to bring him right in. They assured us they had a "skunk shampoo" that would work great! Getting him into his travel crate without getting ourselves stinkified, again, was a challenge. Off to town we went. Seamus in the bed of the truck, hubby and I up front. After several hours, we went to pick our little guy back up. He was in his travel crate and all ready to go. No unpleasant scent to greet us! Woo-hoo! All was right with the world! Or, so we thought... Seamus had a vet appointment, to get his annual vaccines in half an hour. So, we got him out of the crate, put him in the truck with us and started off. However, once he settled down, he looked up at me and I was horrified to see his eyes were blood red and swelling! By the time we got him to the vet's office, his eyes were completely swollen shut and he was in obvious pain.
The vet checked him over and determined the groomers had gotten the skunk shampoo in his eyes. It is EXTREMELY harsh, he told us. We felt soooo, bad! He prescribed antibiotic ointment and pain medication! He will be rechecked in a week. If all is well, then he can get his vaccinations.
Then, the vet told us what we could use, instead of the harsh skunk shampoos, should any of the dogs encounter a skunk, again.

1. Put a bit of petroleum jelly around the dog's eyes. This will help keep everything out of them.
2. Scrub dog down with Dawn Dishwashing Liquid. (Skunk perfume is oily and Dawn works by cutting through it.) Leave the liquid on for about 10 minutes before rinsing dog off. Repeat if necessary. Dry dog.
3. Powder the dog with a lot of baking soda. Leave this on for at least 5 minutes. Baking soda absorbs odors off dogs, just like it does in your refrigerator. Brush out and repeat if necessary.

It has been our experience that when dogs have baking soda dumped all over them, they shake it right off. You do have to hold the dog still while it does it's work. Have a treat handy for him and hang onto your guy until the baking soda has a chance to work.

The next day, I called the groomer to let them know what had happened to our dog. She assured me that she would speak to the bathers and make certain they were more careful in the future. I sure hope no other dog has to go through the pain of what our little guy went through.