[Dailydrool] smells

[Beverly Szaton]

The way this house is set up, where the garage was originally the previous
owners made it into another room with a utility room at the back. There is a
door from the house into this area, and then a very narrow aisle between the
cupboards on the left and the washing machine, etc on the right. Then there
is a door leading to the back yard. It is really a side door. On the right
is a gate and about 5 feet from the door is the fence.
When we first moved in, there was a long, narrow shed against the fence
right across from the door, so that made the distance from the door to the
shed about two or maybe two and half feet-- the dogs went out, made a sharp
right and went into the yard.

One night when we were expecting out of town company, I let the dogs out. At
that time I had my first Belgian, Quiller, and our first Basset, Warf.
As I stepped back from opening the door I saw movement IN FRONT OF THE
SHED-- so maybe a foot from the door-- and the dogs were already out--it was
a skunk. Startled, it did what skunks do best. Warf, the Basset literally
ducked away underneath Quiller so he got blasted but not like Quiller. Here
is what I can tell you.

That close, skunk smell does not smell like skunk but smells extremely
chemical.
It is a thick viscous oil that is gold in color.
It dries white on brick and does not wash off. When it gets wet it
re-establishes it's odor.
It burns the eyes.
It dribbles down the lovely black coat of a Belgian onto the ground even as
he is retching and dragging his face across the grass.
It soaks into Basset hair quickly.

Here is more:

When you have the keys to the Animal Hospital and it is eleven at night and
you have two dogs that are dripping with skunk oil, you tend to want to
bathe them quickly. I live 7 minutes from the back door of the AH. I put the
dogs, wrapped in sheets, into my station wagon and with every window down
drove like a bat out of hell. It took about 4 minutes. If the cops had tried
to stop me, they would have had to chase me down.
It took months before the car lost all the odor.
It took months before the brick wall lost all the odor when it was damp or
rained.
It took months before those dogs smelled right.
It has taken forever for me not to check the yard first at night when I know
the skunks are out and moving around before I let the dogs outside, even tho
that shed is long gone.
And the bricks are still a funny color there.

Oy.I will never, ever forget that night.....I love having dogs....

momPerson
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