A Chocolate Dudley has been SKUNKED!

Well friends, it is safe to say I had a smelly boy on my hands last night!  As many of you already know, the inevitable happened.  A certain skunk that lives under the next door neighbor's shed sprayed his cutest victim yet!  Yup, The Chocolate Dudley himself was sprayed. At 6:30 PM. Right before we were about to set out on the road. To drop Dudley off with my parents. So Sam and I could spend the weekend in Boston.  MAJOR disappointment!

Sam was busy sanding the trim in the downstairs bathroom, while I was FINALLY finishing up a Thanksgiving Creative Writing Project (Can't wait to share it later this weekend!), when Sam smelled something a little odd.  He poked his head outside to call Dudley in, and the D-man was no where to be found.  After a bit of calling, Duds made his way up to do the deck, foaming, frothing, and drooling!  My gut instinct was to take him in the house because hello?! there was a skunk outside!  Within about 2 seconds, we quickly realized the house was the wrong place for Dudley!  He had already been skunked!  

We tied poor Dudley to the deck railings, gave him a bowl of water in case he wanted to rinse his mouth out, and then I called the emergency vet.  Their number is posted to our fridge because I call them at least 3 times a year, which may seem silly, but most times I contact them he ends up needing a visit and prescriptions.  This time the vet was extremely helpful over the phone, and provided us with a recipe for de-skunking.  Keep this handy, everyone!  It helps very much!

Mix the following:
-1 quart of hydrogen peroxide
-1/4 cup of baking soda
-1 tablespoon of dish detergent

Sam and I hosed Dudley down, and used a loofah to work the frothy suds into his fur and skin.  Afterwards, we had to let the concoction sit on him for about 5 minutes until it was time to rinse, towel dry, and then repeat.  We bathed him two times, which really did the trick!  This was the very first bath he disliked, and the first time he didn't pounce on the hose.  :( Instead, he cried while we rinsed him as he was shaking from the cold.  This broke my heart.

I'd like to say he has learned his lesson, but honestly? Of course he has not!  He thinks all furry animals are meant to be played with!

Now it's up to  Sam and me to take care of this skunk.  We heard through the grapevine a sock soaked with gasoline can be dropped into a skunk's burrow to encourage the skunk to find a new home.  That sounds great and all, but just one question- How will we put it there without getting skunked ourselves?!

 One sad and chilly puppy.

 Still drooling, but not nearly as much since we had rinsed his mouth out by this point.

Thank you to our neighbor who gave us a bucket of supplies and bottles of hydrogen peroxide!  Dudley's eyes are fine now.  Who needs Saline Solution?

XO <3, C