A Little Background
Hello, my name is Deb.
Welcome to my website, Skunks and Dogs Don’t Mix – and other
Smelly Stuff.
Until I had my first dog I thought that getting skunked was
losing badly at the card game cribbage. I soon found out that the term getting
skunked had many more meanings, and one was really, really smelly!
I’ve always loved dogs but didn’t have my own until I was in
my 30s. By then, I had four kids, and kids love pets. Kids can also be very
persuasive with the relentless “can I, can I? I’ll look after it – really
I will.” I heard these pleading statements so often I think I even heard
them in my sleep! Yes, my kids ganged up on me and yes, I caved, and we got a puppy.
Waggs was our first family dog, a mixed breed but mostly black Labrador with a sleek black coat of fur.
She dug and chewed and was curious, ruined a lot ofthe kids’ clothes through tug of war play.
She escaped our yard now and again. She was a lot of work but was always happy to see us,
and full of enthusiasm. She soon became my best friend and the source of another branch of my education.
I was aware of the routine things that our new pet would need; food, water, stuff to chew on, a place to sleep. I was even prepared for the land mines in the back yard. When you have a busy family (four kids between
the ages of 5 and 10) one puppy didn’t seem like a big deal. Skunk encounters however
had not occurred to me when that chubby little puppy joined our family. Surprise!
Fast forward to three family dogs and two shared dogs later.
I’m much wiser now about dog behaviour and skunk encounters. For anyone
wondering what a shared dog is, a shared dog is one that starts out with you
because its owner still lives at home. It leaves and comes back and leaves and
comes back. Sometimes it comes back for the day or overnight, and sometimes
longer. My dogs and now my kids’ dogs, still find skunks from time to time and
get sprayed, but I know what to do and what to expect when they do. One
constant has always been that when the dog finds a skunk and gets sprayed, it is never convenient.
What is Skunks and Dogs Don’t Mix all About?
Skunks and Dogs Don’t Mix is about caring for your dog, bathing and grooming, after
she or he has a skunk encounter. It is about the different
methods available to you to rid your dog, and home, of the skunk odour.
Other smelly stuff is about the unpleasant odours pet owners
will notice because of living with their pet. Smelly stuff can be the things your
pet eats, rolls in or brings in the house as a trophy. Smelly stuff can also be
the messes they leave or accidents they have. Health conditions your pet has
can also be smelly.
My hope is that in sharing my experiences with dogs and the smelly stuff they get into, how I handled it, and what I learned from them, it will help you to navigate through a skunking, and the many odours
that come with dog ownership.
If you have any questions please feel to leave them below and I will be more than happy to answer.
All the best,
Deb
Founder of Skunks and Dogs Don’t Mix – and other Smelly
Stuff
