Last night around 10 PM Hank got sprayed by a skunk. Again.

I put the dogs out in the backyard a little before ten for one last potty break before bedtime. A few minutes later, I heard them both start barking a bunch. I opened the back door and called for Hank and Scout, and neither of them came. So I stepped out onto the deck to look for them. We don’t have any street lights where we live, but we do have a dusk to dawn light in the backyard that helps me see. I saw Hank cowering along the backside of the yard and Scout running along the side of the yard. And then I smelled it.

I started yelling for the dogs to come inside, thinking maybe a skunk was close by but hadn’t actually sprayed them. Hank was first to the door and I got him inside, on a towel so I could wipe the mud off of his feet. Then I realized he had been sprayed. My initial reaction was to open the door and send him back outside, which is what I did. But then I realized the skunk may be in the backyard, so I called him back in and ran him down to the basement, without wiping his paws off.

Scout was crying like crazy and running to the door and I thought she had been sprayed, too. I got her inside and down to the basement and was happy to find she did not get sprayed. It seems Hank is the thicker one of the two. Luckily Unfortunately, I’m now an old pro at dealing with skunked dogs.

I wiped Hank down as best I could in the basement, but couldn’t find the spot where he’d been sprayed. He just stunk all over. Luckily it didn’t stink nearly as bad as last time. I at least avoided throwing up this time. Last time he got sprayed directly in the face and I could actually see the oils on his fur. This time, he seems to have gotten a general dose maybe more on his right side. So maybe he encountered the skunk and tried to run from it? I don’t know. But I do know I had to deal with it.

Unfortunately, Barry was already in bed. He usually goes to bed earlier than me because he has to get up early for work. I was not about to wake him, since he wasn’t feeling well yesterday evening, so I was on my own. I quickly shut off our heat (to keep the smell from getting in our heating system) and opened a bunch of windows and turned on the ceiling fans. Which was perfect. Who doesn’t love a little fresh air when it’s 39 degrees and raining outside?

I got everything situated in the bathroom and mixed up the baking soda/hydrogen peroxide/dish soap mixture. Hank got a dose of that and then a second shampooing with regular dog shampoo. Then it was back to the basement for the night.

He usually sleeps upstairs, but that was not going to happen. Instead, he got to have a sleepover with Scout. They settled down while I got a quick shower. Then I started the wash, which included all the towels that were used as well as my clothes. I added a 1/2 cup of baking soda to help with the smell.

Clearly both dogs were tickled to be having a sleepover

It was around 11:30 PM at this point and I headed back upstairs to tackle the other mess left in the wake of Hank Gets Skunked, Part 2. Remember how we had that big freeze earlier this week? Well things have thawed out and it also rained all day. That means it’s incredibly muddy outside. With all the confusion (the dogs), the yelling (me), and the panic (all three of us), there was a bit of a mess from the back door to the basement.

This is about 1/8th of the mess

I whipped out my trusty Swiffer and got that mess taken care of. Then I decided to wait until the wash was done so I could put it in the dryer. Ideally you want to air dry clothes that have been skunked, preferably in the sun. But seeing as how it rained all night and it’s supposed to rain all day, that wasn’t really an option. I also wanted to leave the windows open as long as possible, but did not want to leave them open all night. So the later I stayed up the better.

Before all of this happened, the plan was to go to bed around ten, get a good nights rest, and then get up and go for a long run in the morning. After everything happened, I decided to turn off my alarm and sleep in. I was hoping to get back into a good routine with my long runs, but I guess that will have to wait until next weekend. I might actually push my long run until tomorrow, since it is cold and rainy outside today.

Can you believe this happened again!?

Would you have woken up your significant other to help you in a situation like this one?