Wordless Wednesday: Close Encounter of the Skunk Kind

Is that a challenge?

Looks like the skunk is sticking his tongue out at Rudy!

As in:  Come and get me, dawg!

How Many Dogs are Too Many?

Tucker, Rudy, Lucy and Jeffie  

 I used to think I didn’t have any limit on dogs. I’ve mourned the fact that I can’t possibly live long enough to have all the canine family members that I’d like to have. At the same time I’ve also mourned the fact that dogs don’t live nearly long enough lives. I like dogs better than I like most people and I mean it when I say that I cannot comprehend that there are folks who do not share their lives with dogs.


One of my best friends – I’ve known her for more than half my life – always had dogs. Dogs plural, as in, two dogs. When her last dog passed away (at a ripe old age,) she did not immediately get another. I “got” that. However, as time passed and she did not seek a canine companion, I began to wonder about her. How could she enjoy the company of dogs for so many years and then… no dog. I don’t understand it. Call me crazy, but I began to wonder if I ever really knew her.


Suffice to say that it is my heartfelt belief that living without dogs is truly like living in a gray scale world. Technicolor is available!


Gary says his dog limit is one dog. Since we’ve been together we’ve always lived in the country. We’ve always had two dogs and often three. I will admit that this does not lend itself to being able to travel. The cost of keeping two or three big dogs in kibble and vet care is not cheap. However, what we receive in return is… well... the word bliss comes to mind.


We’d been talking about adding another dog to our family for a few months. Tucker and Lucy are senior citizens now. Jeffie, we felt, could use a canine partner. I’ll admit that when more than one pup on Petfinder were adopted right out from under us (it felt like that), I took it as a sign that we should stick with three. Then Gary ran into Jamie and her laundry basket of puppies at our vet’s office. Can you say kismet?



The Saturday morning we were at Jamie’s picking our puppy, we honestly considered taking more than one. In spite of the fact that we already felt like we were drunk on crazy juice or something for even thinking about more than three dogs in our household. Big dogs. Did I mention that? BIG dogs . Confronted with the whole litter of puppies, we wanted them all. We actually considered taking two or three. In the end, a very patient Jamie sent us on our way home with one puppy, Rudy.


Rudy is 20 weeks old now. There’s some chaos in our house that wasn’t here before, but we’ve been happily amazed at our dogs’ adjustment to a new puppy in our family. Easygoing Tucker sort of sits back and observes the hijinks. Jeffie is thrilled and has become best friends with Rudy, not to mention the best puppy sitter in the world. Even Lucy, who was none too thrilled with the addition of Jeffie a few years ago, really likes Rudy and gives him a free pass when he annoys her.


The first few weeks I felt like a split personality. As we worked on housebreaking I began to think that maybe three dogs was my limit after all. At the same time, the joyful energy Rudy added to our family was palpable for all of us. Then the light bulb seemed to go on for Rudy – at about 16 weeks old – and I could say with confidence that he was housebroken. A major crazy maker taken care of (listen, we’ve got hard wood floors.) Now, of course there’s the chewing, the jumping, basic obedience training, you know the drill.


Everything is more with another dog. Four dogs milling around at chow time. Four dogs sounding the alarm “someone’s coming down the lane!” Four dogs with their assorted coats and sweaters during a rare Ozarks blizzard. Four dogs heaving heavy sighs while they sprawl in front of the floor to ceiling windows during a deluge of rain. Four dogs stinking to high heaven after a skunk attack. You’re getting the picture, right?


However, there’s also the posse of love that I travel with as I move throughout my day. The sense of peace as we all settle down in the evening together. The joy of seeing Tucker and Lucy step more lively and dance the play bow again. The adoration on Jeffie’s face as he beholds his new best friend.



Maybe the question should not be “How many dogs are too many?” but rather how many are just right. I think I’ve found my number and my number is four dogs. 
Well, at least for now.

Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act - Prop B - Being Dismantled in Missouri

Photo courtesy of HSUS

Skunks are not the only thing sticking around here lately.

On Tuesday, the Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee unanimously approved a bill  - HCS HB 131 - which would repeal all of the major provisions of MO Prop B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. 

You know what they said while they did it?  They said "We respect the will of the people."  Remember, MO Prop B was passed by a majority of Missouri voters in November.  How is it respectful to gut the law?

In their highly questionable wisdom, these legislators deleted the following humane care provisions from Prop B:

1. Veterinary exam for breeding dogs.  Currently a vet can visit and approve the animals' health withut examining a single dog.
2. Humane euthanasia by a veterinarian.  Currently breeders often shoot their old, infirm, and non-productive breeding stock.
3. Access to an exercise run
4. Ample space.  Current law permits lifetime confinement in a cage only six inches longer than the dog itself.
5. Protection from temperature extremes.
6. Continuous access to water.  Frozen water satisfies current requirements.
7. Prohibition of wire flooring and stacking of cages.
8. Rest between breeding cycles.

The Chair of the House Agriculture Committee had the nerve to say: "We just made it better."

Better for whom?  Certainly not the over 200,000 dogs living in Missouri puppy mills.  Certainly not for the uninformed individual purchasing a puppy that originated in one of them. 

If you live in Missouri, contact your legislator and tell them the truth about HCS HB 131.   Speak up about the necessity of protecting the welfare of dogs.  

This Week Has Been a Stinker: Skunk Attack at Talking Dogs!

Image courtesy of Park Centre Vets

No, that's not a new cologne I'm wearing.  It's the faint smell of skunk.  Won't be the first time, but definitely has been the worst of our skunk encounters.

We live in the country and have for many years, so skunks are a fact of life.  A couple of years ago one took up residence on our pond bank about 25 foot from our fenced back yard.  Pretty exciting stuff for canines.  Especially Jeffie who learned a valuable lesson about frenzied barking startling one of the black and white creatures.  Three baths later he was finally allowed free access to the house.  Thankfully extremely heavy rains caused flooding and Mrs Skunk moved on.

Our most recent encounter was totally different.  I woke at 2:30 am smelling something funny.  Like something electrical was burning.  A motor of some kind?   A prowl around the house didn't locate the cause, but made it clear that said motor must have been "going" for awhile.  The scent was pretty much everywhere, though faint.  By then all four dogs were up and wanted out.  I obliged.

3 am and Gary is up and has joined me on our search.  We're both of the mind that an electrical problem is nothing to ignore.  Not the frig, freezer or computer equipment.  Not the TVs, stereo, etc.  You get the picture.  Gary lets the dogs in and exclaims that the chemical smell is outside.  He goes out to examine the H/A compresser and while he's out he checks my studio, the greenhouse and the barn.  Smell is much stronger outside than in.

I want to be clear on this:  at no time do we smell skunk.  Honest.

Deciding I might as well get some work done, I take a cup of coffee into the office and fire up the pc.  The goldies (as we call Lucy, Jeffie and Rudy) come with me.   Oh, oh.  The office is small.  The dogs are big.  Suddenly I get a good whiff and know.  We've been skunked and skunked but good.

The past few days everybody, four leggers and two leggers, have had several baths.  The washer has been working over time.  Luckily the weather has been cooperating and yesterday we were able to fling open the windows and run the attic fan.  As of last night things are pretty much back to normal.

Like I said... this week has been a sticker!

For those of you who might need it, here's my recipe for removing skunk stink from my dogs:
1 quart hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1-2 teaspoons liquid soap
You can add a little warm water.
Mix.  Massage into the fur of your dry dog and let stand 5 minutes.  Rinse.

Tomato juice does not work.  Vinegar does not work.  Trust me (you don't have to, but you should).  Developed in 1993 by chemist Paul Krebaum, this works!

And no, we have not figured out how the smell was so strong or why we didn't recognize it immediately.  The whole valley was filled with the smell.  Our neighbors are as clueless as we are, so I supposed we'll never know. 

Jeffie wonders if our old pond bank skunk died and now is haunting us.  Hmmm...

Coyotes and Possums and Skunks... Oh my!

Well, it's only 11 am and I've already had quite a day. First I spotted a coyote right in our back pasture! Only one, so I don't know if it's one of a pair that have been coming around and running rabbits... or a new one. They must all live nearby because we see them a lot and we sure do hear them at night. Their yipping and yowling makes it hard to go to sleep!

Then, would you believe Jeffie spotted a possum right outside the yard fence! I sure don't know where it was going. I thought they only came out at night, but here it was. Of course, we all ran out to bark and to tell you the truth, I felt kinda sorry for the poor possum who scrambled out of site.

The possum must have startled the resident skunk who let out a whiff of perfume. Peuw! It's beyond me why this skunk has decided to live on our pond bank. There's too much going on here with all the wild life! She took up residence just last weekend and Daddy's been waiting for all the rain to let up... to get rid of the skunk.

To top it all off... we managed to scare away the great heron who'd come in to try for some froggies for breakfast.

What a day. I'm exhausted already. Time for a nap!
xoxo,
Tucker