5 years of practice......

You all know about my dog Molly and her penchant for barking at squirrels, cats, other dogs, let's be honest here... Molly likes to bark at any other animal that crosses her path. Or dares to walk her fence line. She protects her home from everything ..... everything except people. Those she runs up to and licks. But I digress. For the last five and half years, Molly has done a fantastic job of keeping our house squirrel free. If a squirrel sets foot anywhere *near* the house, Molly is off and barking at them. She'll chase them up a tree or watch them run over the fence to sit in the road and laugh at her, taunt her if you will! The taunting has come to an end. Molly finally caught and killed one of those taunting, heckling squirrels. And boy was she proud of herself! I was in the bedroom when I heard this frantic barking and then a squeal, almost like a wheel on a kid's wagon. The squealing stopped but the barking went on.... so I went to investigate and found this *points to picture* with Molly standing over it. I called her off and was midly surprised when, after a few calls, she actually gave up her prize and came inside! We stood at the front door and watched the near dead thing twitch a few times while I came to terms with the fact that I would have to get it out of my yard before I could let the dog back out.

It was with much trepidation that I approached the carcass with my snow shovel to scoop it up and... And what?? I couldn't bury it, molly would did it up! I could toss it in the neighbors yard.... he would never see it....... (I did honestly think of that as a viable solution) But instead, I scooped it up and tossed it over the fence onto the boulevard. My thinking was "Maybe an animal will take it away(it was the whole circle of life thing!!) and if not.. I'll deal with it in the morning." This whole time I had the squirrel on the shovel, Molly was going crazy in the house. She survived.

You would think that should be enough excitement for a week...but Noooooooo...........

I fully believe the dead squirrel's family put a hit out for my dog. The hit man? A skunk. Yep...you read that right. Two days later at 5 am, I heard Molly barking in the Back-Back yard (Or to put it in non Velv terms, the furthest point in the back yard) then I heard her cry out. My heart stopped and I ran for the back door, stopping only to put on sandals with my jammies. I opened the door and was immediately hit with the worst smell EVER. And I mean EVER! I called for her and she came running, bringing more of that aromatic fragrance with her. I stopped her in her tracks and slowly backed up,gagging the whole time as I placed LOTS of distance between us. Leaving her on the back porch, I went in the house and opened a can of crushed tomatoes and crushed them even more to get more juice. I then wrapped her in a towel and carried her to the tub. For the first time ever... no kicking and screaming from the dog! We washed and tomatoed her to no avail. She now smelled like tomatoed skunk.

I went on line and found a remedy that called for hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. So I showered and changed clothes while Molly was locked in the computer room to keep her off the new carpet and furniture! I was in Walmart by 6.30 am and back home before 7 am, having gotten all the required supplies. Time for another round of baths. Did I mention the dog hates water of any kind? I am pleased to report that the H2o2 and baking soda actually worked!

The next morning I had to let Molly out. We both stood at the front door, her dancing with her legs crossed and me..... reluctant to open it. I looked down at her and pointing my finger as I spoke told her not to bark at anything she saw. In fact, if she saw anything in the yard? Just ignore it and come running back to the front porch!

I'm pretty sure she hasn't learned her lesson. She is, after all, a very inquisitive dog. So just in case I'll keep a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some baking soda in an emergency kit for Molly. Because knowing her... it's not a matter of "if" it will happen again, but "when"