Suburban Dog

Fisher, our bone-headed Golden Retriever, was skunked again Wednesday night, fortunately with only a light shower of scent. Yes, you may recall that he was skunked fairly recently this past summer, too. I guess we are lucky because Dan had JUST come in from the backyard after putting the chickens to bed, so he must have narrowly missed crossing paths with Pepe le Pew.

I've finally realized what the problem is --he is a happy & goofy suburban dog, and I grew up with smart and savvy country dogs, and expected Fisher to be the same. Recalling the dogs of my youth, (Blackie, Frisky, Rascal Caesar, Julius), I can only recall 2 skunking episodes. Blackie was skunked once, I believe when she came upon a skunk IN the barn, and Rascal was skunked once in the backyard, but never again. Those dogs were mostly allowed to roam the property unrestrained, and came inside only at night.

I guess a suburbabn dog like Fisher just lacks the collective wisdon of country dogs when it comes to skunks, and blind instinct (must chase skunk!) will triumph over reason every time. SIGH.

Fortunately, we ALWAYS have on hand the ingredients for the magic skunk potion, so Dan was able to initiate an aroma-reduction exercise. Needless to say, we'll be replenishing our supply of hydrogen peroxide this weekend.