Month December 2018

Skunk! 

ruffcutsanddogwalks Leave a comment

PepeLePew4_900-copy-2

Bolt and Smokey have each had an encounter with our friendly neighbourhood skunk this year.

Both times happened at night and in our front yard around garbage day.

Bolt is a happy-go-lucky dog and he is curious, one evening after our walk around the block, I let his leash drop and told him to “go home” as usual. Instead of heading to our front door, he dashed to the side of our house, I called for him to come, and when he came running back he rolled on the grass in front of me rubbing his head with his paws.  Oh, I had a bad feeling, I told him to come to me, after a few more rolls on the ground he came slowly to me and I could see a wet streak mark across his cheek and on his chest.  It didn’t smell at first, I held his collar took a bigger whiff and there it was SKUNK CITY!

Smokey did something similar. I saw Mr.Skunk on our lawn the night before, so I had checked to see if he was out there before letting my dogs out of the front door the next night. I carefully checked, he wasn’t in front of the house, as soon as I released Bolt and Smokey to the front lawn to pee and poo, Smokey dashed over to the neighbour’s trees where it was dark, I called for him and he came shooting out shaking his body like he just got wet. Oh, I had a bad feeling, I told him to come and he did.  I saw a wet streak on him and sighed..yup, skunked.

So, here’s what to do if your dog gets sprayed by a skunk.

There are many Pinterest posts about this solution and it works. I’ve tried it on Dutch (the foster Pug + Bulldog I had), Bolt and Smokey.

  1. grab a towel and wipe off what you can
  2. get a bucket or container (depends on how big your dog is)
  3. put hydrogen peroxide (let’s say 1/2 cup), baking soda (1 cup) and a squirt of Dawn Anti-Bacterial Dish Soap (if you don’t have anti-bacterial, just Dawn worked for Smokey). Stir it around and add more baking soda if needed to make a paste consistency
  4. wear rubber gloves and goop the paste on to the area where your pup got skunked
  5. leave it there for a good couple of minutes
  6. rinse it off and repeat if necessary (can be repeated later that week if he/she still smells)
  7. dry your dog well
  8. wash your towels right away along with anything that came into contact with the skunky (wash everything you were wearing too, you may not smell it but YOU STINK TOO NOW)

Be really careful around their face.  Bolt got sprayed a little in one of his ears, I was not confident enough to get into his ear knowing rinsing the paste out would be difficult.  He stunk every time he got wet for a good…3 – 4 months.

I think the worst is when a dog gets sprayed inside their mouth. So horrible for the dog and the smell just lingers for ages.

Other tips

-keep your dog on a leash, it’s safer

-have your dog off leash only when they are safe and be sure they have a good recall

-if your dog gets sprayed in the mouth, eyes, deep in his/her ears, seek vet help

Pet Dryer – XPOWER

ruffcutsanddogwalks Leave a comment

I love my XPOWER dryer.

B-25

My first XPOWER dryer was purchased in 2013-ish.  I liked it because it was compact, easy to transport, quiet and powerful.  It has been discontinued this year but I really liked it, it worked well other than the hose wearing out a bit; it was amazing.  I passed it on to a neighbour when I upgraded to a stronger horsepower this year.  I sometimes wish I kept it so I could have one at home and one for work. haha, but it’s ok, she really likes it and uses it well too.

My current and second purchase is a XPOWER B-25, it has 4 HP and does an amazing job.  I’m not crazy about the new hose because its wider and the attachments screw on, I understand the reason behind making the nozzles screw on (so there’s no chance for it to fly off) but I did like the convenience of being able to pull and push the attachment nozzles on and off before.  It’s ok, change is good sometimes, I just needed to get used to it.  This dryer gets the job done quick and quieter than other brand dryers.

I love that they make the settings with a dial and I can work on drying a small chihuahua on a low setting and bump it up to full blast when drying a Cockapoo or Bernese Mountain Dog if I needed to.  The dial is so much better than a switch for a “low” setting and “high” setting.  I love having the flexibility of the in between.  When I’m working on the back, sides and legs of most dogs, I have it on full blast then when it comes to the head, I’ll turn it to a lower or lowest setting.  Some dogs are awesome and I can blast their faces on high, it gets them drier so much quicker. Just be careful not to blast air up their nose, into their eyes, and always cover/protect their ears.

Not only is it great for drying a dog, it’s great for de-shedding a dog. Blasting all the dead hairs is so much fun too! Sometimes it can look like it’s snowing in the groom room.

Here’s a video of a husky client who came to Maddie’s Dog Grooming & Boutique for his blowout.

Here’s a video of Bolt getting blow dried after our muddy winter walk.

There are other dryers out there, but I love my XPower and give it two thumbs up and a 10 out of 10!

They can be purchased at dog shows at a XPOWER booth or on Amazon.ca or Lioncove.ca.