Dudley and The Skunk

Five years ago, my sister moved in with us while we were living in Connecticut with her black lab, Dudley. We had no pets, so it was an adjustment suddenly having a dog living with us. Two of my kids took some time warming up to Dudley, but my youngest, who was three years old at the time, took immediately to him. Dudley, being from California was getting use to the Connecticut weather and surroundings. He had woods to run around in and had to adjust to the wild turkeys and deer roaming freely across our property. We had 2.5 acres, so Dudley had a private park to check out. It really was an adjustment for everyone. One night, I was having dreams of skunks. At one point I woke up and wondered if a skunk had sprayed right outside the master bedroom because the aroma was so strong. Since we lived in a wooded area, the smell of skunk was something I smelled occasionally, so I wasn't surprised that a skunk could spray close to the house. In the morning, I went downstairs and wow the smell of skunk seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. I called out to my sister and she and Dudley came upstairs from the finished basement. The smell of skunk almost knocked me over at that point! If you have never smelled the direct scent of skunk up close, you can't even compare it to the smell we all have smelled from a skunk spraying further away. The smell is so pungent, it makes your eyes water. I looked at my sister and said, "why does Dudley and our entire house smell like skunk!?" Her eyes grew wide and she realized that when she had taken Dudley out for his midnight potty break, that he must have been sprayed at that time. She said that he had seemed spooked when he ran back to her. You see, she has such bad sinus problems, that she can't smell anything!! She had spent the entire night cuddling Dudley to calm him down, not realizing that he was reeking of skunk. My dreams had been correct, our house had been skunked. Over night while Dudley was in the basement, the smell of skunk went up through the ventilation system, penetrating every area of our three story home. When my husband ran out to get coffee that morning, the waitresses looked around and said, "What is that smell!!!?" "That's me," my husband responded. We all smelled of skunk for days. My kids lunch boxes were banned from the school and had to sit outside the classrooms. Luckily, they were still allowed in school, even though their friends said they smelled. My kids were pretty resilient and did not take it too personally. It was quite an ordeal and it took weeks to get the skunk smell down to a minimum. How did we reduce the smell in the house? Kitty litter! Many boxes of kitty litter had to be laid out around the entire house to help absorb the smell. According to Ted Andrews in the book Animal Wise, "When the skunk appears, opportunities will open to bring self-esteem and respect." I don't know about that...but I know the message was that we had no other choice except to go with the flow! We all also had to adjust to the changes in our lives. The line in the movie Forest Gump says it best, "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade." We eventually all had a good laugh over the experience and Dudley steered clear of skunks from that moment on. Poor Dudley had a lot to adjust to as well. He had to cope with numerous tic bites, Lyme disease and my three year old trying to ride him like a pony. All changes in life come with adjustments and stresses, that's just part of new experiences. The lesson in Dudley and the skunk.........when changes occur in your life, expect the unexpected and learn to adapt and adjust. Dudley passed away a little over a year ago and we will never forget the adventures he had with our family and the love and patience he showed my kids. We miss him and I'm so very glad that we had that time with Dudley. Learning to adjust was worth it!