in the zeli dog tradition. . .

Have I told you the story of jumpskunk?

In the first few years of living in our home. . .and I was working at Holy Cross. . .our morning rituals included Sam getting up and letting the dogs out while I tried to wake up and jump in the shower.

One fall morning, I remember hearing screams from the backyard. . . Dude was in trouble for something. . . So I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. . . greeted by the distinct smell of skunk as I ran down the steps.

Sam greeted me with a sorrowful looking Dude. . .

He let her out the back door that morning, and watched her take off into the shadows. She jumped on top of something. . .and Sam watched as the white of the tail flipped up into the air.

Yep. . .she jumped right on the skunk's back. . .

We spent the next 30 minutes (Sam in his work clothes) bathing her. For lack of tomato juice (or anything else those old wives tell you to use), we used some old Suave shampoo we found under the sink, buried in the back.

Amazed. . .it worked! And, we both made it to work on time. . . With a story that we have laughed about for a long time. . . Never dreaming that history could repeat itself. . .

Yesterday morning, our little Maxie decided that a skunk would make a fun playmate. He didn't do the Dude jump on the back thing. . . but followed it happily through the backyard (and almost into the brush). . .all while I'm screaming Max! loud enough for the neighbors on the North side of town to hear. I could smell it's chemical aroma. . .so close my eyes were tearing. . .and yet he didn't seem to notice. I was holding a paperback book (I was hoping to do a little Photoshop reading on the porch when the little yellow guy disappeared down the hillside into the back). . . so I slammed it as hard as I could on the camper, hoping to distract him from his playmate (and so I wouldn't have to get any closer than I was).

Luckily, the second slam got his attention enough to bring him over to me. A sniff test failed me, because the whole world around me reeked. . .

So, Max got his first bath. . . With Lukey's baby shampoo (no Suave available this time). . . I think he only got it in the face, a bit. . . So I guess he hung back just enough not to drown in the stink. . .

Ah well. . . A Zeli dog tradition upheld. . . And another story to keep us laughing. . .