Horses, Rabbits, and Skunks, Oh My!

Group Of Walkers at Walk For Love

Saturday

As you know, I'm always trying to find new activities to keep Homer at his peak performance. It turned out that Heartland Animal Shelter had a special event for walkers and runners. It was called the Walk Of Love - 9Ks for K9s. Runners would participate in the 9K run and walkers like myself would do the 2 mile (3.2km) walk.

I decided to do the walk with just Gigi and Homer. I had Cookie stay at home because it's been really humid lately and the humidity had been making her limp quite a bit. It rained the night before and the humidity really hadn't lightened up very much. Homer and Gigi on the other, hand were thrilled to have a workout session like this.

It wasn't too sunny and parts of the forest preserve had quite a few wet spots. I was able to avoid most of them and the dogs were ready for anything. It was a tranquil walk. Since we had started a little later than the others, we saw most of the walkers with their dogs on their way back. The trees lined the path and really brought me back to the simplicity of nature. Because of the rain, the walk was shortened slightly but it was still a great way to start the day. I even ran into two horses that both Gigi and Homer were wanting to chase. In a couple moments, the horses were a distant memory.

Horses Off In The Distance

The finish line had breakfast from Whole Foods as they had sponsored the fundraiser. There was a photographer taking pictures of the walkers. There was even a pet psychic but since there was a line, I didn't want to wait. After a hectic morning, both Homer and Gigi had a relaxing day sleeping.

Sunday

This was a typical day spent with the dogs. I could tell that the temperature was rising. Taking the dogs for their usual walk, Homer's leash slipped off of my wrist and took off running. I followed with Cookie and Gigi trekking behind me. He ran about six houses down the block. I almost was able to grab him and then he took off into the backyard and through the bushes. I heard a woman say "Excuse Me" and just as I told her that it was my dog and I was about to squeeze through the bushes, Homer bounded back hot on the trail of a rabbit. I quickly grabbed him and had him say goodbye to the rabbit. After that, the walk finished smoothly.

The real fun began when my mom let Homer out for a couple of minutes before bedtime. Homer's nose found its way right to the skunk who was visiting our backyard. Sure enough, he got sprayed right in the face. He came in the house and the smell was potent. I had to put him back outside and put together a mixture to remove the smell. I made two batches of the hydrogen peroxide mixture. Homer got it pretty bad in the face, and was very sensitive the the mixture. I've found that pouring it on worked best.

After toweling him off, using the air freshener and cleaning the floors with white vinegar, it was about 12:30 in the morning. Homer was still a little shaken trying to rub his face on the carpeting so I gave him his favorite Kong Bone stuffed with string cheese to distract him. I am happy to report it did. After everything that happened, we were all exhausted after the whole incident.

Let's Discuss!

Have you had a day where your pets ran into a variety of other animals? What do you do when your dogs get sprayed by a skunk?

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