A Dog's Life: Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: Me and You and a Dog Named Boo

That night when I got home from my walk, I lied down on my doggie bed. Yes, it's not the bed I have been sleeping in my whole life, but it's the bed I will be sleeping in for the next few months. I have this feeling I chose the wrong wish. Being a dog isn't that fun after all. Especially if you were now a girl dog, yes that's right a bitch. That's the worst thing about this so far. The second is the darn cone. I keep trying to take it off, but it won't budge. I guess I might as well wait until the two to three or how many days it takes are up from me to heal.
I could hear noise coming from the family room. I walk in and see my family watching the television. I lied next to them and watched it as well. They were watching Stranger things, on Netflix. It didn’t bother me. I watched it because I was near my family. Normally little Karly wouldn't be up this late, but it was Friday and she didn't have to go to school.
I knew I shouldn't have done it. I should have just went outside, but the scary part really got to me. I peed on the floor next to the whole family. My mom yelled at me and threw me in the back yard. No she didn't really throw me, that's abusive. She kicked me out... No wait, that sounds even more abusive... Oh you know what I mean.
Well now I am outside. As long as I have been alive I have always hated the dark. Especially after watching a scary TV show or movie. I just stood there in the pitch black yard. I didn't know what to do. Would you know what to do if you were just thrown out of the house in a scary place? I was as stiff as a board. I could hear weird noises. Mostly the wind. Yes, the wind was making some creepy sounds but I believe I saw a shadow from the bushes. My thoughts went away from the scary yard and I got really curious. Even though I was scared, I had to see what it was.
The bushes kept moving. You know what is weird about dogs and humans? Dogs can see really well at night. As for humans? It takes us a while to adjust to the dark. Now that I am a dog, I could see the bush clear. Dogs also have extra strong hearing. A dog can hear sounds from over four-hundred and forty yards or four-hundred and two meters away if you know meters. The frequencies that dogs can perceive and hear are almost twice that of humans and they can pick up and distinguish sounds at roughly four times the range of humans. You would know that to if you really loved dogs as much as me.
As I walked toward the bush, I noticed some paw prints on the ground. The looked like cat paw prints with large claws. But also some even larger paw prints. I couldn't tell what it was. It was weird. I can tell the larger prints were the back feet. If only I listened in class about the types of paw prints and what goes to what animal.
As a dog, you can smell lots of weird things in the air or on the ground. Dogs have about twenty-five times more olfactory receptors than humans do. I was smelling everything. I couldn't tell what I was smelling because I have never smelt this before. I finally made it to the bush. I could hear some kind of squealing or squeaking sound. I couldn't really tell, but it sounded spooky. Next think I know a dog came running out of the bushes wiping his head all over the grass like crazy. And boy did he smell bad. He smelled like a skunk just... I looked back at the bush and before my eyes was that skunk.
I started running, but I didn't get enough time to get away. He sprayed me as well. Oh man, did I stink. Luckily it was not in my face. I wouldn't be able to wipe my face on on the grass do to this dang cone I am wearing. Boy that would really suck if he did spray me in the face. I would get it all. I look at Boo rubbing his face. It made me laugh inside. Yes, that dog's my neighbors dog. His name is Boo. He likes to go out at night. I doubt he would want to go out anymore. As we both are trying to rub off the smell, we could see the skunk was at the bushes almost like he was laughing at us. I sure don't like PepLe Pew anymore. “Au revoir and get lost skunk!” I barked at him. It's not like he can understand me.
The show must have been over or they paused it, because next thing I knew, Karly comes out of the house to get me. With one smell, she ran back inside and cries to mom. “Mommy, Alyssa got skunked!” I hear her scream. Mom runs out of the house to check me out. I could see she was holding her nose. “She sure did get skunked and so did Boo from next door.” She walks inside and goes to the phone. I believe she was calling Boo's family. I wish I could plug my nose like mom did. I sat there watching mom.
I could hear noise coming from across the yard. I hope it wasn't that nasty skunk again. I look again and see the neighbors walking over. I believe they were mad as much as my mom was.
I sure hope I am not stuck sleeping outside tonight smelling like a skunk. I would not enjoy that at all. I hope we have tomato in the house. I sure hope we do. Good thing this cone I am wearing can block most of the smell.
Still rubbing myself on the grass, I see mom walking up to me. She grabs me and takes me to the kiddie pool, or should I say doggy pool. So I guess we have tomatoes. I struggle to stay in the pool. 
I looked back and saw Boo was put in the pool as well. It didn't take long for him to jump out. I ran out of the pool as well. I could hear mom yelling for me. I stopped and looked back at her. Boo was captured and brought back to the pool. I just sat there. Mom grabbed me and brought be to the pool as well.
We ran off again. This went on for a while. It was kind of fun. Not sure why I wanted to run, I would rather get rid of the stink, but I also knew that I wouldn't like getting washed, because of the wet dog hair afterwards. I know that, because I have smelt Zelda after she gets wet. Not a pleasant smell.
To make a long story short, we finally made it back to the pool and got washed with tomatoes. I didn't like it one bit. I may not smell like a skunk anymore, but I sure smell like a tomato. The one good thing is, I did get the cone taken off of me for the bath. It gave me a chance to see what I looked like down below. I wasn't really happy to see what I did see.
Having the cone off didn't last long. As soon as I dried off, the cone went back on. I sure hope I get it off soon otherwise I am going to go crazy. I wish I could speak to them. I would tell them I didn't need it.
What a horrible first day as a dog. Now I know I regret making that wish.



Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning - William Arthur Ward

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Comments

Not fun

Dahlia's picture

As a human I can relate to the skunk stink. I was sprayed in the face from 2 feet away when I was a teenager. It's kind of like mace except the smell is so bad it makes you retch and gag. It burns for a few minutes but the smell stays with you for weeks. BTW, tomato juice doesn't work. Been there, tried that and it is a no go!! I can't even begin to imagine how horrible the smell must be to a dog with their super smell noses.

Dahlia

My Grandpapa Told Me ..

jengrl's picture

skunk spray looks like liquid fire at night. I have definitely smelled more than my share of them, especially during mating season!

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If you live out in or near

If you live out in or near the country, you can smell a skunk if it is either struck by a vehicle or releases its scent sack on another animal for several miles. it will also last several days gradually reducing in smell over that time. Never found tomatoes to be effective dealing with this issue. Plus the spray is an oily based one and clings to what ever it gets on. Very hard to remove. Janice

skunks

Sadarsa's picture

Never been sprayed before thankfully... but *have* had a family of skunks burrow their way under my house before. That always makes summer suck.. (it's happened three times)

~Your only Limitation is your Imagination~