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| CHARLEY BRONOLD |
I really thought there was nothing that could ever happen to
Charley that would make me want to distance myself from my wonderful four
legged friend. I mean, I love my yellow lab unconditionally. It was his
charging my chest that helped me locate my tumor in my chest directly leading
to a discovery of breast cancer just five short years ago. It saved my
life. He was one of the centers of my
life, or so I thought.
That was until two weeks ago. ….
Jim took Charley, our lovable, exuberant household pet for
his nightly after-dinner walk. Mind you, this is the same dog that took third
place in dog training when all the other dogs failed to show up the day of
testing. If they had bothered to, there
is no doubt that he would have tested in last place. I think it is safe to say,
‘Come’ means “Walk this way” and not “Run away from me.” Also, “Stay” does not
mean he is allowed to go sniff all the other dogs’ behinds freely and
aimlessly. But this is Charley’s
translation. He makes up his whole language and follows it not ours or the
trainers! But in spite of those mishaps, all in all, he did amazingly well on
command for the test. Oh there were a
few uncalled for barks here and there, but overall, we could not have been
prouder. The other two dogs did distract
him some but that is not entirely his fault. And our trainers could not have been happier
to see us leave with Charley in tow. I
guess they just don’t understand big labs that love people as much as we
do.
Jim walked Charley all the way to the end of our street up
the hill where one neighbor has bushes lining the entire front yard of his
property. Charley began tugging
furiously on the lead. This was not a
true cause for concern. What dog is not
anxious to smell the ground and check out what critters have been there
previously. However, when Jim noticed
what he first thought was a cat, and then noticed a distinct pattern of a white
stripe running up its back, he pulled on Charley’s lead quite strongly to yank
him back out of the bushes. This was to
not alarm Mr. Skunk.
Fumes arose looking a lot like the cloud from Linus’s
blanket. Jim wishfully thought Charley
was not nailed too bad by the spray too badly because he had pulled Charley
back out of the bushes in time when the smell came but how much had hit the
dog, remained to be seen, or should I say, smelled.
As he approached our house with Charley, the smell picked up
in intensity. Walking in the front door, it smelled like Mr. Skunk had come
along the path with him and walked right in the door making himself at home as
Charley’s shadow. Into the tub went
Charley immediately to be scoured. Jim
attempted to hold his breath while bathing as the ventilation in the bathroom
is not enough to compensate for the overpowering smell coming off Charley. He felt even Charley looked queasy off his
smell. He washed Charley multiple times,
losing count but doing whatever he could to overpower the horrendous smell.
Jim put a call into me at work so as to notify me that there
was not a dead skunk in our garage. He said I would smell one when I pulled in
that evening but the smell would actually be coming from our home. I suppose I should have felt relieve knowing
there was no dead animal on our premises but the thought of that smell in the
home was not at all inviting!
When I pulled in the
driveway, for some reason, the door was not properly closed all the way and
Charley slipped out. Before I could get
a hold of his leash, he was gone. He shot across the subdivision, in the
darkness of night, and took off wondering around the encircling farmland. He was met with yells of “Charley come back”
and “You want some cheese?” And
naturally he did what he always does, flat out ignores the pleas to return, preferring
to keep us running after him. Except
this time, it was too dark for us to follow.
We were quite
worried he would get hit by a car as he is not road savvy but could not do a
thing but wait and pray he didn't get hit, did not go far and would wander back
home. We heard dogs in the area making a
large racket Partially, no doubt because a dog was running around free on
their property. We were sure also because of his odor! We prayed he would make
it home and safe but could not do much but stay on our plan to continue trying
to irrigate the smell from our house.
What a horrible night.
Within a half hour, there was a sound at the garage door. I,
as of yet, had not been in close proximity of Charley since his encounter with
the skunk and somehow knew it was him. Now was my first hello. I went to the door to let him in, opened it
and about fell backward. Phew, was the
smell disgusting! It was real easy to
be upset with him for running away and almost upset he had returned. I
suggested to him he go lay down in the farthest corner of the house, far away
from me! And surprisingly, he understood
and listened, after downing a water dish in his usual style, drooling half of
it over the kitchen floor.
Later that night, he jumped on our bed. To make up for running
away, he put his head up by me. I about
gagged. He had gotten sprayed directly
by his head since that was closer to the bushes so it was the most intense area
with the smell. Hence, I preferred, if anything, odd as it sounds, his rear-end
be facing me. So I did what any woman would do that finds skunk disgusting, I
went upstairs to another bedroom, closed the door tightly, lit a strong
smelling candle and laid down for a good night sleep!
Since that time, we have washed Charley with peroxide, tomatoes,
and a mixture of baking soda with Dawn and peroxide, mixed with doggie shampoo.
You name the combination and we have
tried it. About the time we think the smell might possibly be gone, it rains in
middle Tennessee. Doggone it; every time he gets wet, we are confronted with
that skunk smell again. They say dogs have incredible noses and can smell
smells from far away. I wonder what he thinks of the odor he emits on those
days? Does it nauseate him like it does me?
It has helped alleviate my appetite on rainy days for sure!
I know he feels unloved a lot lately but I can’t help it. I
find it hard to love someone so smelly.
It is like an unkempt person with bad personal hygiene. Only with Charley, this skunk smell is worse. We have been burning candles like we are
having seances in our house. Anyone who wants to donate to the cause, yet we
will accept candle donations! But
please do not report us to the local fire department. We do keep Charley’s tail
out of reach of the candles burning.
My sister read recently that a skunk smell on a dog can last
up to a year. I pray that this is not
the case with Charley. If it is, I feel
certain we are going to be looking for a doggie psychologist to help Charley
deal with doggie neglect feelings. I may
love him unconditionally but I will not give him TLC unconditionally if he
can’t get back to just smelling like a damn dog!
every day that goes by there are signs of hope.
His growth, over the years, astounds me. He has gone from being a
reclusive boy who never smiled to what you will see in the video. He is coming
out of his shell. He is learning to interact with the world and with
people. He is a reminder that people can
change, minds can be touched even when it involves neurology that we don’t
completely understand. Given enough energy, love, repetition and support,
battles can be won and Ty is winning them. 
