The Stinky Story of a Door and a Dog

We're getting a new screen door for our front door today. Right now actually while I'm typing this the guy is working away taking away the old door and putting up the new one. Good-bye old door!

And why are we getting a new door? Well it's not because of this springy thing that hasn't been attached forever and let's the door just swing wildly in the wind. No.

And it's not because of this wonky latch that sometimes won't open and sometimes won't stay shut. Well, then again, maybe it is the latch. But mostly we are getting a new door because of...

Marco!

Yes, Marco has learned how to open the door this summer and let himself out into the great wide world. He's so clever the way he wiggles the wonky latch with his big dumb nose until he's free. We've been forced to lock the screen door to keep him in. But locking that door is a drag and we often forget. Like last night.

Last night I was brushing my teeth when I heard the dog start to go absolutely nuts barking out the front door. I stopped and thought, "Is that door locked?" The very next second I heard the unmistakable sound of the door being thrown open and Marco exiting the premises. I put down my toothbrush and headed downstairs to help wrangle him home.

But right away I could tell this wasn't an ordinary jail break. Something was really wrong. The Man was already outside pulling Marco away from the shrubs and losing the fight. Marco was freaking out even more than usual. And then I smelled it.

What upset Marco so much that he had to run outside and protect us all? It was someone who looked like this.

This isn't the actually skunk of course. This isn't even a real skunk. It's super cute skunk puppet. Marco wasn't attacked by a puppet though. It was the real thing and he got sprayed something fierce.

Here's where the battle happened. Right off the front porch. Lovely.
Thus ensued a late night of peroxide, baking soda, dish soap, garden hoses, dog shampoo, showers for all of us and a load of laundry with a healthy dose of bleach thrown in.

Unfortunately, after Marco ran out the front door and met his new friend, he then came back in the house and started rubbing his big dumb head EVERYWHERE. It was an intense struggle to get him back out. That's why needed to do a load of laundry. To cut to the chase, the house reeks now. It is just plain awful. I went out and picked up some stuff that supposed to work miracles. I hope so because we need it!

I have the skunk scent also stuck in my head right now, so even if the house is getting better through a combination of every window being open, every fan running and the miracle stuff, I won't know it for awhile. Sleeping last night was a challenge with the whole world smelling like skunk.

But the guy just left and here's the new door, exactly one day too late.

And here's Marco pondering what he'll have to protect the world from tonight. I'm hoping for puppets.