I've enjoyed living in rural southern California. I've got a decent place and a good dog to watch it while I'm at work. Last month my neighbor's beagles got tagged by a skunk. Twice.

Now, as funny as it may have seemed at the time, and believe me, it was funny, I knew it was just a matter of time until Gordon ran across the skunk, or skunks in this case. "Not to worry." my neighbor said. "When they get him I've got the dollar fifty cure!" he said matter-of-factly.

Sure enough, they got him. It was around 11 at night on a weekend and I was in no condition to de-skunk a dog. Luckily my neighbor heard the commotion and came over to laugh, I mean help. He brought over a 50-50 mix of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide with a few squirts of dish-washing liquid and swore the skunk smell would be gone. He was right again; in about 10 minutes Gordon was better than the night before!

Now I'm sure Gordon will know better than to face off with a skunk. After all, he's one of the smart breeds. He usually learns things really fast but just in case, I hope we can catch that last skunk before the dogs forget.