Yesterday morning I took The Partners to their fave swimming spot at the leash-free park in Etobicoke Valley, only to find it closed for the week. We drove over to Jack Darling Park so at least they could goof around with some other dogs, after which I found a somewhat out-of-the-way bit of beach where they could go in for a swim without bothering anybody. After all, I had promised a swim.

This morning after breakfast, we went for our usual morning stroll which turned out to be somewhat eventful. We were almost home, just a couple houses north of our place, when both dogs suddenly dove with great gusto into a hedge in front of us. That would have been fine except that a baby skunk was hanging out in there. The skunk took off, getting a bit of spray off along the way. I don’t know if it was because it was a baby or because it all happened too fast, but amazingly, neither of the Newfs took a direct hit. There must have been enough skunk musk in the air in front of him that it irritated George’s eyes because he immediately threw himself to the ground and started rubbing his face on the sidewalk. If he spoke English, he would have have been shouting, “I’ve been shot!”. When we got back to our place, George rolled on the grass for a few minutes, but got over the experience quickly. Remarkably, he does not smell too bad. There is a slight bit of residual skunk odour around them, but George is sleeping on the floor a few feet from me as I type this and I can barely pick up the smell. I think they will be fine without the usual peroxide, baking soda and water treatment.