We had a good mommy/daughter night..... I took Meka for a walk after work, and then we went to the pet store where she got oooe'd and ahh'd over like always. New guy working there, his gf just bought him a husky puppy from a shelter so when he saw me come in with Meka he started asking me all kinds of questions. He showed me a pic on his phone --- cute little guy, white, with ice blue eyes. I guess even though I'm stupid about some things with Meka I guess I'm not as stupid as I thought. Got Meka some new kibble - Canidae this time- and new treats and a toy she completely ignores.

She was pacing around midnight and so I told my husband to let her out. I don't think she was out there 2 minutes when she managed to find herself a skunk..... of course, she was so hell-bent on going after said skunk, she managed to break her harness..... again.........this was our third one... .. the first one she broke, the second was sturdier but too big and she slipped out of it, and this one she actually broke one of the clips she must have yanked so hard. Anyway.... it took 3 of us and a lot of chasing and calling to finally get ahold of her..... at around midnight......no scratch or bite marks at least, and luckily so. But that smell....... even if I could go back to sleep right now, I'm not so sure that I could, because the smell is just so strong, despite trying to get rid of it.

I tried giving her a bath with vinegar, dish soap, and baking soda. She still stinks. Husband wouldn't let me use peroxide even though every page I looked up online said too because "it's gonna bleach her coat." Nothing like arguing at 1 in the morning over putting peroxide on your dog. No way anything around here open past 9pm is going to have a skunk smell remover and we both work all day tomorrow so no going back at her with a different product until after 5 tomorrow. Unless I call in sick, which right now is likely if I don't fall back asleep soon or that smell gets to me any worse. May have to put her in her crate and go hide in my bedroom with the door closed until morning.

About the kibble -- I was heading for the TOTW or Blue Buffalo, but the other guy working insisted that the Canidae was the best. I bought a small bag to see how she does with it. I avoided the lamb this time wondering if maybe that is what she is having the problem with and opted for chicken & rice instead.

At least the plus about the bath was getting alot more loose fur off her. Even though I spend probably a good 36-60 min brushing her a day(when is that coat gonna finish coming off???) a TON rinsed off her. My poor bathtub.. haha.

So back to the pet store tomorrow for skunk smell remover.

So glad you caught her without incident and so sorry this happened at all....

However, skunk sprays almost always happen at night! Thanks for the reminder for me to have a de-skunk-ifier of some sort on hand.

Canidae is a 5 star food, TOTW is a 6 star food and grain free.
have you checked this site out?
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php/cat/1

if the Canidae does not work for her i would opt to look more for a grain free food of any meat or fish,lamb should not be a huge issue, it would be more in the other fillers of the food that would cause problems.

so sorry to hear about the skunk! as a kid we had to deal with that a lot cause my dad would hunt with our dogs and at least 2x's a year they would be sprayed. i always thought tomato stuff got rid of the smell? as far as the harness goes once she is grown i would look into a X-back harness that is custom made, they are under $20. sorry i can't be of any help on puppy harnesses. let us know what product you pick up and if i really works

I did check the site Jennifer and that's why I was leaning towards TOTW. I am thinking I might go back and buy some anyway. I mixed some Canidae with her other food this morning and almost all the Canidae is still sitting in her bowl. Guess she doesn't like it! She was being fed Ol' Roy before we got her so I'm thinking that she doesn't have an issue with grains. She didn't get the reddish tints until we had her for a couple weeks.

She's not a puppy.... she's just small. She's 4 years old. Here's a pic I took of her yesterday... the neighbor's kid had a squeak toy and she perked up.... of course she ignores the one I bought her




I maybe have to look into the X-back harness, or at least something with metal clips instead of plastic ones. When I went and got the skunk stuff I checked out the harnesses there and they were all plastic fixings.

opps sorry i missed her being 4! was wondering how a puppy broke a harness!!!!
look into the x back (claudia just listed where she got storms) and also check out ruffwear they have just a harness as well as other great stuff and stand by their product 100% if it breaks they replace it

take the food back and get something else. i worked at a pet store and we are feed what the reps tell us is the best food so i hardly ever believe what they say when i walk into a store now!

Awesome I'll do that I didn't know I could take the food back once it was opened......... of course not that they tell you that! I usually don't listen either, mostly because most of the time the pet supply stores around here are manned by teenagers most of the time. These guys were probably about my age. The one I had talked to there before and he had just gotten the white pup but the other guy I've never seen. He said something like "we sell more Canidae than any other store in the state" Well good for you darlin'! lol.

They did have a nice selection of higher quality kibble... they had the Canidae, TOTW, Blue Wilderness, Innova, and Wellness/Wellness Core. Some other stuff too he said they sell a lot of... Nature's Recipe I think? Was going to look that one up because I don't remember seeing it on the dogfoodanalysis site.

wellness core is good, sierra is getting the reduced cal and it has really worked!
sounds like they have a good section of food to pick from.

Here are places where you can order harnesses:

Alpine Outfitters
They are good, but customer service is pretty slow, and you're lucky to get a person if you call. If you leave a message, you'd be lucky if you get a return call within 2 days. Once the Fall season rolls around, you might hit the beginning of their busy season which means you may not get your harness for a couple of weeks, if not a month if you place your order mid-Winter.

Adanc Sleds
Good customer service, a couple bucks more, I think.

Nordkyn Outfitters
They have the X-Back harness and the Recreation Harness (similar to the X-Back harness). They have good customer service, but call them to make sure you're ordering the right stuff because their item description ain't all the descriptive or obvious.

The prices are all within a couple of bucks from each other, but it might be worth the extra couple of bucks for their customer service and fast delivery.

My female has the X-Back harness and my male has the Recreation Harness from Nordkyn. I got him the Recreation Harness because he's still looking weight and it would still fit him even with a 10+ lbs weight loss. Besides, it's very similar to the X-Back harness. (You'll see from the pics when you look it up online).

Be careful and pay attention to each company's measurements. They each differ from each other a little and because it's custom, you can't return it unless they've made a mistake in making the harness.

Thank you Claudia! Yeah I would definately rather pay a couple extra bucks for better and faster service!