Vet Blogger Learns About Effective Skunk Remedy–the Hard Way
I always feel bad for skunked dogs and their owners. Last night I felt special sympathy for one such pair, because the pair consisted of Buster and me.
We hosted a dinner party last night. Buster was a very good boy during the party, and he didn’t complain about not having been walked before the party. By the time things broke up, Buster definitely had earned a walk. It was midnight.
I was holding the leash when Buster suddenly lunged forward. When I saw the object of his attack, I initially feared it was a raccoon. Thankfully it was only a skunk. Raccoons generally stand and fight. Raccoons are ferocious and I’ve seen many dogs get torn apart by them. Skunks simply turn and spray.
Being skunked is a miserable experience. I know this because a hearty portion of the spray struck me. Thankfully, skunks almost never cause lasting (physical) harm (I will be dealing with the emotional repercussions of the incident for a while yet).
I took great solace from the knowledge that Buster and I would be OK. However, we did have one very urgent problem: we smelled horrible.
Thankfully Denise was walking with us and she escaped unscathed. We walked home and Denise went inside to look up a good skunk remedy. Buster and I sat in front of the house, looking and feeling quite dejected.
If your dog is skunked I do not recommend taking him to the vet. Most vets I know firmly turn away skunked dogs because they are not in need of medical attention and because they make veterinary hospitals uninhabitable.
Denise ran to the store and came home with the ingredients for a skunk remedy. Thankfully it worked. Here’s the recipe.
Mix 4 cups hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 cup baking soda, and 1 teaspoon liquid soap together in a bowl that can be thrown away. Wear gloves to protect your hands from skunk odor. Use a wash rag to apply the remedy to the skunked area (do not get it in the eyes or mouth). Do not rinse or wet down your dog before applying the remedy. Let stand for 10 minutes, rinse, and repeat as necessary.
Two rounds of this remedy got 95% of the smell off Buster. Sadly, like most dogs he was sprayed in the face so I was not able to clean the affected area as aggressively as I would have liked. I gave Buster a bath with dog shampoo after treating him with the remedy. Buster went to bed, and I washed my clothes with laundry soap, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda. I am happy to say the clothes now smell fine and they did not bleach appreciably from the peroxide. I am sad to say that my keys, wallet, and cell phone still smell pretty bad.
As I write this Buster is giving off a very slight skunky funk. It will wear off in a few days.
And I will be very happy if we never, ever meet another skunk again.
You have questions.
From now on I always will stock hydrogen peroxide and baking soda in the garage. I hope I never meet another skunk, but it never hurts to be prepared.
Hope you don’t forever associate this incident with having us as dinner guests!
This story brings back memories of spring.
Every spring with out fail our dog would be the first to get sprayed by a skunk. We used a product called “SKUNK OFF” it worked really well and left a sweet smell on the dog.
Eventually though the sweet smell would die off and you would have that faint skunk smell on the dog.
To this day I love that very faint smell of skunk.
I know i’m crazy but what can I say it brings back child hood memories of our beloved dog.
G, F, D: Oh no! Every year? That quashes my hope that Buster has learned his lesson. One thing, however, is for sure: I am once skunked, twice shy.
Aunt Kay, I intend to walk the dog before dinner next time you come over.
Our dogs Lily & Josey Wales were skunked last July. Fortunately I had kept the animal shelter newsletter that had this very recipe in it. The dogs were in our backyard and it was early in the morning. The skunk was paying us a visit and naturally the dogs went for it. Unfortunately skunks apparently are very slow runners and so the dogs took repeated hits of skunk blaster! That recipe really helped. We had the same problem with their heads still smelling since we didn’t want to use it around their faces either. For several weeks every time I kissed their heads I got a skunky reminder!! I don’t think I’ll ever love that smell though!
When my brother’s dog Corky stuck his nose in a skunk’s rear, we didn’t even notice at first he was hit. Found out after he ran into the house and rubbed his face on my sister-in-law. We took him to the laundry room along with the bedclothes. I had put a couple of bottles of Vive shampoo in the cupboard and grabbed one of them. It took the smell completely out of Corky’s fur so my brother added it to the clothes. Took the smell out of them too, and we had a sweet smelling dog. He’s gotten skunked twice since then and the Vive worked both of those times. Some dogs never learn.
My pups have been skunked more than their fair share.Abby, my 12 pound terrier mix even went into a hole in the orchard and pulled out a skunk. I thought she was after a squirrel, you can imagine my surprise when she pulled out a skunk. I have not yet found anything that completely gets rid of the smell. Most of the skunk mixes, solutions, potions, etc. knock the smell down to a tolerable level but every time they get wet for the next 3 to 6 months, you get a reminder of the skunking. Have a great summer.
Mouthwash also works: strips the skunk oil off their fur.