Dog versus Skunk; your dog never wins
Apr 17 '00
One night, I was watching TV with my first dog. She was settled in for a long nap and I was beginning to fall asleep watching some lame sitcom. All of a sudden, the dog leapt from the couch and started barking like crazy at the back sliding door. After a couple of minutes, I was able to calm her down and get back to the sitcom. An hour goes by and I let the dog out to the bathroom. Again she starts going crazy and running after something. As soon as I flicked on the back light, I say her sniffing at something black, a tail went up in the air, a blast came out of the animal's backend, and my dog went wimpering away. There was no mistaking it; a skunk had just blasted my dog.
I had never really been in this situation before. The only thing I had ever heard about being skunked is that you should be bathed in tomato juice or any other juice that has a high concentration of vitamin C. So I ran down to the closest Cumberland Farms and bought the store out of V8 juice. I think I had about 20 of the extra large tin cans of V8. I dunked my dog in the bathtub first with water and shampoo. I shampooed her three times with regular dog shampoo and rinsed her. I then applied 10 cans of V8 and shampooed her again. I applied another 10 cans of V8 juice and shampooed her again. As a final measure, I shampooed her one last time. When I was done, I had a dog that smelled strongly of Skunk, mildly of a combination of flowers and tomato, and had a strange pink hue to her. The procedure was a major flop.
I ended up bathing her almost every week for a couple of months with all kinds of remedies. The remedies worked to reduce the smell, but it never really removed it. Whenever she went swimming or got wet, there was a skunk smell that lingered. Luckily, she was a shorthaired dog and the lingering smell over lasted for about 7 months. (I later discovered that the skunk smell can last up to two years on a dog, especially if they have think coats).
I learned a couple of things from the experience. Hopefully these lessons will help you if your dog encounters a skunk.
The most important think to do when you dog get sprayed is to remove the skunk spray before it dries. The skunk spray dries relatively fast so don't waste time. Give your dog a very good scrubbing bath with shampoo. Repeat the shampoo and rinse cycles a couple of times concentrating on the area that were sprayed. This should remove the excess spray and loosen some of the smell.
After the shampoo bath, apply a deshunking preparation. There are many brands produced commercially that work wonders on skunk smells. You can find these at almost any pet store and are available online. Several are even specific to a dog's coat type (long versus short), so choose carefully. Most people, however, do not think of buying a deshunking product until after their dog is sprayed. Since time is of the essence, that deskunking product will only be useful for the second or third spraying.
Most people turn to a home remedy for their first deskunking. The most popular home remedy is the tomato juice remedy. As I discovered, the tomato juice remedy works no better than a good bath. And it leaves a pink hue on your dog's coat that takes a long time to wear off. Of course, there are the variations on tomato juice like tomato paste and orange juice. Again, these do not work.
A number of other remedies use strong smelling substances to mask the smell. Two popular remedies include high concentrations of vinegar and vanilla extract. These work for a short time, but only mask the smell. When the dog gets wet, the skunk smell shines through. Worse, a vinegar or vanilla extract smell compounds the existing skunk smell.
There are a number of remedies that truly do work. From what I have found, almost all the remedies that truly work include hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and a binding agent. The combination of the peroxide and the baking soda oxidizes the affected area and lift out the odor causing elements. Repeated use simply loosens the smells and washes it away.
Most recipes differ slightly, but this one is a good starting point. You can play with the recipe by adding a commercial odor eliminator, shampoo or another ingredients. The most important elements, however, are the baking soda and peroxide.
In a bucket, mix 1 Quart of FRESH Hydrogen Peroxide, 1/4 cup of Baking Soda, and 1 teaspoon of Liquid Soap. The mixture will bubble. Wash the dog with the mixture as if it were shampoo while it is bubbling. Rinse the dog and repeat. Be careful not to contaminate the water. If you are applying the mixture to your dog with a wash cloth, do not re-dip the wash cloth into the bucket. (Do not premix the solution. A premixed solution may be less potent in reducing the odor. A premixed solution stored in a sealed container also has a tendency to explode.)
Over a couple of weeks, keep bathing the dog in the mixture. You should see a steady decline in the smell after the first couple of baths. Its a good idea to continue the bath the dog in the mixture several times after you can no longer smell the skunk just to be of the save side. Remember, your dog has a better sense of smell than you and may be able to smell the skunk long after you do.
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