How to Get Skunk Smell Out of Your Dog
79Simon Got Sprayed By A Skunk
A Romantic Night Gone Bad
So I bet you have come to this article for a smelly reason- and it most likely has to do with trying to figure out how to get the skunk smell out of your dog. You are probably really pissed off right now and holding your nose while your dog looks anxiously at you trying to figure out what you are going to do next:
Well don't fret, I am going to give you a recipe developed by Chemist Paul Krebaum that I know works for getting the skunk smell out of your dog- and I know this because it worked for me today. Because of it my border collie Simon actually gets to sleep back in the bedroom tonight- and for me, that is an unbelievable thing.
The reason it is so unbelievable is because last night Simon smelled so bad that I literally could not stand to be within even 10 feet of him!
While out on a "romantic walk" with my husband last night, a skunk decided to run in our path towards the water. My husband, being the inquisitive individual that he is, JUST had to take a better look at the skunk. BAD IDEA.
While I was anxiously trying to pull our 2 border collies to safety and out of harms way- my oldest border collie Simon jerked his head so hard he slipped right out of his collar and ran right at the skunk. (the skunk looked like our cat Perdy and I think Simon was intrigued by this)
Sure enough, he got sprayed and BOY did he ever get it good. He smelled so bad that when my husband put him in the van for the ride home I had to hang my head out the window all the way home. I could'nt stand the stench- it was that bad!.
To add insult to injury poor Simon had to be in lockdown in the van for the ride home because we were terrified that the oil from the skunk spray would get all over the van. Simon spent the ride home covered in a tarp (thank God for the tarp otherwise we might have had a smelly van for weeks, maybe even years according to what I've read about the lingering effects of skunk spray.)
Being 11 at night our choices were limited on what we could do to deal with the absolutely nauseating smell.
I quickly picked a recipe off the Internet for skunk smell developed by a chemist and decided to give it a try:
Simon Got Skunked
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RECIPE FOR REMOVING SKUNK SMELL FROM YOUR DOG
You will want to use this formula for removing the skunk smell from your dog:This formula gets rid of the odor (it doesn't just mask it) and it changes the chemical properties of the skunk spray to break it down.
You will need the following from any local grocery or drug store:
* 1 QT. OF 3% HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
* 1/4 CUP OF BAKING SODA
* 1 TEASPOON OF A LIQUID SOAP ( I recommend DAWN, it breaks down oil and grease well)
MIX AND IMMEDIATELY APPLY TO YOUR DOG. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET THE MIXTURE IN YOUR DOGS NOSE, EYES ,EARS OR MOUTH.
LATHER UP REALLY GOOD (my husband used a cheap shampoo first just to get the suds going)
RINSE AND DRY OFF YOUR DOG.
* You must mix this is an open container and when you are done with the formula get rid of the remaining formula (if there is any left) DO NOT STORE what's left in a container, the chemical reaction from being closed up can cause an explosion! (interesting side note here: this is probably why this formula has never been patented- if you can't bottle it you certainly can't sell it!)
The Skunk Resembled our Cat Perdy
Skunk Smell is Absolutely Nauseating!
Needless to say, Simon, his dad and I had a miserable night before we used this formula for removing skunk spray from dogs. Simon was put in quarantine in the backyard until the next morning when we could better clean him up ( it is always best to do this as soon as possible but in Simon's case we were so exhausted that we decided to wait till the following morning when we could bathe him at our shop- which had a nice big horse trough for his smelly behind)
So Simon got to spend the next day at our business in sauna lockdown. My husband took the formula and changed it somewhat- instead of the 1 teaspoon of Dawn he put half a cup- and a half a box of baking soda, with 1 small bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
The results were outstanding, so good that Simon is know basking in his place next to our bed as I write this article.
So if your dog gets sprayed by a skunk, try this recipe. It really does work!It's a great way of getting the skunk smell out of your dog (just make sure you don't keep any unused parts in a closed container, it can explode) and don't get the mixture in your dogs eyes, ears, nose or mouth.
And as for your own clothes, get them off right away and wash them with some type of neutralizer- I poured Pinesol in my clothes and it seemed to work fine-( I can't smell skunk anymore) and for goodness sakes, try to keep your dogs away from skunks. It can sure ruin a romantic night!
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Comments
Great info. Hope I never have to use it though. I wonder if it works on people?
I can't even imagine how bad it must have smelled. Good job.
It was pretty funny- I couldn't help but fall out when I saw how Simon got wrapped up in the tarp by my husband- I started laughing so hard I couldn't stop- and he had 2 leashes tied to him on each side of the van so he couldn't move around- poor Simon!!!And you can actually use this on people and cats I've heard- I hope I never have to use it on myself!!!
Hi Dorsi,
Getting skunked is the absolute worse experience, ever...
During the middle of the night, on the day one of my daughters was being married - our dog was skunked right outside one of the downstairs rooms in my home.
Worse though - was the fact that the window was open! We had a house-full for the wedding. We hear this knock on our bedroom door. (middle of night) It was one of my son-in-laws freaking out because of the smell!
We didn't know what it was immediately, because it was so overpowering of an odor! It was just the worst smell I have ever encountered... now waifing it's way throughout my entire house!
Oh I cannot even begin to tell you the morning we had as we worked like crazy to get rid of the smell before we would have guest coming later that day! Yikes!
A memory never to be forgotten in my family!
tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon
Oh my LdsNana- I cannot IMAGINE!!! That must have been awful- if it was anything like how Simon smelled you must have been MORTIFIED! Skunk smell is the worst smell ever!That definitely was a wedding memory!!!
Thanks it really helps. MY dog, Jackson, i a mix and has chihuahua and he went after trying to scare it away and the next thing you here is the skunk spraying him. This happened at 4:30 a.m. It was a rude awakining.
Glad it helped you Joe. We found we need to "deskunk" Simon a little more. He got sprayed mostly on his face, and we didn't want to get the recipe too close to his face, so his face is still a little "skunky".
Poor Simon. Beautiful dog.
i like the dog
I've been volunteering with our Humane society more than 10 years now, and we bathe skunked dogs all the time. I've tried all the over the counter products over the years and the only thing that works is your recipe. I first learned it decades ago from an old farmer when I first started working at a veterinary hospital.
Your formula is good, but I urge you to add two more ingredients:
1 Quart beer
2 Tbsp vanilla
The live yeast cultures in the beer help penetrate the resistant oils in the skunk spray, and the dog's water resistant undercoat and skin, so that the hydrogen peroxide can get in there. The beer ads that sudsing factor you discussed too. The beer makes all the difference. That's something I can't keep at the shelter, have to go out and get it each time. When I've skipped that ingredient, the results were not as good.
The vanilla just adds a nice smell on the inner level and penetrates during the bath.
Your warnings to be careful with the eyes and all, are wise. And of course you want to let the dog soak as long as possible, and then rinse completely thoroughly. If there's any hydrogen peroxide left and he grooms it, he could vomit.
Thanks for the well written article, big loves to your pooch xoxo.
I would love to smell a skunk!! as i have never before and would love to know what its like after seeing skunks in many scenes in films and cartoons mostly!!
The nearest i got to this was in Amsterdam, but there skunk smell is really really Mmm, nice!!:D
Great hub, Dorsi! I hope I never have to use that recipe.
Last night, my dog Avi started barking at 3am, and he NEVER barks. Sleepily, I yelled out "No, Avi" from the bedroom, but to no avail. I finally dragged myself over to his territory in the living room (the current truce has granted the bedrooms to the cats). There he was at the door, tail wagging, and BARKING! BAD DOG!
Just to shut him up, I walked to the door and flipped on the light so I could tell him there was nobody there. Well imagine my surprise when I saw a furry little black-and-white visitor on the porch sniffing the floor!
Good dog for alerting mommie to nighttime visitors! May you never get closer to a skunk than that!
This was a fun read. I wish we'd had that recipe when I was a kid. We had an airdale that got spritzed by a skunk. My dad cleaned him with something (no clue what) but you could still smell it. You know how kids are too, always rolling around with the animals, laying on them and stuff. I tell you, you could still smell skunk on him a year later if you were close enough to his fur.
I'm Australian and we don't have the 'skunk factor' going on here. I laughed at Compu-Smart's desire to experience skunk. This year I was in Texas visiting friends and in through the air conditioning ducts came the most fowl smelling odor I'd ever experienced. This was my first and hopefully last experience of skunk odor. I don't envy the poor soul who shoveled up the roadkill and disposed of it.
Its funny how pepe le pew just doesn't quite pass the space of the real thing! LOL.
Well, Thank goodness for the internet.. .and your story! Hogan alerted us last night that there was something outside ( just like annemaeve's dog) and we turned on the light to see the culprit chowing down on the cat's dry food. With the cat wathcing from a nearby deck chair! Well, without thinking, we let Hogan out tonight for one last little romp before bedtime and "Do you smell that? OH NO!!!" He must have gotten it square in the face - he was rubbing and rubbing his face on his outdoor blanket. De-stinking will have to wait until tomorrow - I don't have all of the ingredients and I relly wanted to watch the Olympics.... at the other end of the house from the stink! Poor puppy, his first night sleeping outside. Thanks Dorsi for sharing the practical solution (pardon the pun) to a rather frantic situation!
Thanks for the recipe. I am, unfortunately going to have to try it today. My dogs wanted out early this morning which isn't unusual except my Retriever actually barked for me to get up. Still half-asleep, I got up to let them out. It was nearly dawn so I decided to let them stay out and I would go back to bed. I couldn't get back to sleep as they kept barking. I got up to investigate and found them circling an adult Skunk in our yard. My German Short-hair was trying to attack it. He got some spray though I don't think it hit his face, but the Skunk did manage to nip him on the nose. (Thank God he had his Rabies vaccine in January) Now they stink, both of them. I will try this recipe (with the beer and Vanilla. Thank you Veronica) and try to de-Skunk these two idiots. I've bookmarked the page and I'll let you know the results.
I scrubbed them both down with the mixture and washed them off. So far, so good! I can't smell skunk on either of them. Thanks Dorsi!
A million thanks, Dorsi (and Veronica, I added the beer and vanilla). Last night, after a very long and hectic day, I had settled on the couch, glass of wine in hand, with the deck door open to let in a beautiful evening. My collie, Fionn, was on the deck asleep. A small scuffle and he was inside jumping next to me on the couch and everywhere else! I got him back outside, he was spitting all over (never saw a dog spit). I had to spray myself down with Nature's Miracle. My house still smells but my dog is happily back on the couch asleep. I'll close the deck door tonight...
Thanks for the additional information in regards to adding the beer and vanilla. I will try it...today. Our Airedale, Gracie has been skunked twice in 7 days. Perhaps the second lesson will sink in. The smell certainly has. In regards to the person that would like to smell a skunk, I recommend central Indiana. Every dog that I have owned has been skunked at least once. That includes one on Christmas Eve who then came in the dog door and spent the night in our back porch/mud room. I heard that Santa almost skipped our house all together that year...and I had been very good.
Thank you........our beagle mix had her second encounter with a skunk last night. This really works well.
Hi Dorsi,
Thank you for your informative hub!
Years ago both my dogs got "skunked" in my back yard. I was told to put tomato juice on them to get rid of the smell. I bought a dozen of the largest cans of tomato juice, then one by one tied my lab and german shepherd dogs to a porch railing and thoroughly doused them with gallons of tomato juice.
I guess they didn't like it because when I was finished, they both immediately jumped into the swimming pool, so now I not only had 2 stinky dogs, but a very large pot of tomato soup.
I learned later that the ACID in the T. juice was suppose to neutralize the skunk smell, and that you can mix white vinegar with water to get the same result. Sigh.
Also we were told to use eucalyptus tree branches to lay on the floor to absorb the smell in the house. (The dogs had chased the skunk under our house where it sprayed again). The branches worked after a few days, but were not great on your bare feet.
That is my skunk tale. Thanks again for the hub.
Violet (*)
I guess I am about to find out if your recipe works. My son and his family left for Mexico in the wee hours of this morning. When they let out Lucy before leaving she got skunked. I am picking her up after I get off work to take her to my house for the week. I have your recipe shopping list in my purse. Wish me luck.
I am glad to see the great success with Paul Krebaums skunk odor removal formula. I was quite impressed with how well this worked.
If it hadn't, we would be one miserable family and Simon would have been a very unhappy canine!
And thanks for the tips on adding beer and vanilla- I've heard great things about those 2 additions!
Ha ha, my dog loves to play around with animals. One time she shook around a racoon for what seemed like hours. She finally managed to tree it and we never saw it again. Then the other night she sees a similar wild animal and thinks it would be fun to play with. I guess she learned her lesson, although I still see her doing that again! I really like the way you write. It's very good! And thanks for the funny story and actually recipe. I got the ingredients off of Mythbusters though.
Its 25 degrees here in Chicago with some snow on the ground. We were too cold (lazy :) to leash up the dogs and decided to let them just run outside and do their business. The german shepard took off running and before we knew what happened, he was headed back to us and then the smell hit. Found your recipe and sent hubby to the drugstore. It worked like a charm and got all of the oil out of his coat. Thank goodness!!!! I can't imagine what we would've done as its much too cold to leave him outside. Thank you so much for posting it!!
D: You are so welcome- glad I could be of help!
very nice tips
hi dorsi! find your tip helps a lot to skunked dogs, but i have this problem with our labs she's not sprayed by skunk but there's this stinky smell of her, by the way her name is Podo our adorable Podo! Even though we shampooed her 2x a day the stinky smell of her does not goes off! Do you think your recipe will work for her? I'll try this recipe of yours and let you know if it works for her.
my dog just got "skunked" and I just puked. It is awful. My dog was tied up outside and she must have spooked it. We made the mix now...I hope it works!
Our dog just got sprayed for the second time in her life, and i couldn't remember the recipe, so i was checking around and found this!! Another trick, is try boiling vinegar on the stove for a few hours. It makes your house smell like vinegar for a while, but when the vinegar smell dies down, the skunk smell is gone too!!!!!
Glad to hear the skunk odor recipe is working for all you that have got "skunked" out by your dogs. This has got to be just one of the nastiest smells I have ever smelled in my life. Thanks redsalem333 for the vinegar tip!
As you know Dorsi, we live in campgrounds and yep, you guessed it, we have them smelly little critters around here! Last season one of our camper's pooch got nailed, and let me tell you even after all those bathes-I didn't want to go and play with her!! If we had your recipe then, maybe it wouldn't been so bad.
If you don't mind, my mommy wrote down your neat recipe and anyone of our camper friends with pets, might need a copy of it!!
If you go to my one hub page about "Yikes! I'm being test...." you will find a cool picture that my mom took of an albino skunk. No, she wouldn't let me go out and check him out!! Oh, by the way, she has an excellent zoom on her camera-she didn't want to get that close either! lol
Thanks Doris for that recipe and thanks Veronica for the added ingredients. YES YES it really works, We had to use it today and thanks to redsalem333 as while for the vinegar tip to get the smell out your house.
Leah: thanks for stopping by and that's a good idea- to have a copy of the skunk odor removal recipe on hand. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea for very dog owner to have a copy of this recipe!
Joyce and Lee: glad the skunk odor recipe worked for you. That skunk odor is the WORST! YUCK!
We have a Border Collie/Australian Shepard mix...likes to herd our cats, which never works out well...afer last night we also know that herding a skunk is also a bad idea! Bentley will be getting a bath tonight in your "recipe"!!! Thanks so much!
Good read but I don't think my dogs will get sprayed by a skunk in the UK. Hmm I don't know though :)
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silvalinings says:
14 months ago
Helpful and Hilarious! Thanks Dorsi!