The Skunk Question!

I'm sure that this subject has been addressed many times before, but i'm new to this forum.... I'm also new to "the skunk problem". Though over the years my dogs have frequently encountered skunks, they were fortunate never to have actually been sprayed. Until this week, that is.

Yes, Henry the Hound got "skunked". I'm trying a variety of products and solutions to get rid of the smell, but the odor continues to linger days later. I'd love to hear from other dog owners whose dogs have been sprayed, and hear what ya'll did to get rid of the awful stench.

Thanks!

After trying all the store bought products, I finally got the smell out of Penny Lanes coat by the following recipe

1 qt peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 Tbs dishwashing soap

Mix it all together and totally saturate the coat. Leave on for about 5 minutes and then rinse throughly. There is something about the reaction between the peroxide and the baking soda that lifts the smell out.

Another great hint that works great is masangile douche (not sure if I spelled it right) just the regular vinager & water. I know it is embarassing buying a bunch of them but it works I swear by it. The name brand works better for some reason. For a large dog with lots of fur I use about 8-12 bottles. Just soak your already dry dog with it work it in really well and let him dry. DO NOT RINSE. After a day or 2 you may rinse your dog off if you want, it is not neccasary though. Just a warning no matter what you use everytime the dog gets wet for the next few weeks some of the skunk smell does come back.
They also make a shampoo just for that purpose but I think the douches work much beetter.
One of my dogs got sprayed by a skunk EVERY year for 9 years straight, and my other dog got sprayed a few times too. After the first few times of trying EVERYTHING (you name it I tried it) a gentleman down the street told me this trick. I figured if a guy told me to use douches it must work & it does! I swear by it!

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions! I actually discovered the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda recipe on the internet shortly after I started this thread, and used it right away. It's incredible, got rid of the smell *COMPLETELY*. That's after I tried tomato juice, vinegar, and a commercial product called "Nature's Miracle". Though they all got rid of *SOME* of the smell, only the HP + BS solution got rid of *ALL* the smell. I will be keeping a supply of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda on hand from now on, and be ready should Henry encounter a skunk again. Please note that the solution cannot be made up in advance, it has to be mixed just before using or will not be effective. Storing the mixture will also result in explosion, as it produces oxygen....

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Originally posted by lv4dogs
Another great hint that works great is masangile douche (not sure if I spelled it right) just the regular vinager & water

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One of my Rainbow Bridge dogs was sprayed by a skunk years ago, and this is exactly what the vet told me to use too. :o

The douche works wonders and so does tomato juice-rinse your doggy with cheap tomato juice let it set for about 15 minutes and then wash in something called Goop Off shampoo or any shampoo made to get rid of chlorine from swimming pools in human hair and style as usual. whew poor beastie!!

We use to go camping alot with Max & dad bought some skunk shampoo just incase. But Max never chased the skunks in our site & couldn't care less, Maybe he thought they were cats (he could care less about a cat). But raccoons on the other hand, holy smokes he hates them, theres nothing I can do to call him off. He goes psycho on them. Its the only animal he hates. & one young coon learned the hard way & so did we.

My friend & I were rosting dogs & mis other stuff over the fire pit & we kept tossing dirty food to the raccoon. Well Max was laying om the carpet for him by the camper. He let it stay in the bush, but the raccon took one step onto the dirt site & all hell broke loose. Max charged it snarling & snapping like never before. It was so dark we couldn't see Max in the bush. All we heard was a horrible sheeeeeeeek & air being forced of of the raccon as it screamed. Max had jumped on it (Max was 80 pounds, coon 10 pounds tops). I went hunting for the coon & Max to see if both were ok. I found Max snarling at the bottom of a tree & the poor little coon at the top of the tree looking down. I didn't find any blood on Max or the ground the next day. But after that Max was chained up at night.

Max had been sprayed about two weeks before we got him, and he still smelled bad when we brought him home from the shelter. We tried the shampoo but it didn't work terribly well. I'll have to try the peroxide and baking soda next time.

One thing we did learn, though, was that most of the smell was in his collar. We got rid of that and he was much more tolerable.

I use the same solution of the hydrodren peroxide and Baking soda. It works wonders.

I also wanted to say that my friends Lab got sprayed and one of the kids let her in the house...the odor was so strong that it got all over thier clothes...even the ones that were in the closets. They had to clean everything...right down to their carpets. She was sprayed really bad.

But glad to hear your doggie is smelling much better.:)

Lady has taken it upon herself to rid the world of the evils of skunkdom. Little black and white kitties are an affront to her existence, and every time she sees one she winds up taking a bath (although she hasn't connected that every time she sees one, she's chasing it and she's getting sprayed by it). Natures miracle works wonders, but it takes a couple times to work.

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Originally posted by Lady's Human
...every time she sees one she winds up taking a bath (although she hasn't connected that every time she sees one, she's chasing it and she's getting sprayed by it). Natures miracle works wonders, but it takes a couple times to work.

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Well, I'm very pleased to report that Henry seems to have learned his skunk lesson. I was recently out walking him on-leash around midnight when he saw something moving around under some nearby fir trees. He has a very long retractable leash (30 ft), and bounded under the tree to have a look. Within two seconds he came RUNNING out from under the tree, a full 30 ft in the opposite direction, with his tail between his legs and an apprehensive expression on his face. I'd never seen him run away from ANYTHING before, and quickly peered under the tree, where I saw a very large skunk. Clearly, Henry "remembered" what one of those creatures did to him before, and got far away from him before he could get sprayed. I was so proud of him!

Re "Nature's Miracle": I tried two bottles and two separate treatments, and it did next to nothing. Nothing works like the HydrogenPeroxide-BakingSode solution, in my opinion....