Skunks

[HEChicken]

So my horse tried to colic on Friday night. DH and I got the call around 8pm, so headed to the barn and spent the rest of the night walking him in the pasture that, with no moon, was pitch-black. We took the dogs with us, and on one circuit of the pasture, smelled skunk. Heading back to the barn, the smell stayed with us. Eventually we had to face the fact - the dogs took a direct hit! We left them in a stall when we headed home to catch a few hours sleep, and picked up some tomato juice on the way back out there at dawn yesterday morning. They've had two tomato juice baths and have spent a lot of time laying in the sun but they STILL stink. A friend whose dog got skunked a few years ago said she tried all the remedies but in the end found that the only remedy was TIME. So now I have two pitiful dogs on the back deck staring sadly at us, wondering why they're not allowed in the house. And I'm sitting here wondering "why did we get dogs?"

 

[Katy]

Mix one quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup Dawn dishwashing liquid and 2 teaspoons of baking soda. Pour it over the dogs and let set for a few minutes. Rinse it out of them well. Works much better than tomato juice. I get a spray from the vet called skunk off that helps take whatever little smell is left on them. The sooner you use it the better.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

The recipe is a quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 2 tablespoons dish soap. It does work really good. For their faces take a cotton ball dampened with douche and carefully wipe around their face. Then wipe with a wash cloth dampened with water.

 

[NanaKat]

You can also use that formula on your clothes, shoes and tools when skunked. Just soak your clothes in a bucket or spray on shoes and tools with a hand sprayer. We stock up on the hydrogen peroxide when the pharmacy puts it on sale and keep it ready to use in the barn and the house.

Mixing equal parts of the HP and vinegar also works if you are away from home and can't rinse off the soap.

 

[HEChicken]

Thanks for the tips and recipes! I am definitely making note of this for next time....

 

[SillyChicken]

I tried the peroxide trick and it doesn't work any better on mine, all it did was dry and bleach her coat. Tomato juice allowed to soak works well followed by a regular scented shampoo bath.. cuts the smell. You'll never really get it out, and a few months down the road, if they get wet, you'll smell it again.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Haircut.....

 

[dntd]

Whole juiced lemons works better then tomato juice, my dog got sprayed in the summer.

 

[MagsC]

The above things help but it seems to me that nothing completely takes it out except time.

 

[Akane]

Tomato juice doesn't do anything but make a skunk and tomato smelling dog. If you want acidic vinegar would evaporate with no smell and not bleach the coat. Didn't mythbusters find that vodka was one of the best things for scents including skunk?