Printed on August 27, 2007
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Skunked-Need Cure
My little doggie got SKUNKED and I need a cure ASAP! Please, no old wive's tales. I need something that is known to actually work! Otherwise I'm looking at about 2 weeks until it wears off. All those years with hunting dogs and not a one ever got skunked. Now I have 2 mutts, live in the city and NOW it happens.
13 Replies
November 5, 2009 12:32 PM
the best advice i can give is to see your local groomer. other than that i suggest getting a bucket and filling it with baking soda, and adding peroxide slowly, mixing as you go until it is like a paste. the trick is not to use too much peroxide because you dont want it to be very wet. find the area that your dog was skunked at and apply the paste to that hair. DO NOT get your dog wet! you will just spread the odor to the whole dog. do not get the paste near the eyes or mouth. leave the paste soak for no longer than 15 minutes while monitoring your dog the whole time, checking that the skin is not turning red and the dog is breathing normally, if sudden or bright redness occurs rinse immediately. otherwise, after soaking use a rubber brush to knock the paste off the fur. then use a shampoo (such as a baking soda shampoo to remove odor or a skunk shampoo if you can find one) and soap your dog up like a normal bath and then rinse. you will never get rid of the smell fully but this will definitely make it easier to live with.
good luck,
gab the groomer
November 5, 2009 1:32 PM
K-Nine,
I'm so sorry to hear that! How awful for all of you, the poor little dog as well. Don't suppose she thinks it's nice either.
Skunk is not an animal we have here in Finland, luckily, so I can only offer sympathies, that's all.
Hope someone gives you advice on that one fast!
gab_the_groomer's advice seems something only a professional groomer could try. Peroxide scares me a lot, remember it from hair perms in the olden days, it used to burn and make my scalp red & sore.
Good luck with finding a quick solution to your problem.
November 5, 2009 2:18 PM
Thanks Groomer: It seems that the mixture below is the most popular and is much the same as yours. The added soap I a guess is to help work it into the coat. Luckily I have short haired dogs for which I am very grateful now.
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1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4-1/2 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon of grease cutting dish soap like Dawn.
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The odor is all through the house now and even with the dog outside it's still there. I don't know what all he has physically contaminated. I can telll you that Febreze and Oust are a complete waste of time. They only seem to work while you are spraying them. About 5 seconds later it's skunk house again!!!
I am not looking forward to the evening meal with that smell lingering about. I can barley even drink coffee or tea with that smell.
You DO NOT get used to it. You smell it with every breath. I'll keep you posted unless I gag to death...
November 6, 2009 11:25 AM
K-Nine, I would still try the tomato past or ketchup stuff. I keep hearing it works, I think even the Myth Busters found out it worked well.
I think skunks, out of the city, stay away from preditors. In the city, they get food from humans, so they loose some fear. For me, it is best if humans do not feed wild animals. I have with our "block" ducks that walked our street, and many of of feed them. They did not come back the next year. Once they liked humans, how hard were they to shoot?
All people in conservation will say, don't feed a wild animal. It can mean death to them. Our cyotes were relocated, but would not have been a problem if people didn't leave food out for them. Lost one dog and two with very expensive injuries. I have to say, I have fed many wild animals. Deer, hand fed. The ducks, hand fed. It can be fun to be close and personal, but it is not good for the animal.
November 6, 2009 12:07 PM
Oh no K-Nine!!I'm so sorry to hear that.. Unfortunately have no advice to give you! I really hope you can find away to get the smell away! Good luck!
November 6, 2009 12:23 PM
It's better today but every time we put any de-skunking stuff on, it actually brings the smell back to life for awhile (couple-3 hours). Any moisture seems to revive the odor and it seems that a few applications will be needed.
I saw and add for stuff called SCOE 10x where they sprayed the stuff on a dead road kill skunk that had been in the sun for at least 2-3 hours. If the video is true then it only took 1-2 minutes to de-skunk a real skunk. They absolutely guarantee it will work as well as it did in the video and all the ingredients are non-toxic. $20 USD but it would be worth it to have on hand. They claim it deodorizes pet messes and all kinds of other stuff too.
November 6, 2009 1:17 PM
K-Nine do let us know if this product works. My wife did an add on doing stuff to that urin order out of a a carpet, and it did work.
I am not that worried about skunk, but rolling in dead things is a big worry.
For all who do some county stuff with dogs, something that descents a dog would be a great product. After a good rool in something a dog thinks stinks perfect, is not something you want to drive back with the dog for your choice of scents. Baths can get rid of the scent, normally. I have no experience with skunks, and have never seen one around us. I really do think there are too many dogs out for them to get to were all walk and do their dogs.
BTW, for your advice. Do you know proactive on snakes. My dogs have not showen interest in them, but only one meeting might mean they go past tense. Dogs have seen some in the water, took no interest. We did have one killed in our kinda back yard and dogs did not have access. I hope they have some inherited fear of snakes, and maybe not something that has two or four legs to play with but it is the one fear I have with my dogs.
I have not been able to come up with a proactive thought on how to do it. On getting a fake snake and doing no, that might mean I am putting attention to the snake they don't have now. In Ca, we only had rattle snakes and not afraid for a for a dog. In TX we have three others that bit before they warn.
I know you hunted with dogs. Most don't. For the game around us, I am not worried about much. Possums, they might meet one, if it gets to be a fight, dogs will back off. Skunks, not around. Been told by many, mine can proably stand off a cyote. Still have not seen the bobcats around. Snakes that don't rattle or warn, that really bothers me, even for me when out. Chances are slim, but once is more than you want to have happen.
November 10, 2009 10:10 PM
Meccash, I have 2 australian cattle dogs and they are always up for a rattlesnake, rattling or not. Some rattle and some don't. I have both my dogs vaccinated with rattlesnake vaccine but this still is not enough. Last April I was able to find a couple of sport dog trainers that travels to different locations in our state (AZ) and holds rattlesnake training. I took both my dogs. I didn't have to wait too long to try out the new training. About two weeks later we had a rattlesnake appear on the patio and those dogs could not get away fast enough. I let them through the front door as the patio is off the back sliding door. I had one dog tied and the other dog was loose. This training cost me $100 per dog and I feel that it was well spent. I could have spent hundreds more on vet bills.
November 11, 2009 2:04 PM
Thanks for your response. I am not that worried about rattlers, never had a problem with them in CA. For the ones I have seen, they try their best to get away. Biting seems to be a last resort.
It was moving to Texas that got me a bit worried. We have a ton of watter mockinsons (sp?) and copper heads.
I will check around to see if someone knows anti snake training around here. Overrall, my wife is afraid of lizzards and all creatures with scales. If she freaks, then dogs will protect, I think. If wife was clam, then dogs will come back by calling their name. There is at least one that I think might and didn't talk to him the last time I saw him with his dogs.
Thanks, will check more on what you told me. A web search seems to be in my future.
November 10, 2009 10:12 PM
Oh BTW, this training encompassed the rattling snake as well as a snake that had it's rattle duct taped.
November 6, 2009 1:25 PM
If you have a dog that will chase anything including snakes AND you live in an area where your dog is likely to find snakes on a regular basis then your dog show wear and Epi-Pen collar that holds an emergency bee sting and snake bite kit (injection kit). At the least it gives you enough time to get the dog to the Vet for emergency treatment by slowing down the allergics responses from various types of venom.
November 9, 2009 2:43 PM
Thanks K-Nine. Overall my dogs chase nothing but four legged creatures, and that is not often. I have had many dogs that have seen snakes, no interest in the dog. My fear is once is one too many times. My dogs have seen water macksions but in water and they showed no interest.
I have thought about getting a rubberized snake, and making that a no, but I think that would be a wast of my time.
My dogs do seem to stay away from most stuff, cars, so far most all animals that are not game animals for a dog, so I am probably worrying way more than I should. If my dogs do get into a snake, it won't be when I am around, and nothing much I really could do about it. I guess worry is a vice too many people have.
Thanks
November 8, 2009 3:05 AM
I am a dog walker/pet sitter and I had this problem this summer with two dogs I was taking care of in the country. They got skunked by two skunks at the same time...lots of fun. I use a product called Skunk Off. There is a shampoo and also a liquid that you put on the dog and it does a good job of taking the skunk odor away. Good luck!
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