The house has a whiff of skunk.. I have company coming next weekend and so I have a week LOL to try to air out/clean the house.
On Friday Night the hounds headed out the door to do evening chores with Dear Hubby and Dezbot headed for towards the outdoor rabbit hutch’s and someone was waiting for her.. Marie was following closely behind
Dezbot took the hardest part of the hit, getting some on her head, neck and flank (I am guessing she swerved), I think Marie just caught a bit of extra from the air more so then a hit.
There first bath was a hard scrub of a mix of Blue Dawn Dish soap/Baking soda. I use a cup of baking soda and about 2 tsp or so of the original (that is important) basic blue dawn in a pitcher mixed and dissolved and then after the dog is well wetted, poured in sections on the dog and well worked in.. Allow it to sit at least 2 to 3 minutes.
They will help stripe the skunk oils from the coat and greatly reduce the smell you will be dealing with.
They need a solid good rinse, you do not want that baking soda left on them 🙂 Once you have water running clear with no soap left, then mix regular a jug of 50/50 percent vinegar /warm water. I made up about 10 cups per dog and then slowly pour and rub this warm mix over the dog, please be careful to not get this mix in their eyes/mouth
It give it a little rub in, around 30 to 60 seconds will get it done.. then give them a fast rinse with warm water and done. The vinegar rinse is important for a few reason’s, if any baking soda got left it will help cut it, it will help get the last of the soap out, it will change the ph of the coat and it will help cut the scent.
Dry the coat with old towels and wash them right away, I recommend crating your dog afterwards (if its crate trained) or limiting its ability to run around the house 🙂
If they got it in the other parts of the house. that’s a lot more tricky, I had to head to town and get a skunk order removed that was safe to use on my couch as I do not want to use the mix above on it.
There are many recipes on the net and I am sure many of them do work as well. I just wanted to share what I have found works well for us and its made with common pantry things.
Very low cost but effective.
What is your favorite way to deal with this? Got a funny story about the time your dog got skunked?
Just another Day on the Farm 
When I lived in the okanagan skunking was common with my dogs. I used to scrub in jars of canned tomatoes (outside on the deck) then hose them off. Up north here I’ve never seen a skunk. If you’re driving along and get a strong whiff of it – it’s because you’ve just passed by a big grow op. 😄
O, my gosh, I just about snorted my coffee on the Grow op comment LOL to funny. I remember my mom using tomato juice when I was a kid. It does work pretty good!
Oh Poor Dezbot!
We don’t have skunks here, but having to give the cats a wash is always a challenge. My mother still recounts the time she had to bathe our previous cat after he got under a car and got engine oil on him. She was even with long sleeved jumpers on, unable to keep him still and she ended up with scratches up to her shoulders. So in the end we asked the vet what to do and he prescribed half a pill of Valium for him. Once that took effect we could wash him, but he gave us the stink-eye for about a week afterwards.
LOL, o my, I can see that stink eye.. I had a stray show up that had gotten into Pine pitch and it was a long haired cat, I had to pay the vet to put him under and shave him to clean him up.. so worth it, he grew back a beautiful coat.
Haha! Rowan got skunked four times this summer (three of them were on consecutive days, argh!) and we use a very similar concoction. I mix a full bottle of hydrogen peroxide with my dish soap and baking soda. I didn’t do a vinegar rinse (just used regular dog shampoo) but I might try that the next time it happens! Here’s my post about the first time it happened while living out here: https://homeandharrow.com/skunked/
Wow, three days in a row LOL I will go read the post now
When I was a child, the remedy was a good rub with tomato juice. However the smell always came back in the rain.
Yes I remember this as a child as well, but I find the new one works much better 🙂 I don’t we had blue dawn back then..
I first remember learning about blue dawn in the 80’s with the oil spills
Hi Valeria,
Just wanted to share a story. Over 5 years ago my Mother got a skunk under her house and apparently it died under there. The smell was so bad in her house it was unbearable. THere was no way to get it the skunk out – so she just had to wait it out. My Mom tried everything but it took over a year until it actually was gone. It was horrible. At least you could wash your dog – the poor thing! I bet your dog will watch it next time a skunk is around. I’m glad to know that your found a good natural and inexpensive remedy that worked. for you. Have a healthy, happy & blessed day!
O my that would indeed be quite bad, yes, you are so right, at least I could bath the dogs. I hope they do respect the skunk a bit more when they meet them next. I am grateful that I can make my own remedy, I buy the bulk 50 pounds of Baking Soda that we use in the stall in the barn, it means I always have lots to use 🙂