Michelle (CO) on 01/28/2022
While staying at my friend's house last week, my 10 yr old (husky, german shepard, australian shepard), found a 5gallon bucket of decaying catfish corpses, rotting away in about 2gallons of bacteria laden water, knocked the concrete blocks off the top of the bucket, making it splash out, on him and the cold ground, where he proceeded to roll around in it like a pig. When I let him inside, I nearly vomited...and made him stay out in the cold all night. Morning came, and went with work, but coming back, I had to bathe him with dog shampoo and an outdoor hose. He was very good during the cold hose down. However, the stench was still present, and I thought permanently attached to everything he brushed up against. Even though he was scolded, punished, and bathed thoroughly, when he went outside that night, he did it AGAIN!!
I was in the think tank for hours, deliberating over what nature would have me use to cure the stench of vomitous death. I purchased one small box of baking soda for 99cents and put surgical gloves on, and took small handfuls of the b.s. and with one hand I dragged across his fur in the opposite direction that it lays, and the other hand full of b.s., I sprinkled it through the length of his hairs, and got another handful and sprinkled over same section of hair as it was lying back to the growth pattern. Making sure to cover the strands as best possible.
He enjoyed the attention, as he'd not been petted in several hours. As I worked in small sections around his face, chest, head, and neck area, where the australian shepard thick lions type mane is truest to sight, I noticed that the b.s. was attaching to the junk causing him to smell so bad- In a binding type fashion.
It took one entire box to cover everything but the groin area, which was probably not soaked in the catfish bait, anyway. It took about 45 minutes to thoroughly cover his fur. After I had finished, I carefully sniffed over his head to see if it was working, and there was only a slight hint of the smell remaining behind his ear, so, I gathered some b.s. that had fallen off of him and repeated the process in that area, and then, I let him outside, where he shook most of the b.s. off immediately..then started running around the yard before shaking again and coming in... Free from the smell of decaying liquid death!!!
Hand Cleaner for Skunked Pets Bob (Hood River, Or) on 12/01/2010
Wash your dog in "go-jo" hand cleaner. The skunk spray is an oil and if you had oil on your hands, you would use a hand cleaner. So... Your dog will smell like an orange for awhile, but that's much better than smelling like skunk.
Tomato Juice for Skunked Dogs Gabie (Carson City, NV) on 06/21/2009
I live on 40 acres of land by a river and there is all sorts of wildlife. So, of course my Australian Cattle Dog puppy is going to try and get every possible thing she can. She's been really into skunks lately and the smell is just awful! The first thing I used was a gallon of tomato juice and let it sit. IT DID NOT WORK! Not only did she smell like skunk, but she also smelled like tomato juice. Yuck! So, the next thing I tried was the 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 qt. of 3% hydrogen peroxide, warm water, and her regular shampoo. That did not work either. Now I am going to add the applejuice vinegar and see what happens. But, I do not recommend the tomato juice idea at all!!
Skunked Pet Remedies Dean (Perry, NY, USA) on 12/03/2008
This is what I put together and it takes the smell out almost completely. It is similar to the 1st treatment listed but with a few added ingredients:1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup of baking soda
1 - 2 teaspoons of liquid soap - preferably Dawn
1 quart apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of powdered OxyClean
1 quart of lukewarm water
Mix all these up together and wash your pet with this making sure they are completely soaked with the solution. Let it stand for about 15 minutes and then rinse them well.
Kim's De-Skunking Remedy for Pets Kim (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) on 09/13/2008
Have you been searching for a quick, easy and above all cheap method of ridding your dog of skunk odor that you havent already tried? Chances are that over the years, you have tried many, if not all, of the products and home remedies available. Most are costly, messy and just irritating to the dog as well as the owner. Washing a stinky, skunked, dog in your bathtub is quite a challenge, even for professionals, but add tomato juice, vinagar, peroxide or chemical products, and you can only expect the worst. I know from experience...I have been grooming dogs for 22 years and discovered this remedy a few years ago. Recently, my own dog was sprayed directly in her face and was in alot of pain. It was 2:30 in the morning and my family was in from out of town... it was no problem though, I knew exactly what to do. After a salt bath, she was back to normal, even sleeping on my bed. I am giving you my trade secret and lifetime of experience...all you have to do is try it. The best part is that it costs practically nothing and works the very first time, without the use of harmful chemicals. There is no need to wash your dog more than once because it washes away all traces of odor.
What I do, is dilute some shampoo by mixing it with water... any kind of shampoo or even dishsoap is fine...but the better it smells, the better the dog will smell. I use an empty milk jug or shampoo bottle from the recycling to make it easy to saturate the coat quickly and thoroughly. I dont measure the shampoo but I would guess about 1/2 cup per gallon...dishsoap is stronger so you can use less, but I dont like the smell it leaves, compared to a good shampoo. I then add a good amount of salt into the diluted shampoo, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup per gallon. I shake well and let it sit for 10 minutes or longer, the longer it sits, the stronger it gets... then I get the dog wet and apply the soap/salt solution, saturating the skin and coat completely. After about 10 minutes, I rinse thoroughly, and the odor is gone. You can adjust the shampoo to make it sudsier or add water to make it less sudsier...dont worry about the mixture...the main thing is that the dog gets a good washing in soapy, salt water. (If the poor dog gets sprayed in the mouth or eyes, just use a little salt water to rinse) Of course, to achieve the best results, always brush and dry the coat thoroughly after the bath.
Listerine for Doggy Odors Lisa (Boonville, Missouri) on 08/31/2008
My dog had a bad odor on him too. My vet told me to spray him down with Listerine. It doesn't harm him, and the smell is gone also! And he gets fresh clean breath after he tries to lick himself! :)
Fresh Rosemary for Skunked Pets Lily (Patterson, Ca) on 07/21/2008
Fresh Rosemary!!! If your pet has been skunked, bath them with shampoo, rinse well. Then get branches of fresh rosemary, bend it into a form of hand brush, and brush the pet all over. The oil from the rosemary removes the skunk smell. It also works well for people. If your car has a skunk smell, put fresh branches of rosemary in car and shut up for a day. And if your cloths have been skunked, put in a sealed bag with fresh rosemary branches for 1 day, then wash.
Jayme (Vancouver, WA) on 09/05/2006
Skunk spray is oil-based. This is the first thing that every dog's person should know. Since it's oil-based, you need a product that will cut the oil. The rescue workers who save the sea animals when there's been an oil spill use Dawn dishwashing detergent. I used to be a dog groomer and can tell you unequivocally that this one does the trick! Make sure you have a "bath puff" (one of those net balls people use in their baths) on hand... Get your dog all wet. Pour a little bit of Dawn onto the bath puff and work up a good lather. Rub that puff all over your dog's body, making certain you get the smelliest spots, and let your dog stand there for 1-5 minutes, depending on how well-mannered your dog is. :) Rinse off, sniff, and repeat if necessary. When you do around their eyes, be careful not to get too close, as this will sting.
Kate (Toronto, Canada) on 09/11/2006
I have three labs who regularly meet the skunk under the pear trees in the fall. I tried tomato juice and store bought remedies but they did a partial job and left a residual odor that recurred every time the dogs got wet. A friend recommended toothpaste. You squeeze a tube into water, mix well and wet them down with it. I left it on for a bit and worked it through before rinsing them off. It worked like a charm and no residual odor.
Jean (Akron, NY) on 08/14/2006
I do not know why it works but it does. Any brand will do. All you have to do is squirt it on your pet, let it set and rinse it off. You may have to repeat but it really does work! Quantity needed depends on size of pet.
Rhonda (Norwich, OH) on 02/26/2007
The hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and liquid soap worked like a dream. I had to do it on 2 different nights, but the smell was gone after that.
Katie (Ames, IA) on 05/02/2007
One of my favorite H2O2 remedies is my homemade toothpaste. I take one part H2O2 and two parts baking soda (the measurements don't really matter, just get a consistency that you like). Stir them into a paste and brush as usual. It's a great fix for bad breath and whitens teeth just as well as those very expensive whitening kits, but with absolutely no pain. Another great recipe is for bad body odor. Take equal parts baking soda, H2O2, and water. Add a bit of dish soap and mix together. Scrub any place that the stink won't wash off. This remedy is great for athletes and sick people. Also works for people who have been skunked (it actually gave me the idea).
Erin (Naperville, IL) on 12/01/2007
My dog has been skunked many times and I've tried lots of remedies over the years. They all worked "okay," but she would still smell kind of skunky for weeks and if she got wet, the skunk odor would become reinvigorated all over again. Over the summer, she got skunked again and I tried a recipe of Dawn dishwashing soap, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. I didn't measure anything, just dumped it in a bucket, added some water and ran outside to bathe her. It worked "okay" again, but was probably the best of all the remedies I'd used up until then. Well, last week, she got skunked again and this time when I mixed up the skunk shampoo, I grabbed my bottle of ACV and poured some into the mixture. What a difference that made! When I was bathing her, I could actually feel her fur become squeaky clean. When she dried, none of us could detect any skunk odor whatsoever and best of all is that her fur is SO soft!
Teesha (Melbourne, Australia) on 01/23/2008
Tomatoe juice in bath water!
"Add a few cups of tomato juice to the bathwater, soak for at least 15 minutes. This is an old, well known remedy for deodorizing pets and people who have been sprayed by a skunk. . . if it works on that odor, any other body odors are a piece of cake." taken from this site: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/deo.html
Kara (Wooster, Ohio) on 01/25/2008
Very early one morning before work, our chocolate lab was sprayed in the face and neck by a skunk! We didn't have much time, but I immediately went to the internet to see if there were some options to use other than tomato juice, which I didn't have in the cupboard. Apple cider vinegar worked immediately and was long-lasting. our vet said Kobe would smell like skunk every time he got wet, but instead, he smelled like ACV! Better than skunk!
