Comments on: How to Wash a Skunked Dog

By: Cyn

Cyn — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:59:37 +0000

It was 3:30am, I was up to study for a final. Let my Viszla hunting dog out for morning run. Reached for my first cup of coffee … when I heard the barking yelp. GREAT.

Opening the back door there was no question what happened. Good thing he had his reflector coat on which took most the brunt. But NO tomato juice! I am so not awake for this. I reached out for another solution. Thanks for the Dawn/baking soda/peroxide tip. This is tough b/c of course they always get skunk in the snout and eyes. I flushed those areas good. It is then doable to keep those areas protected from solution.

I finished with a conditioning dog/horse shampoo and set him up by the woodstove to dry. Wish I could deSkunk the backyard with that solution! Now, back to my studies without too too much delay.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:16:44 +0000

MY cairn terrier Thatcher was outside at 11:00 pm. I went to bring him in and smelled skunk. He came flying in the door, ran all around the house, threw up on 3 places, then pooped in the bedroom. Then he hid under the bed. I hurried over to the computer to seek help. I mixed peroxide, baking soda and detergent. Down to the basement tub we went. My peroxide was very old and no foaming occurred. I’ll find out tomorrow if it works. My house still stinks. I went outside with a flashlight and found a skunk in the window well. Now I need to find out how to rid my yard of skunks.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:51:54 +0000

My shepherd had a hatred for skunks. I have found that tomato juice works only if you leave it on for an hour or more then follow up with a herbal essence type shampoo.

In lieu of tomato juice, Real Lemon concentrate works great.

By: JR

JR — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:04:55 +0000

Over the years I’ve tried many different home remedies and “bought” products, but have found that using Off Insect Repellent neutralizes the skunk smell better than anything else, including Organic neutralizers used for kennel smells.

P.S. Tomato juice does practically nothing.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:33:56 +0000

Many years ago we would use tomato juice to cut the skunk smell on a dog, kid or clothes. It requires quite a bit of tomato juice but it works.

By: Martha

Martha — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:34:35 +0000

I rescued a skunk that my 2 dogs had attacked. My beagle got the direct hit in the chest, but we all got “skunked.” Then, being me, I rushed the dogs inside the house before they could go after the skunk again-NOT a good idea. I have bathed all 3 of us in the peroxide, soda, soap recipe, vinegar, tomato juice and plain dish soap. I’ve also cleaned walls, floors, furniture, rugs, dog beds, my bed with the peroxide recipe, vinegar, OxiClean, ammonia and greased lightning-not all at the same time. we all still smell like skunk and we’re all exhausted. HELP!!!!

By: Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:49:50 +0000

I have worked as a professional dog groomer for years and have seen this forever we use douche to rinse the dog in and it works like a charm.

By: Holli

Holli — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:38:04 +0000

Is it okay if a dogs gets skunked in the face?

By: Jordan

Jordan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:00:11 +0000

I have two small white dogs I wash them often with white dog shampoo, but they are always stained from dirt/mud/and rolling in other dogs urine and poop. What can I use to get my dogs white fur clean and stain free again?

By: Cortni

Cortni — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:10:27 +0000

Last night my big dog got skunked in the face. All the hydrogen peroxide in my house had lost its bubbles (old) and so we wound up using about half as much cider vinegar with water, baking soda and some liquid hand soap. This seemed to work well enough.

By: Margaret108

Margaret108 — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:53:31 +0000

I used the hydrogen peroxide mixture on our dog when he got “skunked” and it worked very well. It was quick and easy to prepare and caused no skin problems.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:13:35 +0000

I’ve used the baking-soda-peroxide solution several times, it’s not perfect because my dog gets sprayed right in the licker and I have to keep the stuff out of her eyes. Clean the stink up FAST, don’t let it cure.

By: John

John — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:53:46 +0000

I’ve had two dogs sprayed by skunks. The first attempt was a disaster – multiple attempts at cleaning/deodorizing before the smell was removed. While I was doing this, my wife had to go to work and unfortunately brought along a bit of the odor with her. A co-worker has a spouse that was a veterinarian and it was suggested that we use feminine hygiene product – douche. Of course the next time the dog “got it”, I went to the store and purchase a bottle of concentrated product (along with assorted snickers and stares). I mixed up enough to make approximately one gallon and sponged it on the dog, allowing it to soak for several minutes. Worked like a dream!! No smell what-so-ever and a soft coat as well.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:53:59 +0000

One of our huskies in particular, often came home reeking of skunk. I always kept several large boxes of baking soda on hand for that reason. Outside I’d literally dump the baking soda all over and would then leave him for about 1 hour before brushing out his fur. Most of the smell would have been absorbed and neutralized by the baking soda. Repeat if necessary, this time you can get close enough to rub some of the baking soda in his fur. Leave for awhile and then brush out again.

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:45:18 +0000

We have had a skunk problem this year in our back yard. We live in a city subdivision but there are some woods around in the area. Both of our dogs have been sprayed. The first time our rat terrier was sprayed we didn’t realize it but she smelled bad. She was just bathed with dog shampoo and that got rid of most of it. Then our neighbor told us about their beagle being sprayed and she found the peroxide remedy. I soon remembered to get a big bottle of peroxide to have on hand to use for cleaning, there are many uses for it as well. Soon our mixed breed terrier got sprayed and I happen to see it happen so out came the peroxide, baking soda, shampoo/dish soap and we set to work on him. The only part of him that had a lingering skunk smell was his nose but it was not really bad. We did let him in the house and we got the skunk smell in the house for a few days. Again last night at 11:30, I let the rat terrier out as she kept letting me know she needed to go out. Well she was running around the yard like she was in pursuit of something but I did not realize what she saw. When She finally came in I realized she had been sprayed again. I got the peroxide remedy together and gave her a bath. It seemed to take care of the smell right away. The smell that we get in the air is not the same smell that is on the dogs when they are sprayed. I did read about another remedy which is to bathe with Apple Cider Vinegar. I have a bottle of that on hand as well.

By: K.G.

K.G. — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:44:11 +0000

Our dog got skunked a while back, and we used the baking soda, peroxide, and dish detergent. The tomato juice just doesn’t cut it on the dog fur. Before washing her we also soaked her down in mint mouthwash another tip we found online and you let that sit for about 30 min then do the mixture mentioned above and there was no more skunk smell!

By: B.J. Fleming

B.J. Fleming — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:01:08 +0000

When my son was a little boy he decided he wanted to play with a cute little skunk. Well, of course the critter sprayed him good and my son came running home to Momma. I stripped him down (outdoors, of course)and washed him all over with plain old tomato juice. That’s how you get rid of the skunk smell, folks! The clothes? Well, they were history.

By: Walter

Walter — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:51:00 +0000

The last time our St. Bernard found a skunk we threw away the “skunk-off” stuff and went to Simple Green. It worked very well. Not knowing the length of “sudsy” time or skin issues we dove in and washed and soaked for ~30 min. During the bath time the topic of conversation was how long and what if she has a skin reaction… Well it turned out fine. After drying there was a slight smell of skunk, but I think that was from me making contact before the bath. Give it a try. We used it full strength.