Crap, Crap, Crap

[BRBMOMMA]

So for the past couple Weeks we have been smelling some FIERCE skunk around our Neighborhood. Then about a week ago dustin and some neighbors and I were sitting outside and saw the skunk under our neighbors car then dustin went to get his air rifle to kill it... If you didn't know... those things are FAST so he couldn't get it. Now tonight (a matter of mins ago) dustin went to get the dog in and after shadow (our black lab) came up the steps dustin comes in and says that the dog got sprayed. CRAP CRAP CRAP now I have a skunked dog and if that was not enough, dustin was walking around the back yard to try and find the culprit to well "extinguish his flame" he stepped in a dog mine. WOW what a crappy night! Any who... does anybody know a GOOD way to rid a dog of the horrible skunk odor?

[singlebambi]

Originally Posted by BRBMOMMA

So for the past couple Weeks we have been smelling some FIERCE skunk around our Neighborhood. Then about a week ago dustin and some neighbors and I were sitting outside and saw the skunk under our neighbors car then dustin went to get his air rifle to kill it... If you didn't know... those things are FAST so he couldn't get it. Now tonight (a matter of mins ago) dustin went to get the dog in and after shadow (our black lab) came up the steps dustin comes in and says that the dog got sprayed. CRAP CRAP CRAP now I have a skunked dog and if that was not enough, dustin was walking around the back yard to try and find the culprit to well "extinguish his flame" he stepped in a dog mine. WOW what a crappy night! Any who... does anybody know a GOOD way to rid a dog of the horrible skunk odor?

Lots of crushed tomatoes or Juice. At least thats what the used on Old Yellar. I dont know of anything else. Good luck. I bet that poor dog won't snif another skunks butt.

[Allysen]

Nature's Miracle makes a really spot-on skunk smell remover, it rocks! Might be hard to get on short notice, though...

Everybody always says tomato juice, but I've never had first hand experience with it. Good luck!

[BRBMOMMA]

Yeah I have never had good experience with tomato anything either, tried it on my parents dog and then he just smelt like a skunky tomato lol.

[Icicle]

Mythbusters had episode about that at one time, never paid that much attention to it.

Sorry that was my helpfull idea.
Good luck

[Cameron...G]

Even though the skunk shouldn't be there, don't kill it! Call animal control and see what they can do. They usualy put out traps and release it far from town. It is a skunk but It doesn't need to die because of it!
As for the smell on the dog Tomato sauce does work!! Where I'm from FlaggStaff Az skunks are everywhere and my mom said her dogs were sprayed all the time and they would use tomato sauce.

[stu]

Just leave him outside. He'll eventually roll around in enough doo doo to cover up the skunk smell

[LukaTisus]

A friend of ours had a dog that would be guaranteed to get sprayed at least once a summer..

Apparently, they used Vagisal to get the skunk-smell out, no lie. I gave them the wierdest look when they told me that, but luckily my dog's smart enough to steer clear of the little stinkers, so I've never had to test that theory out.

Just a suggestion amidst everything else, and something to try if the tomato juice doesn't work.

[Xeikeness]

You won't believe me, but...

Vinegar.

Tomato sauce does absolutely nothing besides "kind of" mask the smell. One of Jennyr's favorite things to do is kill skunks, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count all the times he's been sprayed in the pursuit of stinky, stripey happiness.

Get a couple gallons of Vinegar from Walmart or Costco or wherever, and douse your dog in it. Practically pickle your dog.

Then rinse it all off in the shower, mix up a bottle of water with a tablespoon or three of vanilla in it, and douse the dog with that. Then, rinse him again. He'll still have a "kind of" skunky smell, but it won't be NEARLY as bad as it was. I'd say it makes it at least 70% better.

Now for the sciencey part: Why does this work?

Skunk spray is actually a fluid produced by a skunk's anal glands. (disgusting, right? Your dog has those glands too, and can even release these glands for a similarly vile smell) This fluid is, on the pH scale, a base.

Vinegar is an acid of a similar degree. So when you mix the vinegar with the skunk oil, they cancel each other out. Because you're using far more vinegar than there is skunk oil on the dog, working the vinegar in to every part of the dog, and really scrubbing it in to remove the oil, your dog will smell more like a pickle than a skunk.

Now - why the vanilla?

Because after you rinse and rinse and rinse all the vinegar out of your dog's coat, he'll still smell like vinegar. I don't know about you, but I don't like cuddling with pickles. SO!

The vanilla helps to cover up that pickle-y smell. Also - vanilla is a base, so it does a pretty good job of it, too. ^.~

[BRBMOMMA]

lol thanks stu... and we did call animal controll but we would have to pay for them to come and set traps for the skunks. I am not paying for that... sorry, any ways thanks for the help... but I need to know, tomato Juice, Sauce, or Tomatos? which one?