(Thanks, Phoebe, for that amazing song, "Smelly Cat." Who doesn't love Friends?)
So, my dog got skunked recently. No biggie, right? Many of my friends' dogs have gotten sprayed too, so it's kind of a regular thing. In our area there are so many skunks that the village will pay you back half of the cost of trapping them. It's crazy. And smelly. When the hubs brought the pooch home after their early morning walk, I could not believe how potent he was (just to clarify - "he" is the dog). Now, I have a sensitive nose, but this was way over the top. The stench was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was like burnt rubber. Like a car on fire. But worse. And you can't get away from it. The hubby took full responsibility for this beastly encounter, and washed the dog first in vinegar then with dog shampoo. We all went on our merry way for the day, but the nagging feeling was that the dog was still gonna stink. Yup. He did. Round 2 began with some online research that hinted at a few diy de-skunking protocols using science to breakdown the sulfur based, oily skunk spray. Tomato juice and vinegar just cover up the stink rather than remove the smell. True that. This is what we did and it really worked. No expensive products from the pet store. No pricey trip to the groomer. Just stuff we had at home. Easy peasy.
1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 3%
1/4 c baking soda
1 tsp liquid soap - we used Thieves Dish Soap, but Castile soap would be good too
3 drops of Purification or Lemon Essential Oil
Mix it all together - it will foam up, so be ready - and spread all over your furry pupper. You may need to do this a couple times to really get the stink out. Then, follow with a bath using Animal Scents Shampoo.
I also ran the diffuser with 8 drops of Purification (P) all day in the main living room. A smaller diffuser with P was running in the room outside of the bathroom where the dog bathing occurred. I spayed the dog bed down liberally with a mix of water and P and left it in the garage to air out. After all this work, I'm happy to report that the dog was huggable again. There was some limited funk still lingering on his snout, but I sprayed my hands with the water & P mixture and then petted his face. Nice. Lesson learned: no off leash dogs when it's still dark out.
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