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This blog post was originally published in 2012. It has been updated with new information and republished in 2019.
I grew up in the city. The animals I see regularly today, were creatures in books and on television when I grew up. Deer, skunks, coyotes, snakes, and moles – oh my! When we brought home Rodrigo and Sydney, it never occurred to me that we'd have to know how to get the skunk smell out of their coats. The first year that we had puppies, we received a crash course in how to bathe our dogs after they've been skunked.
My First Experience with Skunks
It was a little after 1 in the morning when Johan bounded out of bed, raising the roof with foul language. I woke up and as I was saying “what's going on?” The smell hit me. My brain hadn't woken up yet and I couldn't place the foul smell, but it was familiar. Then Johan asked the million dollar question “did those dogs bring a skunk in the house?”
I froze, then I bolted into action. We became a well-oiled machine. Johan went directly to the garage (the dogs had access to doggy doors out to the dog yard) and I booted up the computer. By the time he reported that Rodrigo had been sprayed by a skunk, I had the recipe.
Homemade Skunk Smell Removal Shampoo
- 1 quart of hydrogen peroxide
- 1/4 cup of baking soda
- 1 tsp of grease cutting dish detergent (we use Dawn)
I ran out to Safeway, a local 24-hour grocery store, to pick up the ingredients, mixed everything together in a bucket, and crawled in the shower with the bucket and Rodrigo. I bathed Rodrigo with the mixture several times and it cut down on the skunk smell drastically with very little mess (thinking about the tomato sauce). We used the same mixture to wash our clothing, the dogs' bedding, and to clean the floors.
It May Take Several Baths
The shampoo blend took a bite out of the smell, but it didn't all go away. Rodrigo got a blast of the skunk smell when he met his first skunk. The second time he took that blast in the fast when he woke a skunk up early one morning. So I bathed Rodrigo several times over the next month or so until the smell eventually faded away.
I'm happy to say that the third time he saw a skunk, he turned and ran away. But Scout and Zoey took a hit because they didn't know any better. Through all of these experiences with skunks, Sydney has been our only dog with the sense to leave the black and white kitty alone.
Warning About this DIY Skunk Treatment
Don't get the skunk shampoo mixture in or near your dog's eyes, nose, or mouth. The second time Rodrigo was skunked, he got it mostly in the face. I used the mixture on the rest of his body and for his face, I used Dawn alone. I still avoided his eyes (which were red), his mouth and nose. The Dawn broke up the oily skunk stuff and we just had to deal with the smell a bit longer.
I also called his vet to confirm that he was okay given the straight shot to his eyes. Rodrigo was fine, however, if your dog has this experience, I recommend calling the vet because every dog is different.
That’s a great question, Kristy
My dogs didn’t return to the scene of the crime, but it did take them a few times before they recognized what a skunk was and ran the other way.
So I’m working on getting the smell out of my poor dog but my yard still smells like skunk. Is it safe to let them back in the yard or will they go straight to the area that smells?
Yes, I did let him in. What I did was use a washcloth, soaked it in the mixture and then gently washed his nose a couple times a day. The smell on his nose stayed around the longest, but I figured that if it was terrible for me, it must be a nightmare for him, because his sense of smell is so much stronger. Good luck!
Soo our dog got sprayed
she’s better now other than the snout. Question. ..did you let Rodrigo in the how despite the smelly snout? We have had our Katie confined but it’s heartbreaking
Thank heavens I was able to get the dogs in the house. Rodrigo has been sprayed 2x, 2 years ago it was in the face. I think he remembered, because it’s hard to call him off a hunt, but he came running inside when I called. The puppies followed him. The smell was STRONG outside – eye burning strong – so they must have startled the skunk and it took off while spraying. The dogs were in their yard and the skunk outside – so no chance of a fight, but that would be so scary.
So glad your dogs are okay. I know what you mean about the smell. We’re able to get most of it, but Rodrigo always has a hint of it for at least a month.
Skunks are the worst! My last dog, Howie, got in a fight with a skunk and one of our two dogs recently got into it with a skunk. Poor thing got sprayed in the face. Did you know you can help rinse the skunk spray out your dogs eyes with saline solution? Like you wrote in your article, we made a similar solution. For both dogs who got sprayed it took about a weeks worth of baths to rid them of the awful smell. We threw out beds. We boiled vinegar water several times a day for several days in a row to help rid our house of the smell. We dread this happening again. At least we are now prepared by keeping all the necessary supplies in the house so we don’t have to do a late night run to a grocery store.
Thanks so much for stopping by; I absolutely love that I found that recipe for our dogs. That smell was awful and pulled us out of a sleep. It was awful!
Our dogs were both sprayed in February at 5:30 a.m. What a nightmare. I bought a skunk remover shampoo from the pet store. We gave them at least three baths each, but could still smell skunk on them for at least another month. Afterwards I talked to a vet tech who works for a pet eye surgeon.She said the doctor always recommends a grease cutting dish soap like Palmolive diluted with water and to be very careful not to get anything in their eyes. Your recipe is along the same line.
Our house was another matter. I could have used the apple cider tip. We washed walls and threw out rugs. Washed many loads of laundry. Of course we had let the dogs in and they ran around the house before we realized what the horrible smell was. We could still smell skunk in the house for at least two weeks.
I’m telling DH about this post and he is saying, “That was bad, a horrible experience, I never want to go thru that again… I hope not too.
Thanks for sharing! I was so happy that when I Googled this at 1 or 2 in the morning (whenever it was) that this is the recipe that came up. It really works. Rodrigo still smelled like skunk on his nose if you pressed your nose to him for about a month, but he probably was sick of us doing that – it was funny for us. Stupid humans.
LOL
Thanks for stopping by!
I don’t have a dog but my sister had a similar experience with her dog except her son carried the dog into the house screaming he got sprayed. So she had a dog and a boy to de-scent. I’ll have to send her this link.