photo credit: Rosa Pomar
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 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 teaspoon of grease cutting dish detergent
The amount differs in the video below; above is what we used.
The fallout of a skunk smell…
Kong Dog Beds
We had to burn the dog beds, because Rodrigo rolled on them trying to get the spray off his face. We started buying Kong, because they’re the only ones he won’t tear up.
No Sleep
We never went back to bed. We finished cleaning up everything by 3:30 in the morning, showered, dressed, and went to work. I was a zombie until noon when I gave up and went back home and gave Rodrigo a third bath.
The Smell
I found a site that recommended bringing Apple Cider Vinegar to a light boil to get rid of the smell in the house. We accidentally got it too hot (damn gas stove), but burnt apple cider vinegar is better than skunk on any day.
2 Months Later
Although the majority of the skunk smell was neutralized, it would still come back if you smelled poor Rigo’s nose – especially after a rain or a bath. What finally seemed to get ride of that faint trace of skunk smell was when Rigo rolled around on a decaying salmon. That did it.
Sydney stayed as far away from the skunk and Rodrigo as possible and managed to avoid the spray. Good girl!
March 27, 2012 at 7:14 am
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.
March 27, 2012 at 8:17 am
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!
Twitter: thefurmom
April 20, 2012 at 6:42 pm
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.
April 21, 2012 at 3:43 pm
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!
Twitter: thefurmom