How to De-Skunk a Dog: I’ve Been Doing It All Wrong

Ah, the promise of springtime, coming soon to a neighborhood near me. Cherry blossoms bloom on the trees and their petals fall like snow. Bright green grass covers the hills. Birds sing cheerful melodies as the days get longer. And skunk smells permeate the neighborhood regularly as these animals enjoy springtime. They scamper around, chase after mates, and stink up the area with their spray.

If you let your dog run freely in my neighborhood in the evenings or early mornings, it’s not a matter of “if”, but “when”. Dogs surprise skunks, which are about the size of a cat. The skunks roam these streets at night, finding bits of garbage, bugs and grubs from peoples’ gardens, and probably a few birds eggs in the coming months. When they feel threatened, they spray as a defense against attackers.

Here is a video showing exactly what happens. It’s a great defense mechanism against predators:

And the poor dogs are covered in an overpowering odor that seems IMPOSSIBLE to eliminate. You can wash them and bathe them and shower them. You can shampoo those dogs or shave their hair.

Whatever you do, your house is guaranteed to smell like a skunk for days after a dog gets sprayed by a skunk. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to eliminate that smell.

Or is it?

Tomato Juice

For decades, tomato juice was the popular folk remedy to alleviate skunk odor. The method is simple: Wash the dog in tomato juice and it smells a lot better. As a kid, I remember my parents telling stories about washing dogs in tomato juice. Many dog owners kept some spare tomato juice in their pantries just for the occasion.

And then one rainy night when I was about 6 years old, our family dog went out to do her business before bed and encountered a skunk. She went after the skunk and took a direct hit of skunk spray. The scent was so strong that my eyes watered when I stood near the dog.

But a search of the pantry came up empty. No tomato juice. We’d gotten lazy. Fortunately, my father found a six-pack of V8 juice with tiny cans. If you’ve never had V8 juice, it’s a mixture of tomato, carrot, celery, and several other vegetables all juiced into one small can (along with way too much salt).

Source: Campbell's Soup Company.

Also in the pantry were several industrial-sized tins of chunky tomato sauce.

My parents bathed the dog and brought in the weaponry. First, the V8 juice came out. The cans were tiny and the emptied six-pack of them probably only covered this dog’s neck. She was a large, furry retriever. Then, in the rain outside the house (because no one wanted a skunky dog in the bathtub), the tomato sauce came next. My parents poured canned tomatoes all over the dog, mashing chunks of tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions into her fur.

She smelled a little better, but still pretty skunky. It took days for the smell to dissipate completely.

A skunked dog getting the tomato juice treatment. Source: Creative Commons via Flickr by Oakley Originals.

Don’t Use Tomato Juice

Unfortunately, modern science tells us that this home folk remedy does not work. The best tomato juice can do is mask the smell temporarily. And it does so by playing a trick on our noses.

Tomato juice does NOT remove skunk smell.

When an intense odor (such as skunk spray) is all around you and you continue breathing it for a while, your sense of smell gets what’s known as olfactory fatigue. That means that your nose and mind will be influenced easily by another smell that comes along. The smell of tomato juice does just that: it pulls you in and allows you to ignore the saturation of skunk smell.

A Better Remedy

Mixing hydrogen peroxide and baking soda will create a far more effective solution to tackle the odor of skunk spray, per a recipe by chemist Paul Krebaum. Also, mix in a little liquid soap to help it clean.

Here is the recipe:

1 quart (or liter) of hydrogen peroxide
One quarter (1/4) cup baking soda
1 teaspoon liquid soap

Mix together and spread over your dog’s fur, avoiding contact with eyes, nose, and other sensitive regions of the body. As you mix it, the solution will be actively foaming, so mix it near your dog. Try to keep it on the fur for at least 5 minutes before rinsing. Rinse thoroughly with water so that dog does not lick this solution from his/her fur. It’s not toxic, but you don’t want them eating it and getting sick.

I hope your dog doesn’t get skunked, but if it does, keep these basic ingredients in your home so you can brew up a batch. Or you can order a bottle of skunk junk and keep it handy; it's good but not as effective as the foaming recipe.

Skunk spray remover. Source: Creative Commons via Flickr by Mike Mozart.

Sources:
Early story on Krebaum’s recipe: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-11-25/news/9411250251_1_common-striped-skunk-skunk-spray-smell
Village Veterinary’s Guide: https://www.villageveterinary.com/de-skunking/
Don’t Grab the Tomato Juice: http://blog.theanimalrescuesite.com/skunk-tips-for-dogs/

Top photo: Creative Commons from birdphotos.com . Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide photo from greenideareviews.com.