De-skunking a dog

Last night around 2am my dog was sprayed by a skunk. Again.

She’s a ten pound mini rat terrier, but she seems to think it’s a good idea to go after an animal that’s not only bigger than her, but has some pretty serious defenses. At least cleanup this time was faster, since I know what I’m doing now.

Skunk spray is a yellow, sticky oil. If you have a light colored dog, you’ll be able to see exactly where it sprayed. If your dog has long fur, you might find it easier to just cut it back so you have less to clean.

Mix equal parts baking soda, peroxide, and liquid dishwasher detergent in a bowl. Don’t worry about exact measurements, just dump about the same amount of each into your bowl. With your hands, scrub the mixture into your dog’s fur where the spray is at. Rinse it, and repeat. And repeat, and repeat, until you can’t smell the spray any more.

Don’t let your dog touch any fabrics you care about. The spray transfers easily from the fur to fabrics and is nearly impossible to get out. The shirt I was wearing the first time I cleaned up my dog had to be thrown away despite a dozen washings and scrubbings with the baking soda mixture. No matter what I did there was still a faint scent of skunk.