Country dogs are by far the happiest dogs. Dogs take pride in protecting your other animals and maybe even helping to herd them. They will take their status as guard and protector seriously, and if you’ve got small animals that wild prey would very much like to eat, like rabbits or chickens, dogs will surely keep these predators at bay.
Unfortunately, sometimes dogs will try to keep a skunk away and get sprayed. We still appreciate their duties as skunks can be predators too, but the skunk’s natural defense system,a putrid-smelling veil of wid-reaching spray, can be very unpleasant and difficult to get rid of.
Fortunately, there is a surefire method for deodorizing a skunk-sprayed pooch. The classic method is a tomato juice bath, and this can definitely help, especially if you’d like to go a more natural route.
The following recipe is still very non-toxic, depending on what ingredients you use. It is a scrub made of simply baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. If you use eco-friendly, non-toxic dish soap, it is still very effective and perfectly natural. However, if you need a little extra power, blue Dawn dish soap works wonders.
A quick note on blue Dawn: If you keep one non-natural cleaning product in your home, it should be blue Dawn dish soap. It’s a powerful de-greaser, so this is useful not just for skunk spray, but also if you spill petroleum products on your clothes or hands. There’s definitely a reason they brag that it’s used for oil spill clean-ups.
So, in the case of dog deskunking, the choice of soap is entirely up to you, but you and your dog might really appreciate the extra effectiveness of Dawn soap.
What You Need:
- Dishsoap
- Baking soda
- Hydrogen peroxide
What You Do:
- Combine the ingredients in an open container
- Put your dog in the bathing area, either a bath or outside by the hose (if its warm enough)
- Without wetting the dog, spread the mixture all over him or her, from their collar to their tail. Apply to the head very carefully, avoiding the eyes as the hydrogen peroxide can burn them
- Rinse thoroughly. Smell the dog and repeat above process as needed
- Rince one or two more times, then shampoo with a pH-balanced dog shampoo
Remember, removing skunk smell can be quite unpleasant, but having skunks kill your chickens would be worse, so make sure to let your dog know how much you appreciate his loyal protection of your homestead.
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