Our Dog Got Sprayed By a Skunk – Now What?
If you ever have your dog come running around the corner, and all you can smell is burnt tires… I am telling you now: Your furbaby did NOT just jump into a steaming pile of tires! (Maybe he did, but it’s doubtful) In fact, your fluffy little love may have been sprayed by a skunk!
I learned this the hard way. I always thought that when you smell a skunk, that’s just what your dog would smell like if they got sprayed. When my Border Collie Lab, playful loving puppy came out of nowhere one night smelling strongly of burnt tires. I was lost! I actually went in the house to give her a bath and left her in the bathroom for a few mins with the door closed as I prepared.
What happened next, I was NOT in anyway prepared for. I came back in the house after tieing up some loose ends and the entire house just smelled to high heck of disgusting, musty, burnt tires .When I opened the bathroom door, I nearly passed out. This is when I realized, She did NOT just roll in something.
So, off to the internet I went and I found what I have always been afraid of with Dogs. My little love had been sprayed by a skunk. The stench was AWFUL.
What Worked for Us:
We used about 5 cans of condensed tomato soup. We made a paste of the tomato soup with a little water and literally pasted it all over her body. Being careful of her eyes and ears, we caked her in tomato soup. Then, we let it sit and soak. We let it soak on for a while and then sprayed it off with the hose. We repeated this process several times until all 5 cans of tomato soup were gone.
It worked! She didn’t smell hardly at all. Maybe a little hint, but you had to really smell her! Really who sniffs their dog vigorously anyways? Don’t answer that.
What NOT to do:
DO NOT give your dog a bath in the house to try and get rid of the smell. I am telling you right now, that bathroom smelled longer than my dog did. In fact, for a while, everytime the bathroom got wet, it STUNK. I had cleaned it with cleaners and sprayed it with air freshener from top to bottom a million times, and it STILL stunk when you had a hot shower.
Try not to get your dog wet for a while after having cleaned her, this can bring the smell back up.
DO NOT panic. It doesn’t help anything.
Has Your Dog Ever Been Sprayed by a Skunk? What Worked for You?
This is a doubtful pleasure that I have never had, but now I know what tomato soup is good for…other than eating, I mean. Skunks are so incredibly cute…too bad they come with a stink generator!
OMGosh – I am sooooooooooo grateful that this hasn’t happened to any of our dogs. I’ve smelled fresh skunk and it’s nauseating to say the least. I’m glad to know that the tomato bath really works!
I have a black lab that has gotten sprayed a few times we live in the country and it is just one of those unfortunate things that just happens I have used tomato sauce in the past but using tomato soup makes since being thicker I will have to try it next time
Thanks for giving us the benefit of your nasty experience! I’m going to tuck this advice away in case my daughter’s dogs get sprayed. I have seen skunks in our neighbourhood too!