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?