A few years ago, one of our three Dachshunds was sprayed by a skunk while we were on one of our favorite walks. I'll never forget the agony Scooter, my wife and I went through trying to get rid of the stinky odor. We tried washing him in tomato juice, dog shampoo, a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid and a few other things. Nothing worked.
By the sixth or seventh washing, he was whimpering from having spent so much time in our shower, and because the acid in the tomato juice stung his delicate paw pads. Scooter, who is a sweet, laid-back dog, clearly didn't like the smell, but he hated the repeated washings even more.
Worse still, we were supposed to drive from the Bay Area to Los Angeles the next day, with dogs in the car. We made the long trip, but our eyes were watering from the lingering skunk residue that stubbornly remained on poor Scooter.
The foul odor didn't leave him - or my wife's car - for some time.
That's why I had to pause when I saw a story on ChicagoTribune.com about what to do if your dog gets skunked. It's worth a read if you live near areas where skunks roam, but here are a few highlights:
1. If you dog gets squirted, leave him outside. You definitely don't want the smell inside your house or on your furniture.
2. Water won't remove the stink, nor will tomato juice.
3. The best way to get rid of the smell is just to give it time, said Francine Barnes, owner of Carriage Hill Kennels in Glenview, Ill.
The story includes a homemade anti-skunk rinse that includes hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and liquid dish soap that you mix and apply to your dog while he's dry. There's a similar remedy on the Dogtime site. Read it - with spring here, it could come in handy.
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