My Dog Got Sprayed By A Skunk
- Image via Wikipedia
Let me tell you about how my dog got sprayed by a skunk and give you a product suggestion to eliminate the skunk odor. This recommendation is from a friend with three dogs.
For the past couple of weeks I have been walking my dog in the evening at about 10pm after dark. I walk around a very large and irregular shaped block of houses and I’ve noticed that a skunk lives in the middle somewhere.
My dog and I have had tree encounters with this neighborhood skunk. I think he is the same critter because he is big and bushy and sort of hangs out in the same general area and until last night seemed kind of tame for a wild skunk.
Two weeks ago, Mike and I were walking Sadie dog down Dorset St. It was very dark and warm outside. We couldn’t see much since there are very few street lights in the middle of the block. We were chatting away when suddenly I could perceive that my dog was quite alert. I knew there was something ahead and then it suddenly dawned on me that maybe that black silhouette of an object with barely visible white streaks was a dreaded skunk!
Yikes. Sadie darted off chasing the animal up the neighbor’s driveway. I was loudly commanding her to “leave it” which usually gets her attention and brings her back quickly. However, she didn’t seem to hear me with all the excitement of chasing that fuzzy animal.
Seeming like forever, but probably only about 15 seconds, she came running back. I was dreading the possibility of skunk smell all over her but I soon realized that there was no odor. Phew, close call. I didn’t smell skunk in the air either. We quickly retreated and went back home.
Several nights later I took the same route, but this time I was on guard, vigilantly looking for the furry attraction. We passed the area of the previous encounter and kept going. However, around the block on Day Street I saw that skunk again. What do they do at night I wonder?
Sadie saw it too and wanted to go over to sniff it. She approached a bit but I called her off. It seemed to me that she should have been sprayed but apparently this skunk likes dogs or something. We managed to get past the skunk this time again clean. I didn’t detect any skunk odor in the air.
After those walks I had visited my friend Dee Dee. We went walking our dogs in her neighborhood. I told her my close encounter skunk stories. She mentioned some product she found that gets rid of skunk odors on pets. She said it works better that any of the home remedies she’s tried. You know, the ones like bathing your dog in tomato juice, or baking soda. I can’t imagine having to pour cans of tomato juice over my dog. Definitely that would be a good time to take you dog to the dog-o-mat.
She says you just spray this stuff on your friendly Fifi and it takes away the odor, no need to bathe her. She said you can apply it again if needed and that in her opinion, it worked better than anything she ever tried. Thanks for the hot tip I told her, promptly forgetting what is was called.
Well last night I took the dog and my husband out for a walk and we weren’t quite so lucky. It was really dark. I saw that skunk very close to the sidewalk, near Day and Cambridge, just a dark outline with the little wisps of white. I’m not sure what happened, but you could really smell skunk in the air. It was a very muggy night.
Sadie went right up to it then backed off quickly. We crossed the street and went around it. I got close to Sadie to smell her and it didn’t seem too bad. Maybe she wasn’t sprayed at all.
On the way home she found a nice damp patch of grass to roll in and was very preoccupied with squirming around on the lawn, so distracted that I couldn’t get her to stop. I guess that she was either trying to wipe the smell off or get it all over herself. Who knows? My dog loves to roll in nasty stuff.
When we returned skunk odor free zone of home I smelled her again. The skunk smell seemed to follow us all the way. I put her inside the house and dashed to the store for milk (also another skunk home remedy). My daughter called to ask why Sadie smelled weird. Not wanting to distress anyone, I just said she rolled in grass, leaving the skunk part out of it.
As I brought in the groceries skunk odor was very noticeable in the kitchen and the rest of the house. Yuck. Well Sadie got to spend the night in her crate. She seemed kind of depressed about it. I don’t think she was happy.
What Is It?
This morning I called Dee Dee to ask what the product was because I needed it. “Skunk Odor Remover” she said. Geez, what a great name for a product! How obvious. It comes in a white bottle with a red label. So I went to Petco to purchase some skunk odor remover but they were all out. Must be popular. So try another pet store and call ahead if you need it. You might want to order some online just to have a bottle on hand.
I looked around for alternatives and found a product called TropiClean and it says it removes skunk odors. It says it is a deodorizer but comes in various scents. Scented odor remover, right. I bought some deodorizing dog shampoo too.
Today is camp at the house and we are too busy to wash the dog right now. I did spray the dog with the TropiClean. I will let you know if any of this works in my next post. Stay away from skunks if you can so you never have to try these products for yourself or your dog.
I just read your skunk post and couldn’t help but cringe! I have heard that Tomato juice works well for Skunk smell removal but that you might need to use a lot of it. Yikes! That’s one problem I haven’t had to deal with.
[...] Here the story: My Dog Was Sprayed By A Skunk [...]
I’ve hear that too. It seems like a lot of trouble. Then you’d need to wash the tomato juice off your dog.