How to Remove Skunk Smell From Your Dog and Home
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If you’re trying to figure out how to get skunk smell out of your house and how to get rid of skunk smell on your dog, keep reading! By the end of this post, you will have learned how to remove that unpleasant skunk stench from your pooch and your home.
Last year we moved into a house with a nice backyard in a quiet part of town. We loved how just across the street there’s a regional park with trails connecting to other parks spanning miles and miles. The only downside to this home is our neighbor, but it’s not really her that’s the problem! Though she is very nice, she feeds the wild animals that live nearby. This has resulted in squirrels, opossums, skunks (and probably a lot of other animals we haven’t seen) frequenting her yard and are now dependent on her. These critters seem to be living in her yard and have found ways to our yard through the fence we share. Within 6 months of living here Daisy has had two interactions with skunks, and they both ended in Daisy getting sprayed!
The first time it happened was very unexpected; I never had this happen before to one of my dogs so I was unsure of what to do! I had heard old stories of using tomato juice. No, it can’t be… luckily Google came to the rescue! I was able to order all of the items on Target.com and pick up in the store about 30 minutes afterward. This saved me a lot of time by not having to walk in the store to hunt all of these items down.
The best part about this skunk odor neutralizer mixture is that many people own many of these items already, versus having to run to the store to buy a skunk odor remover. This is especially beneficial because you want to try and remove the smell from your dog soon after it happens. After our two skunk interactions, we now make sure to always keep these products on hand! If your dog was sprayed by a skunk, use the below recipe to create your own “skunk shampoo”!
De-Skunking Your Dog
You will need:
- Rubber gloves
- 32-ounce spray bottle
- 1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap
*If you have a large dog, you may need to double the recipe. If you double the recipe you may need a bucket instead of a spray bottle to mix the ingredients in.
Mix the hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dishwashing soap into the spray bottle. Spray onto your dog and rub it into their fur. Rinse off the mixture with water and dry your dog with a towel.
NOTE:
- If your dog was sprayed by a skunk in the face, be careful to not get any of the mixture in their eyes.
- Do not get any mixture in any cuts or scrapes, and do not leave it on their fur for more than a couple of minutes. The hydrogen peroxide could bleach their coat and sting them.
- Do not put water on your dog’s fur prior to the mixture as it will be much less effective in neutralizing the smell.
- Keep in mind that you can always mix more if you need it, but do not make a large batch and expect to store it. This mixture can explode if left in a bottle. It is best to just keep these products on hand separately for this reason as well as their multi-functional use!
Immediately after getting sprayed, Daisy decided to run inside and roll on the carpet and her dog bed immediately after getting sprayed. If you are looking for how to get skunk smell in your house, I recommend the following products:
De-Skunking Your House
Place bowls of white vinegar around the house to absorb the skunk smell. Also spray Febreze around the house as needed. I like the two Febreze’s mentioned above because they have 2x the odor-eliminating power when compared to the normal Febreze sprays. These products are made to clean odors away, not just mask it; this is important because you don’t want your house smelling like a mix of skunk and flowers! I used the Febreze Fabric Refresher for items like the dog bed, rug and the couches in the living room, and the Febreze Air Freshener to spray around the house.
Depending on how badly your dog was sprayed, how potent the smell is, and how long the smell has been setting in your dog’s fur will depend on how many times you may need to repeat the above directions. You may also not be able to get rid of the entire skunk smell out of your house and on your dog, but following the above will definitely help make the smell less potent. Good luck!
Here are all of the items, on Amazon:
If you are in a rush, you can click the below links and purchase online and Target, and then pick up in store:
This homemade skunk smell remover is an easy recipe to make to remove skunk odor and it really works! It uses common ingredients all of us have on hand! Homemade Skunk Smell Remover …that REALLY works!!!!
Thank you Patricia! I agree, it works well with common ingredients most people usually have in their home already!
Excellent write-up. I definitely appreciate this site.
Stick with it!
Thank you very much Maribel!