What a strange and smelly night we had this summer. After a long day of work, pop pop and I drove out to one of our favorite spots to run the dogs. ⁣
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Ivy took off after something, started barking, and immediately raced back to us. It was as if someone had set off a stink bomb in the air. Winston raced to her and crazily started rolling on the ground, kicking his feet up, wagging his tail as if he had smelled the greatest smell on earth. ⁣
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I bent down to smell Ivy and started coughing. SKUNK! Our dog had been sprayed by a skunk most likely in the face. Her head smelled the worst! ⁣
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As this is the first time we’ve dealt with this, I’ll use it as an educational moment for us all. The first step when your dog is sprayed is don’t let them get wet. It greatly intensifies the odor. Oops! Ivy immediately went pond swimming. ⁣
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And for my non-American followers without skunks who are curious about the smell, I’d say it is a mix between rotten eggs, onions, and something dead? ⁣
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We let the dogs finish romping and drove her back home. Luckily I have a washable seat cover in my car. We rolled all four of the windows down but as soon as Ivy’s adrenaline slowed and the smell consumed her, she started gagging and coughing. ⁣
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We went to the store and bought hydrogen peroxide, blue Dawn dish soap, and baking soda. From research, I’ve learned tomato juice only masks the smell without eliminating it. ⁣
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Here’s a recipe to eliminate skunk smell on your dog:⁣
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Mix together:⁣
1 quart of hydrogen peroxide⁣
1/4 cup baking soda⁣
1 teaspoon Dawn dish soap⁣
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Wear rubber gloves (or like me wear zip lock baggies on your hands if you don’t have gloves at home). Without wetting the dog with water first, cover and lather the dog with the concoction. Be careful not to get it in their eyes. Then rise thoroughly. You’ll need to repeat this over again. Next use pet shampoo, give a second bath and then use the concoction again and rinse.
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The skunk smell on your dog won’t have vanished by the end of the bath but it’ll help. Some sites warn us 14-21 days, maybe longer! We gave a second bath the following day using the same concoction. The smell lasted for a couple weeks on area’s of her head.
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If this has happened to your pup, we would love to hear your experience! How long did it take for the smell to go? What products or ingredients did you use?

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