If your dog has ever been sprayed by a skunk, you know first hand how god awful the smell is and you’ve likely frantically googled “how to get skunk smell off your dog” and come up with a series of old wives’ tales that simply don’t work. Buster has been skunked three times in his six years and the most recent was last night when we arrived home from vacation. The best part? I was also skunked and I used the same formula to get the skunk smell off Buster for myself. Don’t waste your time with tomato juice that will only stain your dog’s fur – my recipe is guaranteed to get the skunk smell off your dog.
If your dog’s eyes got burned from the nasty skunk oil, you should head to the vet. Otherwise, proceed with carefully applying my recipe, which will cut through non-water soluble skunk stench. Plain old soap and water simply will not cut it (neither will Coke or any number of crazy things I’ve read online).
How to get skunk smell off your dog – guaranteed
Ingredients
- Pour one quart (the entire 946 mL container) of hydrogen peroxide into a large plastic bowl (do not use a metal bowl, which can encourage a chemical reaction)
- Add 2 tablespoons of Dawn dish soap (yes, I’m encouraging you to use chemicals just this once!) to the hydrogen peroxide and stir it around with a wooden spoon
- Add 1/4 cup of baking soda to the mixture and stir it around with a wooden spoon
- Note: You’ll also need to have dog shampoo on hand
Directions
- Use a wash cloth to carefully apply the mixture to your dog’s face (skunks tend to aim for the face, unfortunately) and be very careful not to get any in your dog’s eyes. If the stink is elsewhere, carefully apply the mixture to rest of your dog’s fur and rub it in. Treat it like shampoo
- Let the mixture sit on your dog’s fur for about five minutes and then rinse it off very thoroughly. Shampoo your dog, then repeat the process as required
Pro tip: Do not save the mixture for future use. Apparently, it will explode. I know, I know, this doesn’t inspire your confidence about putting it on your dog at all, let alone your dog’s face. After you smell a skunked out dog, trust me, you’ll do it. I love Buster as much as a child and I promise I would not do anything that could potentially cause him harm
Bonus tip: We have a chemical free home and I would normally never suggest you put Dawn dish soap on yourself or your dog. But desperate times call for desperate measures and how often will you and your furball be sprayed by a skunk? Hopefully never! However, I will not go so far as to suggest you douse your home in chemicals. We filled up many bowls of vinegar and put them all over the house. Combined with opening the windows and our house smells 90% better the very next day.
Don’t forget to reward your pup with some homemade treats after bath time is done and the stink is gone! 
Have you or your dog ever been sprayed by a skunk? What did you use to get rid of the smell?
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