Pepe Le Pew

My dog was in the backyard when very suddenly he started barking madly. I went outside, called for him and saw him crawl out from under the shed.  Not a good sign.  I walked towards him and was punched in the face by skunk odor. A really bad sign.  I bent over, smelled my dogs head and for the first time in my life was overwhelmingly grateful for a head cold.  I don't even want to know how bad the smell would have been with out a stuffy nose. 

At this point I'm sure your thinking "tomato juice"  But believe it or not, that method doesn't work so well. How do I know this you ask?

Meet Butch, my pet skunk. I was his mamma for a few months and he was very sweet to me, but one day the dog jumped at him and the little guy didn't have very good aim so my arm became the victim instead of the dog. 

 Notice my "truck stop" shirt? I was pretty glamorous back then.

Knowing tomato juice doesn't work very well and that dog fur is different from human skin I headed to the Internet. Several websites said using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide was the best combo

De Skunk a Dog
You Will Need:
Plastic container
1 quart hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tsp of liquid soap
disposable gloves to protect your hands from the smell
old clothes to wear in case the scent gets on you

Directions:
Mix the peroxide, soda and soap then immediately apply it to DRY fur.  Skunk goo is oil based, so if you get your dog wet you will only succeed in making the dog more smelly. Rub the solution into your dogs fur until the fur is wet. Allow the solution to sit on your dog for 5 minutes.  Rinse your dog and repeat if necessary. 

I tied my dog to the back porch then I slathered the mixture all over him, focusing on his head.  He's 40lbs and this mixture was enough to cover everything but his belly.  As we were waiting the 5 minutes I realized that I was in the middle of a DIY and I grabbed my camera. 

The Verdict: there was still a slight smell on  him but by the time he was dry it was gone.  This was easy and effective and and it didn't seem to irritate my dogs skin at all.

 You think I would have been really annoyed at this, but actually I was grateful, grateful that it was the dog and not one of my kids that found the skunk.