Tag Archive for: dogs

Dog Skunk Spray Cleaning Tutorial | The Happy Beast

Skunked! – Dog Skunk Spray Cleaning Tutorial

Maybe it’s just my little corner of Lafayette, but I’ve heard of more dogs getting skunked this fall than any year I can remember. The skunks are all over the place. In fact, as I write this, there’s one hanging out with the neighborhood cat behind my house. (Seriously, they’re Pepé Le Pew and Penelope…it’s ridiculous.)

So to be proactive, I wanted to find the very best de-skunking product on the market, stock the cupboards (and The Happy Beast) with it, and let you know what to use if your pet is unfortunate enough to get sprayed. But after scouring reviews and asking my mom (who grew up on a farm) what she would do, I determined that there is no miracle product.

Instead, there’s hydrogen peroxide, dish soap and baking soda. The good news is, if your dog has a stinky run-in with a skunk, you probably have all of these on hand, and you can just run down to The Happy Beast and do a quick dog wash!

In case of a skunking, here’s what to do:

  • Wipe off the excess skunk oil with paper towels or rags. **Do not get your dog wet yet!**
  • BEFORE getting your dog wet, mix together six cups of hydrogen peroxide, ⅓ cup of baking soda and a couple squirts of dish soap. (It’s going to get fizzy.)
  • Rub the mixture into the sprayed area and scrub!
  • Once your dog’s coat is saturated, rinse everything out and follow up with a good shampoo (we love Earthbath’s products.)
  • If your dog gets sprayed in the face, be sure to rinse her eyes with water or try a product with goldenseal like Eyes Alright.

You’ll probably want to wear rubber gloves for this and you might have to repeat the process several times. And there’s a possibility that your dog is going to smell a little funky for a while. But there’s a definite probability that you’ll love him just the same.

Skunked_Dog-Shaming-Sammy_The-Happy-Beast

Kids, Cats & Dogs

We got lucky with Loki. His demeanor with kids has always been great, but now that we have two of our own, he’s had to learn how to be nagged and pulled and loved even more than before. But in addition to Loki’s usually-calm disposition, we’ve tried hard as parents to teach our kids to know how to get along with our animals and respect their boundaries. After all, the furry ones were here first! Once Loki and our cats saw that the kids were (usually) gentle, and provided even more opportunities for extra food and ear scratches, they started warming up pretty quickly. Even to the point of tolerating a little bit of dress-up time.

If your dog isn’t quite as forgiving, or just needs some training pointers, we definitely recommend checking out these great resources:

And if you’re looking for dog breeds that are typically good with kids, here are a couple more: