A few of you may remember I've had a skunk problem in the past and lost a number of young figs when they (the skunks) trashed my baby fig trees.
Well recently one managed to spray my dog at 2:30 in the AM on a night when I was feeling pretty darn bad.
But there is good news -- 1 quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda and a few drops of Dawn dishwashing soap mixed together and soaked into my dog's coat worked absolute wonders.
I had to put olive oil on his eyes (it's all I had) to protect them and I had to let this solution soak in for 8 minutes and bath him in doggie shampoo afterward but the results were amazing. The little guy sleeps in my bed and there was no stink once this treatment was complete. I should note that I carefully and gently rinsed his eyes afterward.

So, for all you folks with skunks I highly recommend stocking the following things;
1 quart of Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) - unopened.
1/4 cup of baking soda
A small bottle of Dawn dishwashing detergent.
Something to protect your dogs eyes. There are small tubes of eye protection gel at Petco, etc. or you can cover his eyes with a wash cloth. I put olive oil on his eyes then carefully washed them later as he took the skunk spray right in the face.
Latex gloves if you feel the need.
Dog shampoo or Johnson baby shampoo.

I was lucky to have these things available but if I hadn't this incident would have been a really bad experience as it was too cold to leave the dog outside or wash him there. As it was it was a hassle for about half an hour - huge difference from what I would have had to go through had I not had these things under my sink.

Hope this helps.
MGG

That is good news, as this has always been a tough problem, from what I understand.

What a happy ending!  JD won't currently let us have a dog because he likes us to go off for a day or nine.

Suzi

Very good to know!  I've saved your recipe and directions, just in case.  We are very fortunate not to have many skunks in our area, but we have recently caught a wiff or two.  So, since I have two very protective Aussies with zero skunk experience, I'm saving your info just in case.

You know, I have often wondered what I would do if I ever have the unfortunate run in with a skunk and it gets me or my dogs. Now I know. Thank you.

Our Boxers get hit 2 or 3 times a year by skunks. The wife uses a recipe similar to yours . but she substitutes apple cider vinegar  for the peroxide . It works like a charm .

BTW - I did also try this on some carpet. My entry throw rug thingy was fine but my wall to wall stuff did discolor a tiny bit.

Patty -- love those Aussies. I've had as many as 4 at at time (I've kept them for many years) and the one I have now is my 7th personal pet one. 
Jon -- you should hire a baby sitter when you go out. Haven't been on forum a lot lately and have been kind of shocked by the pent up hostility. wow.
Suzi -- GET A DOG -- NOW!

I have heard that Irish Spring Soap works well on deer and skunk.  You hang one bar on a tree limb.  Last for about 2 years.  They don't like the smell.

Dominick,
Thanks - I've always heard that as well. I've spent a lot of my life living on very rural farms and have tried a lot of things to ward off these critters including Irish Spring Soap -- which does seem to work for a short period, but just about everything looses effectiveness pretty quickly. Where I live currently I can't harvest the deer so we are of course over run by them and I use electric fencing. The skunks get trapped and dealt with appropriately.

In many ways hanging soap from trees is quite handy as it makes showering on a hot rainy day so much easier, but it used to t-off my x-wife as she thought riding the tractor buck naked was bad enough. The mere thought of dozens of out door shower facilities is great - but where I live now the neighbors probably don't want to see my pasty white you know what out in the yard taking advantage of nature's free water. I'll be back on a farm soon I hope. There isn't a lot of elbow room on 3 acres.

I have the same problems with my dogs. You would think after one time, they would stop chasing them, NOT. Your dogs must be of light color, because the peroxide would react light bleach. I have two chocolate labs and my thoughts are the might become yellow labs with that mixture. I've tried all the methods without good results. One day walking thru the pet store, found a bottle of shampoo just for skunk smell. Works pretty good, matter a fact, this is a reminder, I need to get more.


luke

Luke,
I've gotten hydrogen peroxide in my hair a number of times and it hasn't changed the color. My dog is what's called a "blue merle w/ copper" meaning he's black, grey, copper and white. The above solution won't fade his coat color. Maybe HP at a concentration above 3% would have more of an effect, but at 3% it seems pretty harmless. I put the stuff in my ears when I get an infection so it can't be very toxic.

My dog has changed his behavior quite a bit. He no longer just runs at anything in the yard. He gets a solid ID before going after stuff now. I doubt he'll get skunked again unless the skunk surprises him on the porch, etc. He's an extremely smart and cautious dog. Not saying he won't attack the critters he thinks are trespassing, but he really - really -- did not like being sprayed.
I have not had to "de-skunk" a dog more then 6 or 7 times so I'm far from an expert, but the above mix just worked so dang well I thought I'd share it. I'd be interested in what the active ingredients in the shampoo you buy are, but the above mix is so inexpensive I know I won't buy a commercial product. Plus last time I went to Petco I let my dog grab a small chew off the shelf and was amazed to find out they wanted $9.50 for the thing when we got to the register. It was just 3 pieces of rawhide braided together -- crazy expensive!

Anytime I can find a "home remedy" that works and is cheap I'm going to stick with it, and share the info with my friends. The thought of 2 peroxide blond labs is kind of amusing though.

There is a lot of difference in the strength of the spray from different species of skunks. When I lived in Los Angeles the skunks there were pretty mild - spray-strength-wise  --- whereas the skunks here in VA have a very strong spray. I'm not sure where you live or what skunks you have but I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at how well this mix works.

cheers,
mgg

That remedy sounds nasty from a chemistry point of view but I'm glad it worked.  I'll keep it in mind if my cat ever gets sprayed :)

Thanks for the recipe.  Dogs haven't gotten sprayed in a while, but I am sure they will at some point.  Best dog chew toy is a deer hindquarter bone.  Dogs love them, but my wife is still getting used to seeing them prance around the yard with a hoof hanging out of their mouth.  Especially her corgi. She grew up in town.

My wife informed me we still had some left for me to get the name of product. The name is skunk odor remover, made by natural pet formula. label says made from plants, neutral ph. Bought it from concord pet store, but my guess any major pet store carries it.


mgg: for some reason, I remember the girls using peroxide as a cheap way to keep their hair color light or blond. This was years ago, so maybe it was something else they were doing.


luke