TonTon is all clean once again. In fact I would go so far as to say he is the cleanest he has ever been in his short life. So here is how I did it.
When I first smelt the fresh skunk smell it was the middle of the night so he was left a few hours before washing. By then the smell had dissipated somewhat. And I was able to wash the dog without actually gagging. I wore rubber gloves of course.
I washed him outside with the hose. It would have been cold, poor wee fella. First he was lathered thoroughly with good old dishwashing liquid. I used Dawn. This is what my vet uses when cleaning an animal. Fleas hate Dawn. We used the frangipani scented one! 
Rinsed. Then tomato juice. Pour it over, rub it in and leave it on the dog for a few minutes. I am assuming the acid in the juice strips out the sticky skunk spray. 
He was still obviously smelly. So then I lathered him with a strong solution of bio green clean. This is what I use to clean my house. But is supposed to be animal friendly. It comes in big jugs and you mix it up yourself. It is made from plant products, and is an all American natural cleaning product. I like to buy products from the country I am living in. It has no nasty chemicals in it, no perfumes or colours and can take the grime out of an oven. Once again I lathered it up and left it on for a few minutes. Then rinsed. This cut straight through the stink. He was almost clean. 
Then I poured a few gallons of fresh milk over him and rubbed that in because I had it and Cleopatra bathed in it so I thought what the heck. Don’t tell Daisy. 
Then good old dishwashing liquid to finish.
And tons of rinsing. There was a wee bit of hiding under the car, but generally he is pretty good about having his bath. And will stand without shaking. And stand to be rinsed.
Anyway he was quite clean by now. Only a tiny residual smell on his face where I could not use soaps so close to his eyes. Next time he decides to do the tango with a skunk (apparently he is a slow learner) I shall use the hydrogen peroxide remedy which you can read about here (thank you Bill) and here (thank you Joss and your daughter). And report back. 
It seems to me that the skunks are walking past the bedroom doors about the same time every night. Both strikes have been about 2am. So TonTon has to stay in at night all night for the meantime. So just to be sure he was clean, last thing before bed he had the vinegar rinse. 
He was reluctant. He is not trying to jump out, he stood like this for quite some time avoiding my eyes before finally capitulating and lowering himself into the bath to be rinsed in the vinegary water. 
Of course his biggest fear was that someone might see.
Good morning. Thank goodness we got him clean. I have read so many horror stories that I was actually surprised that we got it out so quickly.
Last night about 1am he thumped his tail on the floor to wake me, asking to go out, sitting at the door staring out intently. I smelt the slightest of skunk smell wafting in through the doors. They were parading past again. Go to bed I growled from my pillow. He glared at me then went back to his bed and that was that.
If they keep to their nocturnal routine and I keep to mine we will all get along just fine. The Tall Teenager said trap them. No, I said nature loves a vacuum. If I take them out a hole will be left in my farmy ecosystem and it might be filled with something worse. We will learn about them. They can wander about the garden looking for grubs and mice at night. And if we do not bother them, then I am fairly sure they will not bother us. There is a lot of rabies in the small animals in this country so keeping out of their way seems like a better option.
Today is going to be very hot again, so I will start the chores early and get everyone set up with cold waters and mineral under their trees for the day. Yesterday we carried 100 bales of straw into the barn. Our preparations for winter are coming along just nicely.
Have a lovely day.
celi
On this date a year ago. murder in the chook house and a little about how tiny Mary’s Cat come to be on my porch that morning!
The Kitchen's Garden 
95 responses to “How to wash Skunk Stink off your Dog.”
That is one clean dog! I love the pictures where he is shaking the water off. Hopefully, he will forgive you.
He has a forgiving nature. I told him that if this did not work I was rolling him in cow manure! .. morning sharyn
So funny – I remember well the smell of skunk from when we lived in Canada!
hard to forget! c
Yay for clean TonTon! May he never be skunked up again!
Very cute shots my friend 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
morning chip.. c
What a beautiful dog !!
Thank you, he was looking much better by the end of the day.. c
Oh Poor Ton – the indignity of it all. Glad is all sweet smelling again! 🙂 Laura
Morning laura and the house smells better too, thanks for the suggestions! c
What a fun read (and photos) about getting Ton all clean Celi. Quite a task mind you! Poor fellow. Sounds like you have tried all but shaving him. 😉
Have a lovely day on the farmy.
🙂 Mandy xo
Morning Mandy.. loved your photos the other day, i am still dreaming of that beautiful farmhouse! c
I opened your post already smiling…. imagine that a couple of evenings ago we were walking the dogs but it was already quite dark. Well, Oscar and Buck all of a sudden pulled me towards some bushes, they ran really hard, and I was hopelessly pulled – it was a skunk! He raised his tail and pointed at us (me included), but changed his mind and ran away… I could not believe how lucky we were…can you imagine? (sigh)
Glad your pup is smelling great again….
Oh my goodness.. sally you were so lucky..thank god he let you off with a warning,, I have never even SEEN a skunk..
A marathon!
When my children picked up head lice at school, I used to saturate their hair in olive oil to smother the critters then rinse with vinegar. It made their hair beautifully glossy and soft – rather like Ton Ton’s looks.
I hope I smell a skunk some day – perhaps not on me though. I hear how bad they are but have no idea of the actual odour.
morning annie, they say that people with oily hair are less likely to catch head lice, they like nice clean hair to cling to.. OO I hate them!
I think his coat looks gorgeous now! Sweet little thing. Our dog was the same way with porcupines… he just didn’t want to learn that they were NOT a good idea! hehe.
Morning ashley, he is so fluffy and clean, he looks like a new dog!! c
Poor Ton…how embarassing. I always finished with a vinegar rinse, and let it dry on them. It’ll happen again, no doubt, but he’s smart enough that it may be a few years before he takes another direct hit. Great photos, though!
Have a great day!
He was embarressed and the cats lounged about in full view watching, just to add to the indignity of the whole thing! c
Not sure if no one suggested this yesterday, but here’s what you really need. http://www.thornell.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=skunk_off
I got some from my vet several years ago and now do not EVER not have a bottle in my pantry. We had a huge old rough coat collie and he once got hit so close that you could see the yellow spray. I soaked him down with the liquid and then gave him a quick bath with the shampoo. No more smell. Period. Until the next time ;-). We had a barn skunk for several years. I actually sort of liked him/her and other than nosy Boo, we had no trouble.
ah, that is the thing.. I will order a bottle and keep one on hand, thank you for the link! c
Celi, if you look at the end comments of the last blog I think I’m the third with the hydrogen peroxide/bicarb ‘remedy’ from a dear friend also in trouble with skunks! He does swear it works 🙂 !!!! OMG, I lost count of the different washes Tonton had, but the end photos show him quite content [gorgeous photo series you managed in between being wet yourself!! ] and methinks WE have all enjoyed the full story even if YOU have not cared for smell or shampoo parlour time 🙂 !
I do not have any hydrogen peroxide sitting in my cupboard, and the shops are Miles away, I will stock up next time i go .. it sounds good! thank you Eha! Thank your friend for me..c
poor ton ton. i bet he even feels better now! sounds like a good idea keeping him in for the night.
yes, prevention is better than a cure.. or something like that! c
Oh my, poor TonTon. Dogs always look so indignant when you are bathing them and they always look away as if to pretend it´s not really happening! Well done for sorting him out AND taking photos 🙂
funny how they look away, as though they really are somewhere else!
If he is entirely unstinky, please give Tonton several big hugs from me for being such a patient dog. You have very kindly sent us some of your weather. Since Friday we have had sunshine, the wind has dropped since Sunday, and we’re warming up nicely. There were dozens of opportunist butterflies and hoppers about during my walk this morning – a real treat.