Dog + Skunk = Ewww and Yuk!

 Our pooch, Shadow, learned a new lesson this morning (we hope) -

"Hmmm.....those furry black and white critters that kinda look like the cat I play with sometimes, really, really stink... and then you get a fizzy bath (or six) that smells almost as bad."

I opened my eyes about 5:30 this morning and was immediately aware of the foul stench of skunk that seemed to permeate our house - eeewww! As if that wasn't bad enough...when I opened the back door and pooch came running...it was quite obvious that Shadow had an encounter with  a skunk in the back yard. I just thought the smell inside was bad...the dog smelled ten times worse than the odor in the house -yuk!

I have always heard that baking soda and vinegar would work to neutralize skunk oil and we tested that hypothesis before the sun came up this morning. First, we soaked the dog with water, then we applied the baking soda, really working it into her fur coat and down to her skin (being careful to avoid her eyes). Now its time for the vinegar.  Either white or apple cider vinegar works for this application, and yes, there is definitely a "fizzing" effect.

Let me just say there's nothing quite like a skunky, vinegar smelling, fizzy dog first thing in the morning.

We worked the fizzy lather all over her, again, being careful not to get any in her eyes, and repeated the process six times before we used the dog shampoo. Definitely did not smell very good during the process, but the end result was a success! Hope that silly dog learned something as this is not a process I would want to do again, anytime soon! Oh - the joy of pets!! Good to know it does work though!