Living in the country is always an experience. Actually, one, right after the other. If you follow me…you know all too well, the antics that my critters create. Over the years, I’ve had one stinky experience after another with skunks. Every dog I’ve ever owned…with the exception of my most perfect Mollie has managed to have an encounter with one. Usually multiple experiences. Now, many of you don’t realize that when I was in high school, we had a pet skunk. Petunia, was her name. I must admit, Petunia was a really awesome pet. BUT…she was de-scented, and tolerable to the nostrils. I’ll tell y’all more about her sometime.
If you’ll remember last week…I explained the circus that is my life. Moose and Scrap literally are trying to drive me MAD…I’m convinced! But, I’m sure you’ve all have heard the saying “necessity is the mother of invention.”. Moose and Scrap caused that saying to come completely true for me this week….and I made a really awesome discovery that I have to share.
Over the years, I’ve tried just about every professional, and home remedy known to human kind, for skunk odor elimination. None of which, have worked well. Till yesterday!
I’m sitting in my bedroom…actually working on Monday’s post…when Moose and Scrap proudly and boldly jump up on the bed and begin to rub about the covers…and ME! That’s when the reality hit me…that I had two smelly, stink meastros at hand. The assault on my nose was overpowering.
I grabbed them up and headed into the bathroom. It occurred to me. Many of these treatments are based on the chemical make up of the skunk’s spray. It’s an oil. Many oils…need to be fought with oil. With this in mind, I thought, I’m going to try this. I grabbed the baby oil. after soaking each dog with water, I “shampooed” them with baby oil, and then, baby shampoo. What I discovered was: As soon as I began to spread the baby oil around, soaking their fur completely with it, the smell disappeared. If you’ve ever had an experience with skunk, you know that it’s amplified with water…it wasn’t this time. It was GONE! (The baby shampoo? Just for washing out the baby oil. I generally used baby shampoo on my dogs because it doesn’t burn their eyes…the baby oil is what worked!)
Now…I’m not making any promises…but I’ve only tried this once…but I’ve never had my dogs smell like skunk…and the minute I get them covered in something…have the skunk smell completely disappear. Maybe they didn’t get sprayed that bad…maybe they were too dirty for it to stick….there could be a lot of maybes here…but I can tell you one thing: The next time my dogs hook up with a skunk…you can bet….I’m grabbing the baby oil!
So…that is the stinky truth at my house this week!
Related Posts

Dear Tammy,
My heart breaks for you and your family. I had no idea about your son, Luke, and am grieving for you as well. I am a mother of six kids and each and every one is so precious and unique. I appreciate your list of do’s and dont’s when a person is faced with such tragedy, my nerves get the best of me and I seem to always say the wrong thing. I will keep you all in my prayers. God Bless You.
with sincere sympathy,
Trisha Flaherty
Trisha recently posted…The front porch
Trisha, Thank you for your sweet words. I have the same problem. It’s always easier looking out…than in, in this situation. Thank you for being so sweet. Have a great day!
Thanks for sharing this tip! My dog got sprayed by a skunk a couple of weeks ago and we tried the remedy that we saw when we googled it (hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap), and while it helped, he still has a faint smell. He got sprayed in the face, and you have to be careful not to get the peroxide mixture in their eyes, mouth, etc. I’m totally trying the baby oil trick! And I never thought about using baby shampoo since it won’t hurt their eyes-genius!
Ericka recently posted…Weekend Recap: Yard Sale, Relay for Life, & Spider-Man 2!
Yes. ..I had the same luck with the peroxide. I sure hope you have as much luck as I did. Let me know! Have a wonderful week.
Now this is a fabulous idea, Tammy! You are a genius… I am going to try this the next time my dog of cat have a skunk incident, which is bound to happen at least once this summer….. Thanks so much for sharing!! 🙂
hugs x, Crystelle
Crystelle Boutique
Crystelle, I’m not sure if it’s genius…It worked really well for me…I sure hope it does for you. Yes, I’ll most likely have another chance to test it again this summer! lol