Friday, August 13, 2010

Skunk Smell

I don't know about anyone else, but to me an attractive trait is to smell nice, or at the very least not smell bad. The other night, my little dog Peppermint, fondly nicknamed Pepi, decided he would play with the visiting skunk at 4:00 in the morning and so promptly pestered my mom into letting him outside. I'm sure you understand the wonderful connotations of this as he returned quickly with a large yellow patch and squinty eyes. So, in case you love animals and also want to smell good even if they decide to become Pepe Le Pew, here's the best formula I've come across to getting rid of the stink.
From Google Images

For the Dog you'll need (all available at any drug store)
- 1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- Liquid Dish Soap (the gentler the better)
- Rubber or Latex Gloves
- An Open air tub

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in the open air tub, it will fizz this is the desired effect because the bubbles are oxygen being released to powerfully remove the smell molecules.
2. Immediately place dog in the tub and soak/massage the mixture into their coat for at least 5 minutes. Keep out of their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears or it will cause them pain. For the head you can carefully apply or multiple websites online suggest gentle douche solution as an alternative. (I've not used this, so I can't vouch for the effectiveness).
3. Wash them off with clean water (like with a spray hose as I did). And Presto clean little white dog again :D.

NOTE: Do NOT mix the solution together in a closed container, the release of oxygen will cause it to explode (not like fire explode, but like shaken pop can explode)! Also, it won't work if you store it, the solution will either explode from the storage container, or not work at all- it's the fizzyness that makes it work!

Room/Deck:
My recommendation is to hose down as much as you can with water and soap, however the new Febreeze works fairly well for furniture or rugs (though I do suggest airing them outside if you can). Any remaining smell can be captured with the remaining baking soda set out in open dishes around, mixed up every once in a while. The larger the dish and the more spread out the baking soda the more effective it will be (It's a Surface Area thing, I won't bore you with the details).

So, even though this isn't really a cosmetic post for you, it can be for your dog. (Unless of course you decided to go out and visit Mr. Black & White I suppose, lol.) Useful? Not useful? Comments are always welcome!
Peppermint, up close and adorable!

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