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- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,235
- 45,141
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
It does work (don't ask), just not as well as a combination of dish soap, water, and baking soda (again, don't ask).
The bigger problem with bathing the dog in tomato juice is that I have the urge to roll them in bread crumbs...
Well, I've been through this with my grey Chase. At the end of it, I had a dog that smelled like tomato juice and skunk. Maybe you had a different experience but I'll take the Skunk Off any day over it.
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- Dec 21, 2007
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- 45,141
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- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
I did have a different experience the first time my dogs got skunked. Once I learned about the dish-soap-and-baking-soda, though, I never went back.
That first time...
Walking two large and wonderful dogs on a many-acre openspace near the ocean in Santa Barbara. Out of the brush come a bunch of baby skunks and Momma skunk. I immediately called the dogs and they stopped in their tracks, paused (good dogs!) and came back. I didn't smell a thing, and I thought (yeah, hippie thinking) "oh how cool, Momma skunk saw we had this under control and weren't a threat, and didn't spray".
Then the wind shifted...
They were badly skunked. Just having them next to me, my eyes watered and my nose burned. This was around 1991, I hadn't heard of anything other than tomato juice.
I stopped at the local supermarket to get a few cans. The checkout person sniffed, and stopped the roller belt apologizing - "something must be wrong, the rubber's burning". I told her the belt was fine, it was me...
The tomato juice did help. The dogs still smelled like skunk, but only mildly, whereas before standing within 5 feet of them would literally make your eyes water.
We got the bathing thing down years later with another dog who simply didn't mind getting skunked (we were already living in the forest by that time). She'd happily kill them, and come back to the door smelling like... well, you know.
She was our first Anatolian Shepherd. Her name was Beka. She was a cool dog but slightly feral in her habits. Major escape artist, loved to roll in dead things if she could find them. She played midwife to our goats, and protected the whole "herd" (us, the other dogs, our cats, the chickens). She made a strong distinction between "her" animals and other animals of the same species that were not hers. She loved her cats but when she got out (she'd happily jump a 6 foot fence) she'd go out and kill neighborhood cats. When we found that out we got very serious about containing her, which we successfully did (electrified the top of the fence, reinforced the bottom).
She lived to the good age of 14, not bad for a 130 lb dog.
She was a Good Dog. RIP, sweet Beka.
That's good it worked for you, but curious why you needed the dish soap and baking soda if the tomato juice "worked". There's actually nothing in tomato juice which breaks up the sulfur compounds in skunk spray, called thiols. The baking soda, peroxide and dish soap would work as you mentioned. Tomato juice is an old wives tale.
Chances are if you were cleaning your dog with tomato juice you eventually got used to the smell because of olfactory fatigue, which is when your nose is bombarded with a scent for so long that it stops detecting it.
Chase was hit in the face in our backyard. When he came into the house it was so overpowering, I was gagging. It was more powerful than gasoline only a much worse smell. I tried cleaning his face with tomato juice as that was also the only thing I had heard of prior to this incident. But it didn't help.
I contacted our vet and they happened to have this solution called Skunk Out. As I was putting it on his face, the smell immediately started to dissipate. To neutralize the smell, you have to rub it in and leave it. The chemicals and detergents in Skunk Out are odor eliminators, however tomato juice has no known odor eliminating properties and I wouldn't recommend anyone waste their time using it.
Chances are if you were cleaning your dog with tomato juice you eventually got used to the smell because of olfactory fatigue, which is when your nose is bombarded with a scent for so long that it stops detecting it.
Chase was hit in the face in our backyard. When he came into the house it was so overpowering, I was gagging. It was more powerful than gasoline only a much worse smell. I tried cleaning his face with tomato juice as that was also the only thing I had heard of prior to this incident. But it didn't help.
I contacted our vet and they happened to have this solution called Skunk Out. As I was putting it on his face, the smell immediately started to dissipate. To neutralize the smell, you have to rub it in and leave it. The chemicals and detergents in Skunk Out are odor eliminators, however tomato juice has no known odor eliminating properties and I wouldn't recommend anyone waste their time using it.
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Plus putting tomato juice on a long-furred dog in the bathtub ends up with all the bathroom walls and floor covered with tomato juice when the dog inevitably shakes ....
I simply don't bath my dogs anymore.
Since I started feeding them BARF food they don't smell that much during the whole winter. With any other food I tried, they smelled pretty bad after a few months.
Since mid-spring up to october I take them to the sea, so I bath them everytime they go in the water to remove the salt from their bodies.
I use hand towels occasionally when they roll over bad/dead/smelly things and/or eat s***.
Since I started feeding them BARF food they don't smell that much during the whole winter. With any other food I tried, they smelled pretty bad after a few months.
Since mid-spring up to october I take them to the sea, so I bath them everytime they go in the water to remove the salt from their bodies.
I use hand towels occasionally when they roll over bad/dead/smelly things and/or eat s***.
- Oct 22, 2015
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- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Odin here, fresh out of the bath. He's never been skunked! And I definitely don't want to tomato juice him.
- Dec 21, 2007
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- 45,141
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- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Skunk Out sounds useful.
I learned about the dish-soap-and-baking-soda years after the First Skunk Battle, so I didn't use it at the time.
Maybe your experience with tomato juice not working was because you forgot the bread crumbs and baking part?
No need to argue further. My experience was that tomato juice worked, but not as well as another method. Your experience was that it didn't work. All good.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,170
- 257,132
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
The whole tomato juice thing makes me recall watching a movie with my housemates in County Clare. The movie scene is a tomato juice bath and they can't figure out why I'm laughing and laughing. Ain't no skunks in Ireland, and they absolutelyi have no idea.
Skunk Out sounds useful.
I learned about the dish-soap-and-baking-soda years after the First Skunk Battle, so I didn't use it at the time.
Maybe your experience with tomato juice not working was because you forgot the bread crumbs and baking part?
No need to argue further. My experience was that tomato juice worked, but not as well as another method. Your experience was that it didn't work. All good.
You can say what you want and pretend you're right but if the tomato juice worked you wouldn't have sought out something else.
I'm going to try and give people accurate info and not waste their time with something that has been debunked for years.
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Glad to hear it worked for you. It's pretty amazing stuff. Unfortunately, we could not bathe our dog Chase because he had stitches.
I hear ya on the stitches, poor puppy
Of course it was at night when my dog got sprayed, that night the wife and I used a 5 gallon bucket and washed her in everything from dawn dish soap, shampoo, and even a large can of tomato juice. Nothing took it away, poor doggy had to sleep in the garage that night. After getting some advice for some Skunk Out, the next day went to Foster and Smith and grabbed two bottles. After the first wash, she was 95% better, of course we gave her a few more baths. And again, when she was dry, no smell at all but for the next few months she would have a slight smell if she was wet.
Of course it was at night when my dog got sprayed, that night the wife and I used a 5 gallon bucket and washed her in everything from dawn dish soap, shampoo, and even a large can of tomato juice. Nothing took it away, poor doggy had to sleep in the garage that night. After getting some advice for some Skunk Out, the next day went to Foster and Smith and grabbed two bottles. After the first wash, she was 95% better, of course we gave her a few more baths. And again, when she was dry, no smell at all but for the next few months she would have a slight smell if she was wet.
Caption: Hey!....You do realize that in a year I'm gonna be choking the life out of an Impala, right?
I love this dog.
Big Goofy Dog Fails Agility Course In The Most Adorable Fashion
What's not to love
Last year, the big, furry goofball pup stole everyone's heart with his performance during a televised agility course run for rescue dogs — but not exactly for his gracefulness or athleticism.
Rather than tackle the course like other, more skillful dogs might, Kratu took it on his own way, much to the delight of the crowd.
Here's footage of that memorable moment:
After that, Kratu had plenty of time to study up on where things went wrong — to hone his agility skills for this year's run.
Lesson learned? Well, you'll see.
Earlier this month, Kratu got another chance on the course with his adoring owner, Tessa Eagle Swan.
And for folks who enjoyed Kratu's marching-to-his-own-drum stylings last time around, he certainly did not disappoint:
Kratu did it again — and his owner couldn't be happier with how things turned out.
"I love his interpretation [of how the course should be run]," Swan told The Dodo. "I have a different one, but being happy and having fun is the one thing we share during the course."
Though Kratu obviously has an uncontainable zest for life now, things weren't always so good for him. Swan adopted him five years ago from the UK-based rescue group Invalid Link Removed, which had saved him from an abusive situation when he was just a puppy. From that point on, Kratu has more than returned the favor.
Swan, who has faced her own struggles in the past, takes great comfort in having a pup like Kratu in her life.
"He is the best assistance I could have as he always makes me laugh, too," she said. "He is a clown at home daily. How can you be down for long when you live with such a wonderful happy clown? He makes my heart smile again after the tears."
Big Goofy Dog Fails Agility Course In The Most Adorable Fashion
What's not to love
Last year, the big, furry goofball pup stole everyone's heart with his performance during a televised agility course run for rescue dogs — but not exactly for his gracefulness or athleticism.
Rather than tackle the course like other, more skillful dogs might, Kratu took it on his own way, much to the delight of the crowd.
Here's footage of that memorable moment:
After that, Kratu had plenty of time to study up on where things went wrong — to hone his agility skills for this year's run.
Lesson learned? Well, you'll see.
Earlier this month, Kratu got another chance on the course with his adoring owner, Tessa Eagle Swan.
And for folks who enjoyed Kratu's marching-to-his-own-drum stylings last time around, he certainly did not disappoint:
Kratu did it again — and his owner couldn't be happier with how things turned out.
"I love his interpretation [of how the course should be run]," Swan told The Dodo. "I have a different one, but being happy and having fun is the one thing we share during the course."
Though Kratu obviously has an uncontainable zest for life now, things weren't always so good for him. Swan adopted him five years ago from the UK-based rescue group Invalid Link Removed, which had saved him from an abusive situation when he was just a puppy. From that point on, Kratu has more than returned the favor.
Swan, who has faced her own struggles in the past, takes great comfort in having a pup like Kratu in her life.
"He is the best assistance I could have as he always makes me laugh, too," she said. "He is a clown at home daily. How can you be down for long when you live with such a wonderful happy clown? He makes my heart smile again after the tears."
