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How To Walk the Excited Dog

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How to Walk Your Dog eBook from Whole Dog Journal
Excerpted from How to Walk Your Dog by Pat Miller, CPDT and Mardi Richmond, MA, CPDT-KA

You contemplate taking your dog for a walk with mixed emotions. You love the idea of going for a stroll through the neighborhood together, but it’s a major hassle to get out the door. When you pick up his leash he becomes the Tasmanian Devil – body slamming you, racing around the foyer, and bouncing off the glass door with such intensity you’re afraid he’ll crash right through it. Here are five suggestions for creating the enjoyable outing you dream of.

(1) Exercise first. Spend 15-20 minutes tossing a ball for your dog in the backyard, or providing intense mental exercise with a heavy duty shaping session. You’ll take the edge off his excitement, reduce his energy level, and make leashing-up and walking more relaxed and enjoyable for both of you.

(2) Teach him to “Say please.” Reinforce your dog’s “sit” behavior so thoroughly that “sit” becomes his default behavior – the behavior he chooses to offer when he doesn’t know what else to do. Then wait for him to sit (say “please”) to make all good things happen: sit for his dinner bowl; sit to be petted; sit for you to throw his ball; sit to have his leash put on; and sit to make the door open.

(3) Pick up his leash throughout the day. He gets amped up when you touch his leash because it always means the two of you are going for a walk. Of course he gets excited! If you pick up his leash numerous times throughout the day, sometimes
draping it over your neck and wearing it for a while, sometimes carrying it from room to room, sometimes picking it up and putting it back down, sometimes clipping it on his collar and then unclipping it, the leash will no longer be a reliable predictor of walks, and he won’t have any reason to get all excited about it. Note: This will take a while. Hope springs eternal in the canine heart.

(4) Use negative punishment. No, we don’t mean a bonk on the head. It means setting up the situation so that doing the behavior you don’t want causes a good thing to go away. Here’s how it would work in this case: If, when you pick up the leash, he goes bonkers (the behavior you don’t want), say “Oops!” in a cheerful tone of voice (what’s known as a “no reward marker,” it simply tells him no reward is forthcoming), set the leash down, and walk away. When he settles down, pick the leash up again. If he sits (say please!), proceed with attaching the leash and going for a walk. If he winds up again, do another “Oops!” and set the leash down. You’re teaching him that getting excited makes the opportunity for a walk go away; staying calm makes walks happen.

(5) Reduce the significance of other “walk cues.” Other things you do as part of your walk preparation routine can also feed his energy – getting out treats, putting on your jacket, grabbing your cell phone and keys . . . The more you randomize your ritual, the less these steps contribute to his growing excitement over the pending event, and the calmer he’ll stay as you leash him and walk out the door. For example, put your keys and cell phone in your jacket pocket before you eat breakfast. Happy walking!

For more information on how to reform a puller into a more pleasant walking companion purchase Whole Dog Journal’s How to Walk Your Dog ebook.

Eliminate Fleas Without Poisons

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Editorial Staff
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Keeping Your Dog Flea Free eBook from Whole Dog Journal
Excerpted from Keeping Your Dog Flea Free by Nancy Kerns, Gregory L. Tilford, Kathleen Dudley, and Eileen Fatcheric, DVM

Start With the Dog

In order to control a flea infestation with IPM techniques, it is necessary to treat not only your dog, but also the indoor and outdoor environments surrounding your dog. In discussing all of these, we’ll start at the center: The dog.

  • Improve the dog’s health. “The most important measure you can take for flea control is similar to that with any illness, and that is to strengthen the overall health of the animal,” states Don Hamilton, DVM, author of Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs: Small Doses for Small Animals. “In general, given the same environment, healthier animals suffer less from fleas. It all comes back to good food, lots of love, and minimal stress.” Dr. Hamilton prescribes a human grade food, preferably a raw meat diet for dogs, along with supplements, a clean indoor air environment, and no vaccinations. Carolann Mancuso, one of Dr. Hamilton’s clients living near Tampa, Florida, has used this protocol for keeping her dog family healthy and flea-free for over a decade. A healthy dog is less likely to be the target for fleas. Fleas seem to know which dogs are ill in a household. If you are not already feeding a raw meat, homemade diet or human-grade food, this is the time to shift gears. A healthy immune system will make your dog less tasty to a flea. Consult a holistic veterinarian to help boost the health of your dog’s immune system. Some complementary therapies that are useful include acupuncture, Chinese herbs, homeopathy, and nutritional therapy.
  • Use supplements. There are numerous dietary additives reputed to be helpful in repelling fleas. Unfortunately, their effectiveness varies from dog to dog. Some people have found the following remedies to be effective for their dogs. If, after giving your dog any of these supplements for a month, you see no improvement in the flea population, consult your holistic veterinarian for further direction. Garlic: One clove per day of crushed organic garlic for a large dog, half for a medium-sized dog, and a quarter for a small dog. Or, use a capsule of cold-pressed garlic oil; adjust the canine dosage from the human dosage on the label (assuming a 150 pound human dose). Vitamin B complex (with vitamin B1): Use a plant-source vitamin B complex, and again, adjust the dose for your dog’s weight. Some people simply add brewers yeast to the dog’s diet for its vitamin B1. Note: Some dogs are allergic to brewers yeast.
  • Some people have success with natural topical preparations. Again, the results vary widely. What works well for some dogs may not work at all for others. Desist if these suggestions do not work within three to four weeks. Essential oils of cedar, tea tree, citronella, lavender, eucalyptus, and pennyroyal (the last two are toxic to cats): Mix 10 drops of certified organic essential oil to one tablespoon of olive oil. Spray on your dog as a repellent. A lemon rinse: Steep a cut-up lemon or two in a quart of boiling water and allow to cool. Use liquid as a rinse or sponge onto the coat. Remember that topical preparations – whether safe, natural remedies or poisonous chemicals – target only 1 percent of the flea population, the adults. While repelling adult fleas will help a flea-allergic dog, it should never be your only focus.
  • Combing the dog daily with a flea comb will help you determine the effectiveness of your efforts. Comb around the dog’s tail, stomach, and face, where they tend to collect in greater quantities. Look for fleas, as well as flea eggs (tiny white specks) and flea feces (slightly larger black specks). Drop anything you find into a glass of water; it will drown the eggs and fleas. Flea feces is comprised largely of your dog’s blood, and will turn the water reddish brown, confirming the presence of fleas even if no adults are found.
  • During the height of infestation, bathe your dog weekly with a noninsecticidal soap; reduce this frequency as the flea problem diminishes, because over-frequent bathing can dry out the skin. Rinsing the dog completely to remove all soap will help prevent drying the dog’s skin, as will increasing the essential fatty acids in the dog’s diet. For dogs who are being bathed frequently, using a nonscented hypoallergenic shampoo, such as Logona Free Shampoo and Shower Gel, will be less irritating to their skin.
  • Keep your dog confined to areas of the house that are easy to manage when a flea problem exists (close off basements or extra bedrooms).

For more information and advice on safe and effective ways to prevent and treat fleas and flea bites, purchase and download the ebook, Keeping Your Dog Flea Free from Whole Dog Journal.

Is Flea Treatment Damaging Your Dog’s Health?

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Editorial Staff
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Keeping Your Dog Flea Free eBook from Whole Dog Journal
Excerpted from Keeping Your Dog Flea Free by Nancy Kerns, Gregory L. Tilford, Kathleen Dudley, and Eileen Fatcheric, DVM

Every dog owner knows that getting rid of fleas can be one of the biggest challenges of dog-keeping. Few people know, however, that the process can also be the most damaging to their dog’s health. Specifically, the use of insecticides on the dog and all around the dog’s environment can cause nerve and liver damage, impair the immune system, and even cause cancer. And you have to wonder – if these effects have been noted in dogs, what effects do all these toxins have on the people who live with the dogs?

It’s a real problem, because if you have fleas in your home, you have to do something. They can make your dog (and you and your family) miserable through their tiny but painful bites, as well as the allergic reactions that many people and dogs develop to flea saliva. They are prolific, producing thousands of eggs during their three-to four-month life-span. In ideal conditions the cycle takes just two weeks, from egg-laying to larvae to pupae to hatched fleas capable of laying eggs of their own.

The chemical approach to flea control can involve use of a panoply of toxic powders, shampoos, sprays, bombs, dips, and collars. Not incidentally, it’s probably the casual use and mixing of several of these products that can pose the biggest challenge to the dog’s health, as his body strives to deal with his exposure to several different types of toxins.

For more information and advice on safe and effective ways to prevent and treat fleas and flea bites, purchase and download the ebook, Keeping Your Dog Flea Free from Whole Dog Journal.

The “Flea vs. Host Dog” Scenario

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Editorial Staff
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Keeping Your Dog Flea Free eBook from Whole Dog Journal
Excerpted from Keeping Your Dog Flea Free by Nancy Kerns, Gregory L. Tilford, Kathleen Dudley, and Eileen Fatcheric, DVM

When approached from a holistic perspective, long-term flea control does not begin with insecticide flea sprays, dips or shampoos. It begins only after the caregiver reaches an understanding of how fleas live, behave, and how they select their hosts. From this perspective we can see that it is the effects of fleas, and not their existence, that cause so much misery to our dogs – the fleas themselves are only a single symptom of deep-seated and complex health problem.

To clarify, let’s take a look at what I call the “Flea vs. Host Dog” scenario.

Dogs have been host to fleas, as well as thousands of other parasites, for millions of years. Certainly, like all cross-species relationships, nature maintains certain checks and balances that allow parasites and their hosts to coexist in symbiotic harmony.

But in the case of fleas and domesticated canines, we keep seeing the same scenario repeat itself: Host Dog is completely tormented by fleas while his canine companion, although in the same house, seems relatively trouble-free. Why? Because the natural countermeasures that exist between flea and Host Dog are no longer working. The parasite-host relationship is out of balance.

Flea problems do not actually stem from the mere presence of fleas, but from health-related and environmental circumstances that allow parasites to wreak havoc upon a weakened host.

Like all parasites, fleas are opportunistic, preying on the easiest meal they can find. While it is true that dogs with healthy skins and coats are usually less bothered by fleas than those with flaky, dry skin and constantly shedding coats, this is only part of the picture. Deeper toward the root of the problem are issues involving Host Dog’s immune system and the way his body reacts to flea bites. Host Dog is allergic to flea bites, and for reasons that have little to do with the fleas themselves, his body system can neither repel nor tolerate their bites.

For more information on ways to prevent and treat fleas and flea bites, purchase Keeping Your Dog Flea Free from Whole Dog Journal.

Pellitol Ointment

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Editorial Staff
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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal

Nine years ago, we described a smoky-smelling pink ointment that worked wonders for seriously infected ears: Pellitol. Pellitol contained zinc oxide, calamine, bismuth subgalate, bismuth subnitrate, resorcinol, echinacea fluid extract, and juniper tar. These ingredients are both disinfecting and adhesive, so that as the ointment gradually dried and shrank (a process lasting several days), it healed ulcers, dried pus and debris, and reduced bacterial growth. In addition to being effective, this apply-it-and-leave-it approach spared patients the discomfort of repeated ear-cleaning treatments.

We learned about Pellitol from holistic veterinarian Stacy Hershman of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, who became interested in ear infections while working as a veterinary technician in her teens. “This is a subject that isn’t covered much in vet school,” she told us. “I learned about treating ear infections from the veterinarians I worked with over the years. Because they all had different techniques, I saw dozens of different treatments, and I kept track of what worked and what didn’t.”

Chronic ear infections are the bane of long-eared dogs, swimming dogs, recently vaccinated puppies, old dogs, dogs with an abundance of ear wax, and dogs with allergies, thyroid imbalances, or immune system disorders. In other words, they are among the most common recurring canine problems.

Dr. Hershman’s maintenance program for healthy ears involves gentle cleaning with cotton balls, cotton swabs, and room-temperature green tea or an alcohol-free acidic ear cleaner. Mild ear inflammation can be treated with careful flushing.

But if the infection is serious, she takes a different approach. When she began her veterinary practice, Dr. Hershman met dogs who wouldn’t let anyone touch their ears. “I knew that nothing I’d learned in vet school was going to help them,” she says, “so I thought back to all the treatments I’d seen over the years. The one that seemed most effective was a combination of boric acid and a thick, old-fashioned ointment that looks like pink toothpaste. I couldn’t remember its name, but I never forgot how it smelled – really peculiar, like burnt embers.”

The ointment was Pellitol, and as soon as she tracked it down, Dr. Hershman combined it with boric acid. “Like the ear powders I learned about from groomers,” she explains, “boric acid dries and acidifies the ear. Yeast and bacteria are opportunistic organisms that die in a dry, acidic environment. They thrive where it’s moist, dark, and alkaline.”

Because boric acid is toxic (note warnings on the label), it should not be inhaled or swallowed. Shielding the face is important and usually requires a helper, someone who can hold the dog’s head steady while protecting the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Experimenting with her own dogs and dogs at the animal shelter where she volunteered, Dr. Hershman placed two or three pinches of boric acid powder in each infected ear unless it was ulcerated, bleeding, or painful. “Being acidic,” she explained, “boric acid might irritate open wounds. In that case, I would use the Pellitol alone. Otherwise, a pinch or two of boric acid was an effective preliminary treatment.”

After applying boric acid, she would fill the ear with Pellitol and let it work. Within a week, the dried ointment would fall out of the dog’s ear, leaving it cleaner and far less inflamed.

For more alternative and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

Canine Energy Healing Techniques

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Editorial Staff
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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal

Energy medicine, once so exotic that it was dismissed out of hand by America’s physicians and veterinarians, is now going mainstream. In addition to the therapies described in Whole Dog Journal energy healing techniques such as flower essences, animal communication, and kinesiology are used by holistic veterinarians in the U.S. and around the world.

Understanding what these therapies are and how they work will help you decide which energy therapies might be appropriate for your canine companion.

Flower Essences

There’s nothing unusual about a dog responding to an herbal tea or capsule. Plants have been used for thousands of years to treat all kinds of conditions.

But flower essences, which are also called flower remedies, are very different from herbal products. Like homeopathic remedies, they contain little or none of the material used to produce them. Instead, they store a plant’s “vibration” or “imprint,” which in turn affects the animal’s energy. These vibrations or imprints are said to act directly on the animal’s emotions.

Conventional veterinary medicine finds no credible explanation for either homeopathy or flower essences, but physicists and other energy researchers say that on the atomic level, tiny amounts of matter contain subtle but powerful forces.

By far the most famous flower remedy blend is Dr. Edward Bach’s formula for emergency and stress, which is sold under the brand names (depending on the manufacturer) Rescue Remedy, Calming Essence, Five Flower Formula, and Trauma Remedy in health food stores, pharmacies, pet supply stores, and online. It contains star of Bethlehem for shock, rock rose for fear and panic, impatiens for tension and mental agitation, cherry plum for lack of emotional control, and clematis for the sensation one experiences just before fainting.

According to Helen Graham and Gregory Vlamis in their book Bach Flower Remedies for Animals, Rescue Remedy and similar emergency remedies can be used:

  • As an adjunct to any treatment for illness, surgery, injury, trauma, or shock
  • As a safe alternative to tranquilizers and sedatives
  • To help revive weak newborn puppies
  • To combat the aftereffects of anesthesia and to revive puppies delivered by caesarean section
  • To help resuscitate dogs whose breathing has stopped or help dogs who are having trouble breathing
  • After any seizure or convulsion
  • To speed recovery from heatstroke or exhaustion
  • To speed the healing of wounds
  • To help dogs relax at the groomer’s salon, veterinary clinic, obedience school, dog park, or any stressful surroundings
  • To support dogs living in shelters
  • To improve mental focus and learning

For more herbal and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

Topical Home Remedies for Chronic Skin Inflammation

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Editorial Staff
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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal

One of the quickest ways to reduce inflammation of the skin and itchiness is by use of herbal astringents.

Astringents work their magic by quickly tightening skin and subcutaneous tissue, and thereby reducing inflammation and redness. A classic example of such an astringent is witch hazel extract, which can be purchased in a clear liquid, distilled form at any drugstore. A dab or two of witch hazel applied by cotton ball can bring instant relief to angry flea or mosquito bites.

It is important to know that most commercial witch hazel extracts are made with isopropyl alcohol, a substance that is toxic if ingested in large enough amounts. This type of witch hazel should be reserved for uses where only a few dabs are needed (i.e., don’t rinse your dog with it). Better yet, look for witch hazel that is made with ethanol (grain alcohol, the type contained in consumable liquors) or vegetable glycerin, an edible coconut oil derivative that is used in natural soaps and cosmetics for its emollient, skin-soothing qualities.

Several choices of natural topical remedies are available at the pet supply store, too. For hot spots, irritations caused from a bandage or a rubbing collar, sunburned ears, or insect bites that are limited to just a few points on the body, you might try a spritz or two of Animal Apawthecary’s (my company) FidoDerm Herbal Spray at the affected areas. FidoDerm contains aloe vera and calendula to help promote healing, along with a nontoxic assortment of antibacterial and antifungal essential oils.

For more herbal and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

Accelerated Wound Healing

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Editorial Staff
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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal

Your dog just had surgery, stepped on broken glass, caught her tail in a door, has a puncture wound, got bit or scratched, tangled with barbed wire, or has an abrasion that came from who knows where. You want the wound to heal quickly without bleeding, pain, or infection. Here’s a remedy to help achieve that result.

Vinegar Rinse

Apple cider vinegar has long been used for first aid. Applied to cuts, wounds, dull fur, skin infections, calluses, and itchy areas, vinegar soothes skin, improves the coat, aids healing, and helps repel fleas and ticks.

For an old-fashioned skin tonic, try this simple blend of herbs in vinegar. Combine fresh or dried rosemary leaves, calendula blossoms, rose petals, juniper berries, lavender stalks or flowers, lemon peel, orange peel, sage, cinnamon, cloves, and/or chamomile blossoms, in any combination.

Arrange herbs loosely in a glass jar (fill only one-third full with dried herbs) and cover with raw (unpasteurized) organic cider vinegar. Seal tightly and leave the jar in a warm place, in or out of the sun, for a month or longer.

Strain, transfer to storage bottles, and keep in a cool, dark place. Shake well before using to improve coat condition, rinse wounds, heal sores, repel insects, and soothe irritated skin. For dogs with white or very light coats, substitute plain white vinegar.

For more herbal and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

Hot Spots

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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal
Excerpted from Holistic Remedies by CJ Puotinen et al.

Your dog has a weeping, oozing wound on her leg or a yucky red blob on the top of her head, and at first you wonder how she injured herself. But if you’ve been around the dog-care block, you realize that it isn’t a cut or a scrape. That gooey mess might be diagnosed as pyotraumatic dermatitis, wet eczema, or a Staphylococcus intermedius infection, but it’s what everyone calls a hot spot.

Most veterinarians treat hot spots after clipping and shaving fur around the lesion, a process that in severe cases can require sedation or the use of a local anesthetic. The area is washed with a disinfecting soap or rinsed with a liquid antiseptic. Astringents, anti-itch agents, antihistamines, hydrocortisone sprays or creams, drying agents, or antibiotics may be applied. In some cases topical treatment is accompanied by steroid infections or oral medication.

Because conventional therapies can have serious side effects and because hot spots are notorious for recurring, holistic veterinarians look beyond their obvious symptoms to their underlying causes.

According to Richard Pitcairn, DVM, PhD, author of Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, skin disorders stem from:

  • Toxicity, most of it from poor-quality food and some from environmental pollutants or topically applied pest-controlled chemicals.
  • Vaccinations, such as routinely administered multiple vaccines, which can induce immune disorders in susceptible animals.
  • Suppressed disease, the remains of inadequately treated conditions that were never cured and which may cause periodic discharge through the skin.
  • Psychological factors such as boredom, frustration, anger, and irritability.

So rather than focusing 100% on the symptoms, Dr. Pitcairn says “It is possible to alleviate or even eliminate skin problems simply through fasting, proper nutrition and a total health plan.”

For more information on holistic approaches to common canine conditions and illnesses, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

The Benefits of Fennel Seed

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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal

Kitchen herbs may seem lackluster without trendy, exotic sounding names but some of the most useful and safest herbs for animals are stored in our kitchens.

Fennel seed represents a good option for relief of gastric discomfort. A cooled tea works very well for this purpose; one teaspoon of the dried seeds in eight ounces of boiling water, steeped until cool. The tea can be fed at a rate of two to four tablespoons for each 20 pounds of your dog’s body weight, or it can be added to his drinking water, as generously as he will tolerate.

A glycerin tincture also works very well, and allows the convenience of a smaller dosage for finicky animals; 10-20 drops (or more precisely, up to 0.75 ml) per 20 pounds of the animal’s weight, as needed.

Fennel is high in vitamins C and A, calcium, iron, potassium, and varying amounts of linoleic acid. It is an especially good nutritional adjunct for dogs whose chronic indigestion cannot be attributed to a specific disease entity. Fennel also helps increase appetite, and freshens the breath – thanks to its antibacterial activity in the mouth – and by minimizing belching.

Fennel also has estrogen-like properties, which may explain why the herb has been used for centuries to increase milk production in nursing mothers. Some herbalists find that fennel helps alleviate urinary incontinence in spayed dogs by acting on hormone imbalances that contribute to the problem.

For more herbal and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

Herbal Treatments for Canine Arthritis

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Holistic Remedies eBook series from Whole Dog Journal

Plants provide vital natural sources of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements that many of today’s commercial diets just don’t provide, what with poor-quality and over-processed ingredients. And in our increasingly urbanized environment, many dogs don’t have the opportunity to forage and ingest healing plants they instinctively seek out when feeling distressed.

From herbal treatments, animals can derive not only nutritional benefits, but also gentle, non-invasive medicinal therapy. Herbal medicine works by strengthening the body’s physiological systems, rather than treating only individual presenting symptoms.

Just as in people, arthritis is probably the most common chronic health condition in older dogs. It is characterized by chronic inflammation and calcium deposits in the joints, leading to stiffness, swelling and pain.

A classic herb tea for arthritis uses equal parts alfalfa, burdock, and white willow. The first two are excellent detoxifiers, and white willow is an effective anti-inflammatory and pain relieving agent. In addition, alfalfa is full of nutrients. This is best administered as a tea, mixed in with the dog’s food and water. The liquid has a pleasant taste, but if a dog refuses it, squirt a teaspoon of the mixture into his mouth two or three times a day.

For more herbal and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook series from Whole Dog Journal, Holistic Remedies.

Dog Got Skunked?

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Editorial Staff
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Healthy Skin & Coat eBook from Whole Dog Journal
Excerpted from Healthy Skin and Coat by Nancy Kerns et al.

One of my friends posted on Facebook the other day, “What works best for skunk spray? My dog Pepper got skunked right before we were leaving for work!” (She gets to bring her dog to work — usually!)

I immediately responded: “Don’t wash her!” And my friend responded just as quickly, “Too late! Why?” If your dog gets hit with skunk spray, DO NOT wash him with water (or tomato juice or anything else). Get thee to a bottle of hydrogen peroxide! And a box of baking soda!

Chemist Paul Krebaum gets the credit for applying his chemistry knowledge to the age- old need for a substance that can neutralize the smell of skunk spray. He researched the putrid oil (which skunks can shoot out of special glands under their tails as a potent defense mechanism) and determined that the chemical responsible for the distinctive odor was in a class called thiols. The human nose is extremely sensitive to these organosulfur compounds, and can detect them at 10 parts per billion. But if you subject the substance to just the right compound, you can inactivate the chemicals responsible for the odor, as fast as a chemical reaction can occur.

A FORMULA THAT REALLY WORKS

Krebaum came up with a formula — a quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide and a 1⁄4 cup of baking soda — that would alter the thiols in skunk spray and render them odorless. He recommends using fresh peroxide (not an old bottle that’s been open for years). Stir together in a bucket or large bowl — NOT a bottle, as the mixture will bubble and produce gas bubbles (which could cause a plastic bottle to explode). A teaspoon or two of dishwashing liquid (such as Dawn) is added to make it easier to distribute the mix evenly through the dog’s hair.

He recommends you wet the dog thoroughly with the mixture, down to the skin. Be careful not to get any in your dog’s eyes (or cuts) however; it stings! I’ve used a sponge before to thoroughly wet my dog’s face without getting it in his eyes. (You can also put a sterile lubricant eye ointment — such as Artificial Tears — in your dog’s eyes first, which will help protect them from being stung by any of the mixture.)

After the dog is thoroughly wet, you shouldn’t be able to smell the skunk spray any more. If you can still smell it, you haven’t gotten every bit of the skunk oil wet with the mixture. Once the odor is neutralized, rinse the mixture off. I usually follow this rinse with a regular shampoo bath; even though you can’t smell the skunk spray any more, it’s still oily and a shampoo will help get it off the dog’s fur.

If you FIRST washed the dog with water (or tomato juice, or some other home remedy), sorry, this approach won’t be as effective as it could be. Water also affects the thiols, making the stinky substance resistant to being chemically neutralized.

To learn more about ways to keep your dog’s skin and coat clean, download Whole Dog Journal’s ebook Healthy Skin & Coat.

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