<p>My dog was skunked in April. The dog and skunk were under the deck when it happened. Of course, there is also a crawl space vent to the space under my family room right there also. I used the peroxide solution for my dog and that worked well. The key was leaving it on him for 5-10 minutes before rinsing and repeating it four times. The house was another story. I thought I was going to go insane before I got that smell to go away. We burned lots of candles and incense and used a few cans of Febreze to no avail. I tried bowls of vinegar around the rooms most affected and that helped a little, but not enough. Then I put straight vinegar in a spray bottle and sprayed the whole house a few times a day. The vinegar smell WAS better than the skunk smell. Finally, we had a really good rain which washed the deck and, I presume, under the deck also. Then the smell was finally gone. I live in fear of another skunking but I’m hoping the skunk is too smart to come back.</p>
<p>The problem is that the skunks breed. It’s not all one skunk. Skunks also move around a lot. So the next skunk that shows up under your deck may be a different skunk. The solution is to make the area under your deck completely inaccessible to small critters. It makes to do that at a time when you don’t have a skunk…</p>
<p>I think that the commercial skunk smell removers work best. I personally like Natural Chemistry. </p>
<p>DO NOT WASH THE DOG FIRST. Dog in tub, pour the skunk remover liquid over the dog. Mild skunking, you can towel them with a towel soaked in the magic elixer. Serious skunking, pour it on directly and massage it in. Let it all stand for 10 minutes. Rinse off, then shampoo with good quality dog shampoo. (I like earthbath).</p>
<p>There’s also a new option on the market that (thankfully) I have not had to try yet. It’s by LM Animal Farms and comes as shampoo plus spray.</p>
<p>Yes calmom- I am taking steps to secure the area under the deck again. My last dog busted through the lattice (120 pound Alaskan Malamute liked to hang out under the deck… skunks never came around when SHE lived here). I’m putting chicken wire with lattice this time. <em>fingers crossed</em> If all else fails, I’ve been wanting to get rid of the deck and put in a patio instead so this could be a good excuse to finally do that.</p>