1. Sprayed by a Skunk - Mix 4 cups of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda and 2 Tablespoons of Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Do not wet or bath your dog... Massage the mixture into teh dogs fur (AVOIDING THE EYES). Let the mixture stay on the dog for at least 5 - 10 minutes and then rinse. You might need to repeat this many times. Also, if you have a black or dark coated dog, the hydrogen peroxide might bleach the fur a bit. It helps to keep these ingredients on hand as you never know when your dog could get sprayed by a skunk.
2. Anal Sac Discharge - Sometimes when dogs are startled, frightened, or get injured, they will empty their anal sacs, which smells horrible. To clean up and get rid of the smell, take witch hazel (an astringent that can be found at most drug stores) and put it in a small spray bottle and spray it on the affected area. Then wipe it off with a paper towel. Repeat one more time and then dry it up with a paper towel. The smell will disappear.
3. Paint - If you just finished painting your house and you have discovered that your dogs tail has paint in it, DO NOT USE turpentine or petroleum!
If it is water based or latex paint and it has not yet dried, give your dog a bath with warm water and a strong shampoo. Follow up with a conditioner to ensure the coat does not dry out. You can use Dawn Liquid dish soap if necessary. If it is water based paint and it is already dry, massage the shampoo into the area, let it stand for about 10 - 15 minutes, then gently comb it out.
If it is oil-based paint, gob on olive oil to the area and massage it for at least 10 minutes. DO NOT let your dog lick it off! For dogs with long fur, you can wrap the area with a plastic bag and leave the olive oil on for longer, say an hour or so. Carefully comb through the area, adding more olive oil if needed until the paint is out. Lastly, give the dog a bath and shampoo the olive oil out.
4. Tree Sap - The easiest way to get sap out of the fur is to use aerosol hair spray. Spray on the area that has the sap, then gently rub the area between your fingers. Once it is broken up, comb the area with a fine-toothed comb and be gentle in case you did not get it all. The sap will magically disappear. Then use small amount of Dawn dish soap and water to remove the hairspray.
5. Chewing Gum - You can use peanut butter to get chewing gum out of the dogs fur, especially if you do not want to cut it out. If the gum is stuck in fur between the dogs toes, you can gently carefully cut it out, but I would still prefer to use peanut butter. Simply take a liberal amount of peanut butter and massage it with your fingers in the area where the gum is until it loosens. Once you have the gum removed wash the area with warm water and shampoo to remove the peanut butter. Even though your dog would probably prefer to lick off the remaining peanut butter, it is best to just clean it up completely. This way you can make sure you got all the gum out.
