Bouvier Grooming

Note from the webmaster:

I am not representing that any of these potions work or don't work since I've had no personal experience using any of them. And I take no responsibility for the results from using them on your Bouv [or other animal] -- good or bad.

These potions were excerpted from a public email list and re-published here with the authors' permission.

Jan Rifkinson

A shampoo:

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 QT. peroxide
1 teaspoon antibacterial soap [ex: Joy, Dawn]
1/4 cup baking soda
Mix in a gallon container, fill the rest with water
Leave on for 10 mins
Rinse and re-apply
Leave on for another 10 mins

A Spray:

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 quart peroxide
mix with 1 quart water.

-- Lesley [NJ]

I have been grooming for 30 years.

I know that Massingill Douche [...] work[s].
The original old yellow powder, mixed to 3x its suggested strength.
Wash the dog thoroughly & the best grease cutter is good -- I always used Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid
Towel dry
Put the Massingill mixture in an old dishwashing detergent bottle and squirt it all over the affected areas, liberally soaking it
Allow the dog to air dry

The only thing that really completely cures this odor when the dog gets damp is about 8 months but the douche works better than all else I have ever tried and isn't sticky or smelly or messy, won't stain furniture, etc.

-- Sally [Australia]

Toothpaste - any brand

wet the dog down
squeeze on the toothpaste in dollops
scrub the dog just like you were using shampoo
rinse. Voila - a minty-flavored bouv.

A medium-sized bouv takes between a quarter to a half a medium sized tube (I know from experience :-) )

-- Katie [Halifax]

The best way to get skunk out is to wash the dog with antibacterial dish soap. Skunk is a grease and dish soap removes grease better than any other shampoo. One wash and it's done.

-- Colleen

1/3 c. vanilla extract
1/3 cup dish detergent
1/3 cup shampoo
mix in large bowl
add 1/3 c. baking soda and work the foam in

works beautifully!!! and this is from experience, not academia!!!

-- Glenn

I have never had to use this on the boys yet but as friends and other family members have, and said it works, I keep the "recipe" at hand.

1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (any drug store will have this)
1/4 cup of baking soda
1 teaspoon of liquid soap

The soap breaks up the oils in the skunk spray and allows the other ingredients in the solution to work.

The solution should be rinsed off the pet with tap water.

DO NOT STORE ANY LEFTOVER SOLUTION AS IT MIGHT EXPLODE!!!
The hydrogen peroxide & the baking soda create a chemical reaction that will explode if stored together. Make up just enough to use once.

-- Laine [Nova Scotia]