I won’t keep you in suspense. What’s worse is a dog who has rolled in a long-dead, rotten salmon carcass. Rolled at length and luxuriously, while ignoring the calls and whistles of her foster provider—even after being abandoned by the other dogs, who did heed their owners’ calls. Rolled and pressed both sides of her face and neck and shoulders in the carcass. Rolled so hard that she was dotted with chunks of rotten stinking flesh and slathered with greasy, fetid salmon fat. This is perhaps the most horrible thing a dog can do—to us. It’s also apparently one of the most wonderful things they can do for themselves.
I was out hiking with a friend and her 10-month-old German Shepherd, Timber. Like Maeve (my foster dog), Timber had been deprived of off-leash walks for a few days, and both young dogs were desperate for exercise, despite the fact that it was raining—not hard, but steadily. My friend and I met at a location that would take us on a loop around a woodsy part of the Oroville Wildlife Area, with the last mile of about three miles following the Feather River back to where we parked our cars.
Ordinarily, I stay well away from the river for a few months, starting in September, because the Feather is filled with salmon, who spawn in gravel beds in the frigid water. Remember, salmon die after spawning, and so, starting around September, the banks of the river (and the riverbed itself) become littered with dead salmon. Buzzards eat their fill of the dead fish, so much that they can barely fly after feasting. Foxes, coyotes, raccoons, crows—all sorts of other animals also consume the dead fish, dragging their carcasses well away from the river and up into the woods. In due time—perhaps late January—all that’s left of the carnage are some salmon backbones and some hunks of greasy fish skin, but right now, in mid-December, there are still a few stinking fleshy carcasses washing ashore here and there.
Still, though we were walking parallel to the river, we were staying below the levee that keeps the river from flooding. To get to the dead salmon, our dogs would have to run 150 feet or so up a steep embankment, cross the dirt road along the top of the levee, and then run down a nearly vertical bank to the river below. I felt confident that if our dogs started to run up the levee, we’d be able to call them back before they ran to the river.
But then the dogs spotted a deer, and were so preoccupied with the urge to give chase, we had to put them on leash, and they were pulling and generally being punks. So we decided to walk on the road on top of the levee, to put some distance between us and the woods that the deer disappeared into . . . which put us closer to the river.
We walked for probably a quarter mile or more with the dogs basically staying with us, before my darling dog Boone decided he wanted a drink of water and suddenly went over the embankment down toward the river, with foster dog Maeve at his heels. My friend called her dog and he stopped at the edge of the steep bank, watching my dogs (who were out of my sight, below). I shouted my emergency recall cue (“Boone, HERE!”) and I could see from Timber’s body language that Boone had heard me and responded pretty quickly; Timber bounced playfully backward in anticipation of Boone scrambling up the bank toward him, and then Boone himself appeared. But not Maeve. Oh, please dog, let it not be what I am afraid it is!
I called again. And again. And finally, a full minute later, here came Maeve. She was still a hundred feet away when my friend and I smelled her, and we both literally gagged. The stench! It was absolutely the worst! And yet, I had to reward her for finally coming when called! I threw a handful of treats on the ground, and we headed back toward our cars, brainstorming the whole way: How could I get her to a bath without stinking up my car? Could I call my husband and ask him to come meet us with our truck? But she had never been in the back of a truck, even if I tied her in, it would likely freak her out. Did I have any crates that he could load into the truck? At the moment, I don’t. I had to make do.
Fortunately, I have thick blanket that I use to cover the back seat of my car. I ended up cross-tying Maeve in the back seat, using a leash tied to the grab handles above each of the back windows. I had to tie her short enough so she could not reach either door to lean on—she likes to put her head out of the window, and believe me, the only way I could drive without vomiting would be with all four windows all the way down. (If fish had gotten on the upholstery of my car, I would have to burn it to the ground. It would be unsellable.) Because Boone, too, seemed to have a little fish on him (perhaps just from colliding with Maeve as we walked), I made him ride in the back seat, too. I drove the five miles home trying not to breathe.
Oh, there is nothing as much fun as washing a dog outdoors in the rain (I was not going to bring her into the house!). I attached a garden hose to the hot water tap that usually serves my washing machine, and ran the hose out the small window in the back door. I filled several buckets with hot water, added just enough cold water to make the temperature comfortable for Maeve, but also warm enough to cut through the grease, and washed her four times: first with Dawn dish soap, then with a commercial de-skunking solution (which did not seem to significantly reduce the odor), then with the homemade de-skunking solution of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda (which did actually seem to help), and then once more with Dawn. Though I could still smell fish in her coat, my back could take no more. I dried her and put her in the Great Dane crate in my office.
Then I washed Boone, who had just a little fish smell on him. I used the last quart of hydrogen peroxide I had to make one more batch of de-skunking solution, and then washed him with Dawn. He got banished to my office to dry, too.
Lessons learned:
- It’s not safe to take an off-leash dog within a quarter mile of the Feather River (or any river where salmon spawn) from September to at least (I’m going to guess) the end of January. Especially foster dogs who aren’t all that reliably trained yet.
- Always keep an old blanket in your car when traveling with dogs. And an extra leash.
- The home-prepared de-skunking solution works on other really disgusting, putrid odors, too.
I hope you can learn from my mistakes!
PS: Make me feel better: What’s the worst thing your dog has ever rolled in?
I had a springer who rolled in dead beaver. She was very proud of herself. The other dogs huddled in the far back of the car while she sat in the front seat as we drove home. We were able to wash the chunks off in the creek before getting her home but nothing really worked until we made a baking soda paste and gave her a massage with warm water and the paste. She enjoyed the extra attention. The others dogs steered clear of her for a while. Their sensitive noses probably could still smell it. It helped tremendously that we go to the creek daily and, being a springer, she loved to swim. So daily swims and baking soda and everything else we could think of, and time. She looked for that dead beaver every day for years!
Horse manure
Not sure what critter left it behind but our girl loved to scrape her neck into the feces of whatever creature had been so kind to leave a deposit overnight. Oh and skunk, several times for all three dogs.
Nice save with the blanket and cross tie!
The de-skunking recipe also cuts the stank of Very. Foul. Feces. I don’t know if it was from a ginormous dog or a human (the homeless occasionally take up residence in our neighborhood park), but whomever it was, they were experiencing a gastro issue at the time of expulsion. 🤢 My dear, sweet dog had to joyously roll all up in it as though he’d won the Mega Lottery. (He was off-leash for a spell while the park was empty.) Fortunately we walk to the park, so my car was spared. Sadly, I was downwind on the walk home. Dogs are gross! 🤣
Ditto!
Can anything be more revolting?
My three bassets found a very dead squirrel in the backyard. They rolled in it. Then the oldest ate some and predictably threw up said squirrel. The youngest rolled in the vomit as well. I had spent all day the day before doing a spay day and cleaning house all day because I was hosting an event that day. So, I had to rebathe all 3 all over again. I did think to use the hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dawn on them. They got to dry in their crates in their bedroom. It just made for a very hectic day, when I had gone out of my way to make it be simple.
I am lucky…..the prize object to roll on for the entire life of my 12 year old border collie has been dead earthworms. She makes a big show of throwing herself on the ground and rolling, but they are so tiny and normally in the grass so little evidence remains on her coat. She’s happy and I’m happy it’s not the early spring loose stools of the local deer that my other dog covets.
Years ago, my 75 lb mix rolled in dead deer. I wasn’t too far from the creek, and washed the solids off him b/f going into the car. I still remember the smell. I must have washed him inside, b/c I didn’t have access to an outside hose at the time. It was a bad smell, but from what you describe I don’t think it was as bad as stinking fish!
50some years ago, we made a last minute stop at the beach in San Francisco before driving home to Chico. Dog found a dead seal. That was a fun drive!
Fresh human diarrhea.
I win.
Bear poop that had been feeding on rotten fish and blueberries. My friends golden retriever was beyond delighted with his find. We were traveling in Canada in two RV’s and many miles from warm water. The odor was horrific. She ended up wading into a glacier fed lake with her dog to scrub him down. She came out almost hypothermic and the a golden, still fragrant, with a huge green splotch where the poop had been. (Green and gold makes blue). I was so grateful we weren’t traveling in one rig!
When we were living in Moscow, Russia we went cross country skiing with our little mutt dog, off leash and went by a pond where ducks and geese were overwintering. When we got back to our car we packed everything and put Pietje on my husband’s lap. Then after driving for say 2 minutes we started gagging, I looked over and our little mutt was covered in goose poop – slimed everywhere – we drove a 45 minutes home negative 20 degrees with all windows and sun roof open – yes that was a disaster cold smelly ride
My female Lab/Golden, Layla got skunked really badly right in the face when she was a pup. She was gagging and vomiting. I thought I might have to take her to the vet. I cleaned her with the baking soda/peroxide/dish soap concoction, and she was fine. Layla has always given skunks a wide berth ever since. Then we got Nacho, a stray German Shepherd. He got skunked repeatedly. He never learned. (RIP my love). We still have Layla (she is 10 years old), and now we have Yukon, a Silver Lab. Another slow learner. He gets skunked several times a year. It seems like the females are smarter than the males.
Eagle poop from eagles feeding on spawning and dead rotting spawned out salmon. Our home is located next to a salmon spawn stream in Alaska. We get dozens of eagles feeding and pooping on the beach where the stream enters the ocean creating a lovely poop covered area until the tides comes in. Then the tide goes out and a new poop blanket is deposited. I have to avoid the beach except for just as the tide starts going out since the dogs will drop and roll even when on leash. 🤢
At the very least, this is the most bizarre. My long haired husky mix rolled his entire body on the enormous, rotted tongue sticking out of the mouth of a (sadly) beached and dead grey whale calf on the Washington coast. I’m not sure which was worse; cleaning Kosmo’s thick, hairy coat or dealing with the grief it caused to see that little whale.
Right alongside you with the dead salmon. We used to have an English Cocker who was a wonderful little bird gun dog and definitely thought she was born to be a bush dog. We often travelled, with our truck and camper, to an Alaskan river to fish for sockeye. Of course the spawned out dead fish were good rolling material, but one day she must have eaten one and had diarrhea. no vet in that small town so I bought pink people stuff in grocery store. All that did was result in a camper full of pink diarrhea the next morning! She had salmonella that our vet at home fixed with drugs. Her other favorite pastime was poop rolling; bear was the best but wolf, moose anything would do. Down into it with the right shoulder first but had to make sure the long ear was plastered too. Animal poop I could handle but one day she hopped into back seat of car with my parents who were visiting from England. After my saying I had to find creek for the clean up, my father asked “do the bears around here use toilet tissue?” There was my proud and much loved Sherry covered in poop that had bits of toilet tissue in it! Human poop was almost my limit. The emergency creek shampoo with my husbands shaving cream also resulted in a scissor job that left her with a lot of missing hair on one ear. So much fun living with a nature loving dog!
We were 2 hours from home on a cold day at the Oregon coast. My mom’s doberman rolled in a very ripe dead seal carcass. We didn’t have a blanket, but we dressed him in an old sweatshirt to help protect the seats. It was beyond awful, driving home in the freezing cold with all the windows open, then upon arrival, giving him several cold hose water baths to try to reduce the stench somewhat before we brought him into the bathroom for proper bathing.
I took my first dog, Caesar, to the cove and he found a decomposed squirrel on the bank and rolled in it. It was pretty far gone as in almost a mummy and pretty dry so he didn’t get much stink on him. He then went swimming in the salt water. I had a towel on the seat and when we got home he was immediately given a bath so there wasn’t much stink left.
On the other hand Ramses once got skunked in the face and I used the home made deskunker (which I’ve known about for years before your article) and did my best on his face but he still had a slight whiff especially if he got wet. My endearing nickname for him was “skunkface” but I always said it with a smile and an endearing inflection.
My old grrl Laurel Snaps, esq. loved to roll in anything stinky. Her worst was a swamp near Lincoln Nebraska. It smelled of many, many decomposing dead things. She was so proud!! That smell was hard to remove, too! On the other hand, fresh human poop was my other old pup’s only foray into deliberate smelliness. Awful!!! (other people’s comment contain some worse things, though – ugh!)
Have had 2 dogs skunked – one right in the face at short distance. I found the fastest and best way to help him was paper towels. Since skunk (and fish) are oily, soaking up those oils asap helps a lot. It removed much of the oil on my dog’s face and eyes, where the frothing and pain were (his crying was pitiful). II think soaking up the oil from all over him also reduced the amount of oil I had to deal with in the bathing process and made the peroxide solution more effective. Now I make sure I have paper towels and peroxide always on hand – but the paper towel discovery has been key!!
Human feces. Not sure if it’s the smell, or just the knowing what it is that makes it so disgusting!