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Have you lot ever wondered how to remove tar from domestic dog fur?  Not long ago while at the domestic dog embankment my Aussie mix, Linus stepped in tar and immediately the black sludge clung to his hand pad and fur seemingly impossible to remove.

I honey taking Linus to the dog beach. He gets to interact with some of the other dogs, sprint forth the sand, and play in the water. Unfortunately, Stetson my guide dog in training is not allowed to visit canis familiaris beach (guide dogs rules — he'due south not allowed to visit any dog parks). If you've never been the Huntington Domestic dog Beach is located between 21st Street and Seapoint Street in beautiful Huntington Embankment, CA. They besides have a defended website at http://world wide web.dogbeach.org. I usually go to the dog embankment after work around 6 o'clock and find that it'due south usually not too crowded at that time.

Dog Beach
Pups Playing at a Dog Embankment

Photo Past Mike Baird

How To Remove Tar From Dog Fur

I grew up in nearby Fountain Valley and oftentimes went to the Huntington Urban center and State Beach. During my youth I remember stepping on tar in the sand and having a heck of a time removing it from the bottom of my foot. I tried water, lather, rubbing alcohol, and none successfully removed the tar from my foot in a quick or easy manner.

So, imagine my dismay when a few days agone later on returning from dog beach I found a large chunk of tar stuck right in the middle of Linus's manus and clumped together all over his fur on the bottom of his human foot. Well, I grabbed rubbing alcohol and tried furiously to remove the tar from his fur and pad. I'm pretty certain I got more than tar stuck to my hand then I did on the towel I was using (the tar I moved from Linus'south paw to my mitt was besides a pain to get off). I figured there has got to be a better way of removing tar from domestic dog fur, hand, and paw pad. I did a little online research and found 2 possible solutions.

Goo Gone To Remove Tar From Domestic dog Fur

[UPDATE – some of our readers have noticed skin irritation from Goo Gone fifty-fifty subsequently thoroughly washing their dog.  Delight go on with caution when handling any chemicals including Goo Gone around your dog or pet.]

Starting time, people said to attempt using vegetable oil…hmmm…I'll try anything once. The second solution was a product called Goo Gone. I made a run to the local grocery shop and found the vegetable oil and the Goo Gone. I decided to simply buy the Goo Gone and if that didn't work head back over to the store for the vegetable oil.

I put some of the Goo Gone on Linus'south paw and magically the tar began to melt away. Information technology was amazing! The clumped up tar basically began to liquify with the Goo Gone. After calculation a piddling Goo Gone I'd wipe Linus'south paw with an old rag so echo the process. After about 5 minutes I had all the tar out of Linus's fur and pad. My only business organisation was that the Goo Gone was irritating or hurting Linus's skin. He did non mutter, but I even so immediately rinsed his mitt with soap and water several times to make sure the Goo Gone was completely off his skin.

I never tried the vegetable oil and I'chiliad not sure if information technology works amend or worse and so the Goo Gone, just I highly recommend Goo Gone if you always take a tar situation with your dog or even if y'all get some tar stuck on yourself.

I'm sure we are all prepared to launder our dogs after a fun day at dog beach.  Still, have you encounter any special situations where something gross like tar gets stuck in your dogs fur glaze?  What have you done to remove tar or whatever other nasty substance from your dogs fur?  I detest to use chemicals similar Goo Gone so I'd love to know how y'all remove tar from dog fur.  Tell the states about it in the annotate section below.

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Colby Morita has been raising and preparation guide and service dog puppies for over 13 years. He has puppy graduates from Guide Dogs of America, Tender Loving Canine Help Dogs, Cascade Service Dogs, and Canine Support Teams. Colby has been writing to the PuppyInTraining.com weblog and sharing his puppy training tips from his experiences since 2007. Follow his puppy adventures at Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest