I love taking Linus to the dog beach. He gets to interact with some of the other dogs, sprint along the sand, and play in the water. Unfortunately, Stetson my guide dog in training is not allowed to visit dog beach (guide dogs rules — he’s not allowed to visit any dog parks). If you’ve never been the Huntington Dog Beach is located between 21st Street and Seapoint Street in beautiful Huntington Beach, CA. They also have a dedicated website at http://www.dogbeach.org. I usually go to the dog beach after work around 6 o’clock and find that it’s usually not too crowded at that time.
I grew up in nearby Fountain Valley and often went to the Huntington City 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, soap, 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 ago after returning from the beach I found a big chunk of tar stuck right in the middle of Linus’s paw and clumped together all over his fur on the bottom of his foot. Well, I grabbed rubbing alcohol and tried furiously to remove the tar from his fur and pad. I’m pretty sure I got more tar stuck to my hand then I did on the towel I was using (the tar I moved from Linus’s paw to my hand was also a pain to get off). I figured there has got to be a better way of removing tar from dog fur, hand, and paw pad. I did a little online research and found two possible solutions. First, people said to try 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 store and found the vegetable oil and the Goo Gone. I decided to just purchase 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’s paw and magically the tar began to melt away. It was amazing! The clumped up tar basically began to liquify with the Goo Gone. After adding a little Goo Gone I’d wipe Linus’s paw with an old rag then repeat the process. After about 5 minutes I had all the tar out of Linus’s fur and pad. My only concern was that the Goo Gone was irritating or hurting Linus’s skin. He did not complain, but I still immediately rinsed his paw 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’m not sure if it works better or worse then the Goo Gone, but I highly recommend Goo Gone if you ever have a tar situation with your dog or even if you get some tar stuck on yourself.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Olive Oil (the only oil we had around the house) worked!
Thanks Rob. I still have the Goo Gone, but will try the Olive Oil next time to see if it’s a better solution then the Goo gone.
I just found this site because we are having our driveway re-paved today and my dog got out of the house and ran through it!! When I saw that the recommendations for removing tar were toxic chemicals, which we do not use in our house, and especially do not use on ourselves or our little girl (female miniature dachshund) I decided to use the first thing that came to my mind…Thieves household cleaner. Olive oil sound like a good idea too, definitely a safer alternative. However, olive oil is a bit sticky and messy!!
This is a 100% pure natural and safe cleaner that uses therapeutic grade essential oils. I purchase it from Young Living and I have been a distributor with them for several years because I purchase such a large quantity of their products that I decided to save myself money by acquiring their wholesale membership. I sprayed this diluted cleaner on her feet and the tar just starting running off!! I rubbed her feet and sprayed the cleaner a few more times and it completely came off…no petroleum products or toxic chemicals needed!! I am so relieved!!
If anyone is interested in this product you can purchase it at the Young Living website. My distributor number is 510736. You can order it there and choose to get your own wholesale membership also if you want to save money on these products.
I am so happy about this that I just had to share it with everyone!! I am studying to be a holistic doctor so I am a bit on the cautious side when it comes to products that can harm you. These products definitely are safe.
@Lori, thanks for letting us know about Thieves household cleaner. We’ll definitely try that or olive oil next time. Hopefully my dogs don’t walk through tar again, but just in case it’s good to know our options when cleaning out tar.
At the time I thought I’d never get the tar out of Linus’s fur and thought anything I could use to remove the tar would be great. It’s nice to have a 100% natural and safe cleaner as an option.
By the way when I used the Goo Gone I made sure to thoroughly wash Linus’s paw after the tar was all gone.
Thank you so much! My husband took our 2 labs up the coast and came back with one sad dog. She had tar stuck on her pad and acted like she was sick. I tried Goo Gone, because that’s what I had and use it for everything else, and it immediately took the tar off. She perked up right away. I was home with our puppy-in-training for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and will pass this tip on to others. Thank you again, Mari
@Mari, I was having a fit when Linus got tar on his pad in the fur on his foot. I tried washing with soap…I tried rubbing alcohol…nothing worked, but the Goo Gone was like magic. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get the tar out with the Goo Gone.
I’m glad you found the information helpful and happy to hear that your lab is doing well.
Eucalyptus essential oil works just fine – and on people too.
I didn’t want to use Goo Gone because of the warnings on the label (“If ingested, call the poison center immediately”). So, I cut out as much tar as I could from my dog’s paw and then used vegetable oil on a dish rag and gently rubbed it out. Then, a little shampoo and water to get the oil out, and he was as good as new.