Is there a trick to getting asphalt/tar out of a dog's fur?

[grntuscarora]

Potholes in our area were recently filled and evidently I walked Bean, the beagle, through some "wet" areas which splashed onto his coat. We gave him a bath but that didn't help. I tried cutting out the tar, but he's a short haired dog and I couldn't cut down far enough, although I did get some out. I suppose it will shed out eventually, but does anyone know of a treatment to remove tar that is safe on his skin/fur?

[mopinko]

1. paint thinner

there is a less toxic paint thinner, but the name escapes me. turpenoid?
maybe mineral oil.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Try vegetable/olive oil. nt

[grntuscarora]

3. Thanks! Will try. n/t

[skamaria]

4. This might work.

Try lavender oil it get's tar off car paint......

[TorchTheWitch]

8. would you happen to know if that would get off pine sap from a car?

I've yet to find anything that takes off pine sap that won't damage the paint. Actually, I've yet to find anything that gets off pine sap from anything, period.

[Cracklin Charlie]

5. Like dissolves like

I would try something oily first.

[Texasgal]

6. Baby oil

Use a little bit on a cotton swab!

[grntuscarora]

7. This morning we rubbed olive oil

on the worst areas and were able to comb and pull out a lot of the mess. He smells like a Greek salad, though.
Next trip to the store I'll pick up some mineral or baby oil and give that a try too, because there are a couple of clumps that just wouldn't come out.
He looks a lot better now.
Thanks, all.

[TorchTheWitch]

9. If you use another oil that's not edible make sure you clean

the spots you used it on so he won't lick it off. Plain mineral oil without any added chemicals would probably be ok, but if he ends up licking up a lot off his fur he may get the runs.

Try letting the oil soak in for a little while... that might help break up the tar. Just make sure while it's soaking in he doesn't lick. My first Akita had sebaceous addenitis so I had to douse him in olive oil about every 3 weeks and let it soak in for an hour or two. The hardest part was keeping him from licking while it soaked in, so I'd lock us in the bathroom and he'd lay on the floor while I sat on the edge of the tub or the potty and read to him out loud from whatever book I was reading. Kept him distracted and I got some reading in. That was only during the cold or hot months when we couldn't do it all outside. If it wasn't too hot or too cold I'd just walk him until the oil was done soaking in. I also figured out that extra virgin olive oil isn't nearly as stinky and works just as well.

[CountAllVotes]

10. My old standby

I know it sounds weird but try some nail polish remover.

That takes about every off of anything from my experience.

I hope this helps!