Any hints or tips in how to remove an oil based liquid bitumen emulsion from a dogs coat?

To cut to the chase, I got my old bitmac back yard sanded and sealed with an oil based liquid bitumen emulsion a few days ago to preserve it against the elements. Contractor told me to be careful because yard would be tacky for a number of days and potentially weeks with the sun and muggy weather we've been having not helping the curing process. I was told to watch for residue sticking to shoes etc and if I needed to walk on yard during sticky extreme temperatures to sprinkle water from a hose on surface and walk away, and that worked great even though it wasn't ideal.

I had kept one of the dogs outside locked behind yard past few days when he was out the back, today however before my daughter headed away she put the dog out back but didn't lock him up, he had the run of newly coated yard and low and behold when I got home I was shocked to see his once shiny coat destroyed in a thick black bitumen. He had been lying on the newly bitumen coated yard and it wasn't hard to tell the area either. His coat has stuck to yard and the tar had even rubbed off the yard in area he had been rolling. I even caught him rubbing and rolling his back on yard before I got to him and I suspect that was because bitumen was irritating his skin.

His coat is now ruined, thick in the bitumen/sand mix and I don't know what to do, wife suggests we get coat sheared off, but I believe that'll only make matters worse because he could potentially be rubbed raw if he starts rolling on a hard surface again due to irritation especially with no coat.

Can anyone recommend a product which can break down oil based tar, and is more importantly pet friendly. Another problem we have, he hates getting soaked in water, so hosing him down after cleaning won't be easy, but that currently is the least of my concern. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

unfortunately the best option would be to trim as much of it off as possible and then try washing off any remainder.

swarfega breaks down oily substances, so it could be worth a go, massage it directly onto his coat for about 10 minutes and see if it helps.
the original green gel type is fine to use, though i'm not sure about any others.
follow this with a normal shampoo. unfortunately all this will take all the natural oils out of his remaining coat too, so a doggy conditioner to follow may be an idea.

give your vet a call to be sure as well, if the sealant is on his skin, he may be absorbing toxins through his skin which could be bad news for him, likewise if he licks at any of himself.
they will be able to offer further advice as well.

i'd bawl my eyes out if it were my dog, but the above is exactly what i would do if it were him.

fur grows back, it's best to get the possibly harmful substance off of him as soon as possible and worry about if he may rub too hard against something else later when it happens.
if the substance it sticking his fur together, it will likely be tugging his skin which could be the cause of the irritation.

What type of dog his he, I would get him shaved by either a groomer or a vet. Vet would be best. They might even be able too wash it off too

Thanks for replies. Swarfega, now that's actually a very good idea. Unfortunately his coat is thick in the bitumen residue which has congealed for now because temperature has cooled, but it's my fear when tomorrow comes the residue will once again soften in the heat. Maybe that would be an ideal time to attempt to scrape as much tar off as I can, then again scraping off could be causing more problems in itself.

He's a Staffie, a docile old fool pushing 10 who is still very active and fit, he never grew up and we all love him to bits. If he'd any sense he wouldn't have been rolling in a liquid tar surface in hot weather. Being black the newly coated yard is a magnet for the sun and the surface temperature would have been extreme. I don't know how he withstood the searing pain.

Vet defiantley, he may have ingested some.

Try wd40 (yes really), obviously making sure it rinsed well. The main ingredient is fish oil of all things and it removes all sorts, perfectly safe on the skin, and afaik not an issue if ingested in small amounts, but it's worth trying to avoid that!

Please take him to the vet, if he starts licking it, he'll probably get very poorly indeed. They'll have specialist shampoo to get it off, or if nothing else they can give you a cone of shame for him, so he can't lick it whilst you work at getting it off.

Many years ago my husband returned home with the dog and her paws were caked in tar.
The council had relayed the lane at the bottom of our garden and the tar had run off into the side.
I phoned the vet and they said to use Swarfega, its what they use when a sea bird is bought in with oil on is feathers.
I used it and it worked a treat, since then I always keep a pot just in case.

this stuff
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mykal-Sticky...+marks+remover

or any other orange oil based cleaner should break it right down.

it's really handy stuff, it's also suitable to use on cats for tar removal.

we always have it in as it's good for cleaning male guinea pigs grease glands before a bath. very handy stuff.
only a quid at poundworld too

How's he doing OP? Any joy?

No it isn't.

On a car forum it was suggested that butter or margarine could be used to remove tar (from cars).

What an eventful few days. There are different types of Swarfega for different applications, so I tried the 'Heavy Duty' version which claims to work better at removing oil and paint, well low and behold, no joy! waste of time. Didn't want to try WD40 for knowing my accident prone dog, he'd get set alight by either a discarded cigarette butt, or a freak lightning bolt.

Took him to the vet on Monday, vet said because the bitumen had solidified, there's not much he could do other than shear the coat off, he even suggested I could do that myself with a Wahl clipper which I intend to do. He also said that given time the hard tar combined with hair would likely fall off on its own accord. So I'm going to purchase a set of clippers this coming weekend, but for now he's looking like something hauled over the coals backwards. And to make matters worse, if his coat wasn't in bad enough condition it's now got a layer of white paint on it in places. I was painting the garage doors yesterday and he was backed up against one of the newly painted doors sunning himself. I could've exploded.

Tried washing up liquid??

Ok - I laughed - I know how a mental image of your dog trying to become a zebra! LOL... Photo!!!!???!!!! lol

It was at this point that I suspected (or hoped) that the whole story is a wind-up?!