Doggie Perfumes

There are all sorts of brands of dog perfumes and body splashes on the market, but must of them contain harsh chemicals and alcohol that can dry and irritate the coat. No one wants their pooch to smell nice at the expense of a shiny and beautiful coat, and at the expense of their pup’s health, wellbeing and comfort.

I actually grew up making my own linen spray (my mom taught me how when I was 8) out of water and organic lavender oil. I kept it in a spray bottle and would spritz my sheets and pillowcase each night before bed (and sometimes spritz myself). I have always had trouble sleeping and the lavender did seem to have a very calming effect on me. It was so simple to make this spray – simply fill a spray bottle with water (I prefer filtered or bottled water for this purpose) and add 10-15 drops of organic lavender essential oil (add more for a stronger scent) and shake before using. In the same way I made this linen/sheet spray I have made similar natural fly repellents for horses and “perfumes” for dogs. When I am making a dog perfume I prefer to go with essential oils of citrus fruits (think grapefruit, lemon, orange and lime) with a small amount of lavender, and a small amount of chamomile – but really it is up to your own personal scent preferences. Making your own dog perfumes with organic essential oils (which can be found in health food stores) is cost effective in the long haul, but the initial cost of the essential oils can quickly add up. The annoying part of making it yourself is you do have to shake it before use, so if you’d like a store bought natural option I’d recommend the Pure Dog Freshener.

(I took this photo with my webcam, and I apologize that it is a mirror image -
thus the font on the bottle is backwards)

Pure Dog Freshener is a green product, and will not harm the environment and when you have finished the bottle you can recycle the empty bottle to be extra environmentally friendly. As an all natural product, I have found this to not irritate Milly what-so-ever. On the contrary, I have experience with the non-natural, chemical containing doggie perfumes, because the groomers at Petsmart and other large scale big box store groom salons sometimes use the harsher chemical perfumes on her post bath, and these cause irritations to her skin. The nice thing about the mostly rubbing alcohol, high in chemical, non-natural dog body splashes and perfumes is they come in a variety of scents (everything from Vanilla to Pina Colada to Strawberry Splash – whatever that is), but at the expense of an itchy dog it really is not worth it to me.

I love the rejuvenating aroma of the citrus scents, and Milly does not seem to mind being spritzed down one bit with either the Pure Dog Freshener. Because citruses can irritate the eyes please use caution when trying this product on your dog, and be sure to avoid their face. I have found that using Pure Dog Freshener every few days can add an extra week to Milly’s grooming sessions before she starts to smell like “a dog”, and to me that is worth it! I bought my bottle for under $10 (I want to say in the $5-8 range, but can’t remember) at a small mom-and-pop pet supply store specializing in carrying natural and high-end pet products. It was worth every cent, and I love the scent!

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