Oh-My-Dog Smell-so-nice DIY EO Shampoo

My two babies: Clooney the King and Kayla the Princess :)

I am a BIG dog lover! My husband and I adopted two stray dogs (mongrel) from the street of Singapore a few years ago. They are called Singapore Specials here, (such a respectful name)! The elder one is 5.5 years old – Mr. Clooney George Louis, and the younger one is 4.5 years old – Ms. Kayla Moss Louis. (yes, they have Hollywood names, just because they are quite big stars here in their hometown if not internationally yet :D ). 

If you are familiar with any mongrels (mixed breed dogs), you may know that they tend to be more prone to having sensitive skin or skin disease . It could be due to their genetic history, as you can imagine how good can your skin be if you have to live on the street bearing hot sun and thunderstorm on daily basis?! It could also be triggered by the different diet that was more adaptable to only domesticated (pure breed) pets. Street dogs might be eating scraps from the bin all the times, but scraps are still considered real food! Unlike commercial dry pet food that are packed with foreign preservatives and chemicals, (no offense to those who are feeding your pets commercial dry food). So from very earlier on, we decided to ditch those dry food, and made the commitment to cook home-cook-meal for them. It is just something simple, like steam chicken/pork and some vegetables that are easier to be digested, such as carrot, pumpkin, yam, french beans, celery, etc. (yes, they eat more healthy than us!) 

But even with the "luxurious" home cooking, they still can't escape from a few episodes of skin allergy outbreak every year. Some are due to environmental pollutants such as home cleaning agents that are full of harmful chemicals, dust, or grass after the rain sometimes. At one point, I was so frustrated that I couldn't do anything more to help soothe their itch, and I broke down crying or often got so mad at my husband when he asked me to take them to the vet again. All that the vets could do was to give them unnecessary steroid shots or antibiotics, which resulted in episodes of diarrhea.)

Little Kayla's skin used to be so so so bad!

So what really helped them at the end, (on top of eliminating some potential allergens in food),  is by making our own DIY shampoo with the therapeutic graded essential oils. (After a rather intensive research, I chose the ones from Young Living because it is the only company that offers "From Seed to Seal" inclusive production line in the field of essential oils, which means there is no third party involved in the entire production process, and hence the quality is under control from farm to laboratory to retail packaging to our doorsteps.) 

Ever since we started this remedy, Kayla's skin condition has improved drastically, her fur is all shinny again, and she can live without that bulky ridiculously E-collar (Cone Cone, we called it), which has affected her K.Moss supermodel image for the longest time. :D It helped Clooney too, from time to time when he has some heat rash on his inner thighs area. Plus the lavender oil in the shampoo, generally make them much much calmer during their pom pom and blow-drying time, as most of you might be aware that SHOWER is never a dog's favorite activity except for a few odd individuals.

Clooney Louis Dressing Up Session Post-Shower

So here I share with you all this simple recipe we use, modeled by K. MOSS of course. :)

Doggie Shampoo Recipe

Oh-My-Dog Smell-So-Nice Shampoo Recipe: 

Note: This recipe is to make enough for 1-time use prior to the shower, but not to pre-mix and store. 

(Ideally you should be using glass or aluminum containers when handling with essential oils, but glass might not be that practical and could be dangerous if it slip and break during shower time, so you could use one of those old shampoo plastic bottles like the one below, clean it up nicely and reuse them, since you are diluting the oils and use immediately, it won't be too much an issue.)

Reuse old shampoo bottles and label them

Combine all these in a jar/bottle in this order:

1 tablespoon of Dr.. Bronner's Unscented Castile Soap
(Castile Soap: you can get it cheaper at some Fairprice Fineness stores organic session in Singapore)

2 Drops of Lavender

2 Drops of Peppermint

2 Drops of Rosemary

2 Drops of Copaiba  

2 drops of Eucalyptus

Fill it up with 12 oz of water

Replace 2oz of water with Aloe Vera Leaf Juice for a more soothing version 

Shake well. Lather and Rinse Well.

Avoid eyes and inner ears area. 

If in any cases EO gets into your or your doggies' eyes and caused irritation, please use some carrier oils, such as extra virgin coconut oil or almond oil etc, to wipe it off instead of water.

Click here to enroll as member of Young Living to purchase Essential Oils with member's wholesale price. Or leave me comments below if you have any questions. :)

Young Living Essential Oils for Doggy Shampoo (Human can use them too)

Dr. Bronner's Unscented Castile Soap

Aloe Vera Leaf Juice