DIY Natural Soothing Dog Shampoo

My stinky furbabies have been super itchy as of late. They are indoor pups but we love to play outside, go on road trips, visit our fur cousins, and occasionally trek through the woods and get dirty and smelly.

I recently decided to stop using traditional flea and tick prevention because I'm just not comfortable with a monthly dose of poison nor am I thrilled about the price tag of said poison. Now, my veterinarian brother doesn't know about this yet & I'm not sure what his reaction will be, but I'm hoping he will agree that I carefully weighed the benefits and risks. Do I want my young nieces exposed to pesticides by snuggling up with my pooches?

As of now, we don't have a flea/tick problem. However, we just returned from a road trip where we visited my sister in her new apartment (no telling what kind of chemicals the landlord applied to the carpet prior to her moving in) and my parents' house in SC (where the mosquitoes are already biting).

In the old days I would have gone straight to PetSmart and grabbed an assortment of shampoos, but because my crunchy heart told me to figure out how to treat the itch naturally, I did just that.

Turns out I had all the things I needed already. SCORE!

*This recipe makes enough for two Medium-Largish really fluffy dogs 
(one is a shepherd/chow mix and the other a great pyrenees)

Road Trippin... on the way home, obviously.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups oatmeal- soothes skin
2 cups baking soda- cleanser
1 Tbsp honey- antibacterial
10 drops tea tree oil -antibacterial and stink-fighter
10 drops lavendar oil -antibacterial and stink-fighter
2 1/2 cups water

DIRECTIONS:

1- Grind up that oatmeal. I just threw mine in my cheap blender.
2- Add the water, blend again.
3- Add baking soda, honey, & oils
4- Pour into a mason jar (I used an old tomato sauce jar)
5- Store leftovers in fridge

My dogs HATE baths, so it's like WWE SmackDown when I have to get them in the tub. For this reason I don't use glass when it's time to do the deed... but for storage, definitely use glass.

Anyway the shampoo came out a bit watery but for us that was necessary- too thick and the stuff would have been like paste in their fluffiness. There were little flecks of oatmeal that I couldn't really rinse completely out, but I figured I'd much rather deal with that than the toxic suds I usually can't rinse all the way out. After they were dry I just gave them a good brush and woooooow do they smell great! Also, it's only been a few hours, but there's been no itching!

Success!

Rocko thinks he smells quite nice.

Bear doesn't know what just happened.