When I was standing in Best Pets the other day, rummaging around on the bottom shelf for a dog shampoo, it struck me that it's actually crazy to have to pay 130 kroner for a small bottle of dog shampoo.
What exactly makes it so expensive?
I'm dreaming of mixing something myself so I know what's in it. The one I usually buy at Best Pets has a very long list of additives that I'm not happy with.
I have to wash my Cocker Abby quite often. Unfortunately.
I would like to avoid it because it takes time, because she hates it - and most of all because she takes SO long to dry.
Her long ears and feathers on her legs are like sponges. They absorb several liters of water and it takes several hours for her to dry completely. And you have to be careful not to get water in her ears.
This is always our routine when it's time: I sneak in and get her orange towel and red dressing gown from a towel rack.
Since Abby always watches my every move, she immediately sees that I have the orange towel in my hand. By that time, she has already slipped far into the bedroom, where she lies and crouched on top of the bed. Of course, I come in and get her, and she knows I always do. So she rolls over on her side with one leg up. Always the same sweet submission routine.
But sweet Abby, there's no way around it. You have to wash yourself. And when you've been rubbed as dry as you can with a towel, all the torment is forgotten and she's circling around in circles hyper-like, finding something to rub herself on. Best of all, the only room in the house has carpet. "Same procedure every time."
I would like to avoid it, but there is nothing I can do. It's not really because she smells, but mostly because she is just dirty.
Everything hangs from her tail feathers, and her ears pick up everything when sniffed. So she needs a bath, and I've researched and found out that it's an old myth that bathing a dog too often is bad for its skin.
Abby should ideally be bathed once a week, but often it goes a couple of weeks between each bath. But wow, her fur and skin are so wonderfully soft and shiny after a bath that I'm reminded how crazy it is to skip it.
Homemade dog shampoo?
I saw a recipe for a homemade dog shampoo based on natural ingredients for the dog's more pH-neutral skin. The basic ingredients were organic white vinegar for shiny soft fur mixed with Castile soap and/or organic dish soap, possibly with a little lavender oil added. Dish soap, really? But I've seen that used in a lot of the recipes online. So if you can get hold of an organic dish soap without too much else in it, it might be worth trying.
I also saw a recipe based on oatmeal that might be interesting to try. This is supposed to be especially good for dogs with allergic skin.
Next time Abby goes under the tap and it's time to take Abby's red dressing gown down from the hanger, I'll try to see how it works - and if anyone out there has any good advice regarding homemade shampoo, I'd love to hear it.
About this week's DogCoach blogger:
Shaila Sigsgaard, freelance journalist, lives in Kentucky, USA with her husband and grown children aged 12 and 13 and little Abeline who is a Cockalier which is a mixed dog between an American Cocker Spaniel and a Cavalier King Charles.
It's not really because she smells, but...
When I was standing in Best Pets the other day, rummaging around on the bottom shelf for a dog shampoo, it struck me that it's actually crazy to have to pay 130 kroner for a small bottle of dog shampoo.
What exactly makes it so expensive?
I'm dreaming of mixing something myself so I know what's in it. The one I usually buy at Best Pets has a very long list of additives that I'm not happy with.
I have to wash my Cocker Abby quite often. Unfortunately.
I would like to avoid it because it takes time, because she hates it - and most of all because she takes SO long to dry.
Her long ears and feathers on her legs are like sponges. They absorb several liters of water and it takes several hours for her to dry completely. And you have to be careful not to get water in her ears.
This is always our routine when it's time: I sneak in and get her orange towel and red dressing gown from a towel rack.
Since Abby always watches my every move, she immediately sees that I have the orange towel in my hand. By that time, she has already slipped far into the bedroom, where she lies and crouched on top of the bed. Of course, I come in and get her, and she knows I always do. So she rolls over on her side with one leg up. Always the same sweet submission routine.
But sweet Abby, there's no way around it. You have to wash yourself. And when you've been rubbed as dry as you can with a towel, all the torment is forgotten and she's circling around in circles hyper-like, finding something to rub herself on. Best of all, the only room in the house has carpet. "Same procedure every time."
I would like to avoid it, but there is nothing I can do. It's not really because she smells, but mostly because she is just dirty.
Everything hangs from her tail feathers, and her ears pick up everything when sniffed. So she needs a bath, and I've researched and found out that it's an old myth that bathing a dog too often is bad for its skin.
Abby should ideally be bathed once a week, but often it goes a couple of weeks between each bath. But wow, her fur and skin are so wonderfully soft and shiny after a bath that I'm reminded how crazy it is to skip it.
Homemade dog shampoo?
I saw a recipe for a homemade dog shampoo based on natural ingredients for the dog's more pH-neutral skin. The basic ingredients were organic white vinegar for shiny soft fur mixed with Castile soap and/or organic dish soap, possibly with a little lavender oil added. Dish soap, really? But I've seen that used in a lot of the recipes online. So if you can get hold of an organic dish soap without too much else in it, it might be worth trying.
I also saw a recipe based on oatmeal that might be interesting to try. This is supposed to be especially good for dogs with allergic skin.
Next time Abby goes under the tap and it's time to take Abby's red dressing gown down from the hanger, I'll try to see how it works - and if anyone out there has any good advice regarding homemade shampoo, I'd love to hear it.
About this week's DogCoach blogger:
Shaila Sigsgaard, freelance journalist, lives in Kentucky, USA with her husband and grown children aged 12 and 13 and little Abeline who is a Cockalier which is a mixed dog between an American Cocker Spaniel and a Cavalier King Charles.