Over the last few months I’ve been working on researching and producing various products to make life more comfortable for greyhounds and their owners. Thanks to Toni Duchi and Nittany Greyhounds, their wealth of knowledge and experience with greyhounds gave me a lot of guidance on what some of their issues were.
Healing Salve for your Paws!
An issue shared by the greyhounds was the difficulty owners had with keeping their dog’s paws soft and their noses undamaged. The salve that I made with calendula-infused olive oil and beeswax felt good on our hands as a lotion bar. Why not make something a little softer with the right essential oils that were safe for dogs? I also discovered the great healing properties of Manuka Essential Oil while I was researching Manuka Honey. I tried using the honey in my products but it just didn’t incorporate easily into soaps and lotions easily. I found Manuka Essential Oil had many of the same healing properties but incorporated well into those products. This salve was soothing and helped with healing paws and noses.
I’ve now made over 60 salves and they are ready for labels. We will share them at the Greyhound picnic on August 15.
Healing Shampoo Bar for your Fur!
I was asked if I could make a flea soap for the dogs. I’ve been making soap for several years…actually, it’s melt-and-pour soap with enhancements…so I made a batch with a goat milk soap base to see if I could incorporate the necessary essential oils to repel bugs. I gave this soap to a volunteer at the kennel who also grooms dogs. I also gave her one of my Aloe Vera soaps that I make for myself, since I’m not happy using goat milk soap…may be my allergy to milk? She used them on two dogs that were in the kennel at the time. She said she preferred the Aloe Vera soap! Interesting! Thanks to Teresa for testing these out!
Why not just medicine for fleas?
Dogs can be given a pill that will kill the bugs if they bite the dog. This medicine is hard on the dog’s system and really is too little too late. If they have already bitten the dog, they leave behind a sore, itchy spot that is irritating. According to the research any soap will wash off the fleas, however the flea soap can aggravate the sore spots.
So now the focus shifted to a healing, soothing soap and then we’d figure out a topical spray that could deter the bugs from landing in the first place. Essential oils have a good track record of being soothing to the dog while offensive to bugs. Let the experiments begin!
My Aloe Vera soap recipe uses an Aloe Vera soap base with an additional Shea Butter soap base. Then, extra Aloe Vera gel and powder is added. Finally, Lavender and Manuka essential oils enhance the healing qualities of the soap.
Even the shape of the bar matters…a smooth oval was deemed too slippery when wet. The heart shape seemed to give the appropriate hand hold in the notch.
I now have 50 shampoo bars of Aloe Vera soap ready for the picnic. Since I can’t put a label on the bar, I’ll put each bar in a mesh bag so I can include the card with each one. It’s important to me that folks know exactly what’s in the bar.
Natural Bug Repellent for Dogs, not Cats!
The next challenge was to figure out what kind of spray would keep the bugs off the dogs. The first issue was to research which essential oils are safe for dogs. After reading many lists from many sources, I settled on this combination of oils:
For healing (and apparently the bugs don’t like these either): Lavender and Manuka Essential Oils.
For bug deterrent: Eucalyptus, Lemongrass and Rose Geranium.
Because there are very few essential oils that are safe for cats, I’ll make sure to put on the label that this spray is not for cats!
I was going to mix up the spray in 8 oz. spray bottles but decided that they might not travel very well. So, we’ll offer the refill and folks can buy the spray bottle or go home and use their own.
These are not necessarily the finished products, but we’re hoping folks will give them a try and give us feedback. As I said at the beginning of my blogging adventure back in March, the Greyhounds are Still in My Heart! Enjoy!
Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.