The Curly-tailed Brigade: Adventures in dog shampoo

So with it being the time of growing things and plant sex it is also the time for allergens, sniffling and sneezy humans, as well as itchy dogs. Menchi we are pretty sure now has some seasonal allergies. She started the spring of with an ear infection and followed it with a skin infection, which of course sent her mucinosis into overdrive... So we are making battle plans. How best to keep her comfortable, healthy, and happy without having to resort to things like steroids (the side effects worry me way too much)...

We have are going for an approach from several directions...starting with one thing at a time. One of the first things we did is to see Dr. Jody for the mucinosis and skin health. Dr. Jody made dietary recommendations that we are implementing and prescribed a Chinese herbal formula.

The results of that is that her skin seems to be slowly calming down...but there is still some mucin overproduction happening.

One of the other things we are doing is that I have plotted to make our own dog shampoo. Sabe and myself have been using home made shampoo with Castile soap for over a year now, and we have been very happy with the results. So I thought why not try to make some for the dogs too.

I researched essential oils that are good for skin health to add to Menchi's personal formula.

We started with our first batch of shampoo a couple of weeks ago.

The first batch was:

3 cups of water
1/4 cup of organic apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons of Castile soap (Dr Bronners)
A sprig of rosemary
1 tablespoon of Coconut oil
A few drops each of the following essential oils: German Chamomile, Geranium, Cedar wood, Naiouli, Lavender.

You start by boiling the water and steeping the rosemary in it. When it cools you add the other ingredients. I recommend adding the coconut oil before the rosemary water cools too much though. The ACV will help balance the pH.

This version did not lather up as well as I would have liked...but it left both dogs clean and fresh. Menchi's skin responded amazingly...any redness she had faded and the trouble areas in under her front legs by her chest where there has always been some skin discoloration are almost completely pink rather than grayish.

I had enough shampoo for two full baths for each dog. Menchi is getting the weekly spa treatment.
This week I have made more shampoo and adjusted the soap content to 4 oz in 2 cups of rosemary water. I kept the rest of to formula the same.

I got much better lather with the increase in soap content...

We will continue with weekly baths of the new formula for the next month or so and see what changes in her skin can be observed.

On to some pictures...