Three ways to use Essential Oils with Dogs

So you've read How essentail oils manage Emotions, and here is the how too!

Firstly here is a snippet of some oils and what emotional states they would be beneficial for:

Once you have your chosen Oils, there are a few ways these can be used for emotional and physical health.

1) Aromatherapy

The first and most popular is simply smelling them.... Aroma Therapy. Aromatherapy is a really good way to involve the sense of smell- our olfactory sensors have a direct link to the brain and can act quickly and deeply. When using with animals, we must be confident that we can read their reactions appropriately. Some reactions are extremely subtle, so I would recommend being in a calm quiet place when working with oils, so you can watch your dog closely and be in tune to understand their reactions.

The more you do this and learn your dogs ways, the better you will get at selecting appropriate oils, and understanding your dogs reactions to each one.

2) Ingesting When offering your dogs oils to ingest, they must ALWAYS be diluted, absolutely no exceptions. These are extreemly potent volatile oils which are designed to be diluted. Whenever offering oils, as aromatherapy, or to ingest, I use whats called Self Selection... Which is pretty self explanatory. You dog indicates which they like and need, and which they don't- by reading their body language, expressions and moments. When offering for ingesting, as with Aromatherapy, chose the oils you think your dog may need, and give them time to smell each one- and watch their reaction. When they indicate one they like (Read their body language, expressions and movments very closely) then you can dilute as follows: I use the 3 or 4 drops of essential oil to 5 ml of base oil

(Ralph is large, and if you have a small/ medium dog- I would go for 2 drops, horses upto 5 drops per 5ml) Base oils- it is good to do a self selection on these too, but for a neutral oil I like Grapeseed,

for emotional issues I use Calendula or Hemp

and physical issues, Comfrey, Hemp or good quality Sunflower oil. Once this is made up, I put a few drops into my palm and offer this. I generally allow Ralph to take as much as he needs, he knows what he wants and will stop when he has had enough. Just take your time, and be careful with dogs who are greedy- you may have to stop when you think they have had enough.

Ralph checking out some Angelica Leaf

3) Topically

Dogs and horses can indicate they would like a Topical Application. when you are offering the oils for selection- watch if you dog starts to scratch in a certain place, or lick a back leg etc... this can indicate they would like a topical application.

Again- ALWAYS DILUTE- Pure oils are way to harsh for the skin and always need diluting. I like to use Hemp, Sunflower, calendula, carrot or Neem as the Base oils for Topical applications- dependent if I think it is Muscular or Skin related.

Ralph and his fave toy- Sully

Whichever way you would like to try offering oils to your dog- remember to take your time, read your dogs reactions as closely as you can, and always dilute when using Topically and for ingesting. I'd love to hear how you get on, or if you have any questions- let me know :-) Love and hugs

Daisy

xx