Does your dog dread July 4th?

Did you have a good July 4th long weekend? How about your dog(s)?

Sometimes it is unavoidable for our companion animals to expose to loud environment, such as the big lousy day, July 4th.

A good article sharing using differenct naturaly remedies to calm your beloved animals at home:

http://www.examiner.com/x-3297-Denver-Alternative-Pet-Medicine-Examiner~y2009m7d2-Does-your-dog-dread-July-4th


"Here are some natural remedies that might help your dog overcome, or at least deal sufficiently with the noise not to be traumatized too badly.

Aromatherapy in the form of essential oils. There are many scents that induce a sense of peace and calm in dogs, however, some animals are overly sensitive to oils and a skin test should be performed before introducing any new oil to your pet. The following oils are knowns to reduce stress, anxiety and fear in animals. They may be used in any combination by direct contact to the pads of the feet or used in a diffuser:

Chamomile, lavender, geranium, marjoram, bergamot, frankincense, neroli, and sandalwood, vervain and valerian. "


There are a lot more pure essential oils are suitable for animals' needs. However, using oils on animals require a lot of caution since they are more sensitive to the aroma and the MORE sensitive to the biochemicals in the oils than humans.

Be careful to AVOID high phenol oils, such as Oregano, Clove, Thyme, Cinnamon, Mountain Savory, Tarragon, on cats because they can be extremely sensitive to these stronger oils.

And the dilution and usage amount should vary from small animal (small dogs and cats) to large animal (large dogs, sometimes applies to horses and cattles)

If you try to google "aromatheapy on animals", you can find a lot of so-called 'guidelines' instructing application techniques, dosage, even internal usage and many more!

But let's shift our focus back to calming our animals in a natural and healthy way.

1. Choose right oils: it's always a fun experiment to see how your animals react to certain oils. The above recommended oil list is good to start with. (Chamomile, lavender, geranium, marjoram, bergamot, frankincense, neroli, and sandalwood, vervain and valerian)

2. Dilution/Usage: I will recommend to AVOID neat application in treating anxiety issue. Some said it's okay to use 3-5 drops pure essential oils (of course with careful selection of the oil type) after skin test or simply apply on their paws. However, remember that they are SENSITIVE, especially when they are under a lot of pressure. My personal recommendation is --always diluted, keep the dilution under 3%.

3. Make a spray or diffuse oils: 10-15 drops in a 1 oz (30 ml) bottle to spray around your animals (not to their face/eyes) or simply use your diffusers.


If your animal loves it, you'll know:) If your animal is jittery or resists, never reinforce the application. They know themselves better than we do!