"To spray or not to spray", that is the question.
It is a common practice for dogs to be sprayed with "cologne" prior to going home from a grooming session. There is no therapeutic value in spraying a dog with synthetic juice. It is there to mask the natural “dog smell” and to give people the false notion of what “clean” smells like. Laundry detergent and dish detergents do the same with their marketing gimmicks, using words like “fresh rain” and “ocean breeze”. In reality, dogs do not care. If anything, it’s quite irritating to be forced to wear a cheap cologne that lasts for two weeks or more. Yikes!
Have you ever pondered about the health consequences these products may bring to your beloved animal companion?
The sense of smell humans have is indeed a powerful, stirring up emotions and heightening physiological responses, such as salivation when smelling that great meal being cooked. Humans are attracted to good smells, of course. Dogs on the other hand, have their own preferences.
Dogs possess a very sensitive olfactory system, capable of odor detection as much as 10,000 to 100,000 times that of the average person. For that reason, dogs are trained to detect cancer, explosive devices, drugs, dust mites and others. Overwhelming their olfactory system by spraying artificial cologne seems unjustifiable and hazardous considering the ingredients in cologne for dogs (not limited to the below):
"Fragrance" (which is an umbrella word to represent 3,000 or more ingredients, according to EWG), phenoxyethanol, dyes, petrochemicals, phthalates, benzylaldehyde, acetone, etc... Many of these are considered hormone disruptors and carcinogenic.
On the other hand, a handful of botanical oils, essential oils, hydrosols and tinctures have shown to offer a gentler approach with many benefits to dogs when used as directed. Check out Luminidog leave-in conditioner, a limited ingredient product. As usual, if a dog presents adverse reaction to any given application, it should be stopped immediately. Always read the ingredients on pet grooming products, learn about the ingredients and make conscientious decisions for your pets because they depend on you to live a wholesome, pain-free life!Cheers to our furry companions,
Marisa Shah
Certified Aromatherapist