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How was everyone’s Easter? We had such a great day spending time at one of our favorite churches, eating and hanging out with our family and loving the BEAUTIFUL weather! It could not have been a prettier day! Everyone seemed to be having such a great time. Except our dog Veda… she still may have been holding a grudge against me.
Our dog hates having baths. It is one of her least favorite past times. Knowing that she would be spending time with family over Easter I knew she needed a bath. We ran out of shampoo after her last bath so I decided just to make my own DIY natural dog shampoo! I have seen many different recipes floating around the interweb, but I ran across this one and thought I’d give it a try!
What you need for DIY Natural Dog Shampoo:
- 1 cup of natural liquid dish-washing soap (I used Method)
- 1 cup of organic apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of warm water
- 2 ounces of glycerine
- Empty container for shampoo (I used a large mason jar)
What you’ll do to make your homemade dog shampoo:
- Starting with the dish soap pour the ingredients into your jar
- Shake the jar to mix the ingredients together.
- Thoroughly wet your dog down with water and pour the shampoo onto your pet.
- Lather the shampoo into your pet’s fur.
- Rinse!
Poor Veda, she had no idea what was coming…as far as she knew it was a normal saturday afternoon.
She’s starting to figure it out..a bath is coming.
And there it is.
Is that not the saddest face you have ever seen? Don’t worry, she made it through and she is just as happy as ever:)
This shampoo made her fur very soft and left her smelling great!
And just for fun here is a photo of Tanner and I on Easter. He’s a cute one! ;)
Hey! i never read of a homemade shampoo for dogs…i think it is awesome! Question: do you think it would work well with cats? i would love to try this with my pretty Lia once.
Laura,
Thanks for reading! I’m not sure…I have never owned a cat. If you have any concerns I would check with your local vet! :)
At our clinic, we use a dropper to put a drop of mineral oil in the dog’s eyes before a bath to keep shampoo out! Soap free shampoos are also great. As for baby shampoo, dog skin has a different pH than humans and human shampoo (even baby) will dry their skin out. Best bet with any of them is to be careful not to get in their eyes at all… Just like any baby! ;)
Going to try this for sure. I have four dogs and live on a farm. They excel at getting yucky. I will let y’all know how it is on smell!!!
Thanks for the tips Megan!
Enjoyed you blog about the soap Thanks…
I also lived in Kansas (Leavenworth- Platte City Mo. back to back)
Enjoyed the flat lands LOL
Dottie
Thank you for posting this im about to make it and use it for Gennivive right now!
The vinegar should leave the dog’s hair smelling clean, so unless you just want a particular scent, your dog should smell fine after using this. I use an ACV-water mix on my hair and my toddler – both of us have wonderfully conditioned hair after using it and no smell. Just clean and soft, tangle-free, pretty hair. Thanks for the recipe! I’ll be trying this on my Japanese Chin soon! ;)
Could you add a scented oil to this? How well does it do at getting the doggy stink out?
I’m sure you could, I would just make sure to use an all natural oil or make sure that the oil you use is safe for pets. I haven’t had any trouble at all with my dog smelling afterwards but she isn’t an overly smelly dog so I’m not completely sure. I know with Veda she smells really fresh after using this recipe!
I would like to use oatmeal in the mix. Do you suggest doing this. My Boston and my moms gets really dry skin from weekly baths. Or, does the glycerin soften.
Isabel (my Mom’s nickname!),
Thank you for the recipe and pictures! I plan to use this for our girl, Sadie.
My family dog growing up was named Sadie! Great name:)
What about flea does it keep them away for a long time?
Cari,
I wouldn’t use this as a flea repellant, just a shampoo. Continue on with your normal flea protection :)
I just thought that I would add to this post. The Apple cider vinegar is an excellent flea repellent and will kill them as well. I do not use chemical flea repellent on my dogs so I use cider vinegar instead. Just FYI. :)
Thanks Keely that’s great to know!
Can you wash their face? Will it burn their eyes? I use baby shampoo on my dogs face when we bathe her. Thankyou
Isabel,
I washed my dog’s face with it and she was fine. I kept it out of her eyes though. I would assume since it has the dish soap in it that it would burn. When I wash her face I usually use a washcloth to cover her eyes:)
baby shampoo has Novocain in it to deaden the pain!!
There is no Novocain in baby shampoo.
I’m totally trying this with Henry!!!!
And oh my gosh — those photos of Veda figuring out that it’s bathtime are priceless!