Hi Humans,

I hope you had an amazing Easter! We all surely did…

Today’s guest writer is Jenny Nolan. Jenny enjoys looking after her lovable King Charles Spaniel as well as long walks and chilled weekends, often combining the three! As a professional pet groomer she contributes to her family run blog Cleaner Paws. 

This, of course is a good thing. We wouldn’t continue to use a shampoo or conditioner if we knew that it wasn’t healthy for us to do so or if it led to future health risks. This is the same for our pets, with more dog owners than ever becoming aware of what products they are using to groom their pets as well as cautious of the food they feed them. This has led to a growth in the number of all natural dog products coming to market, with this guide focusing on the grooming kit we use to keep our pets looking great and feeling better.

As all dog owners know it is extremely important to regularly groom your pet. Not only does it allow you to keep unwanted pests at bay but grooming is also a great opportunity for you to frequently check for skin irritations or other unwanted conditions. To do this effectively it is obviously best to use products that you know and can be confident are causing no harm to your pet whatsoever. The easiest way to do this is to make the switch to products that are made with natural, organic ingredients.

There may be a number of reasons why you’re looking to change the products you use to groom your dog, maybe you’re becoming more conscious of the environment and want to use products best for protecting it or maybe your dog has reacted negatively to an over the counter product in which case it is definitely time to change. If you have ever tried to read the ingredients on the back of a typical bottle of dog shampoo you will probably know just how difficult it is to work out exactly what has gone in to the product, this can be particularly frustrating if as mentioned above your dog has reacted badly to a product and you’re trying to find out exactly what caused the issue or flare up.

To attempt to help you make the switch to organic dog products we have listed some of the biggest ingredients to be wary of below, hopefully informing you a little bit about why these ingredients are best avoid and natural alternatives that are just as good.

Phosphate

Phosphates are a manmade product, developed to replace natural ingredients because they are cheap and easy to manufacture. Designed to replace the use of soap in detergents and found in many products promoted as ‘soap free’, phosphates don’t break down in wastewater systems meaning If they find their way in to water ways they can pollute streams, lakes and rivers.

Parabens

A group of chemicals found in dog shampoos as a preservative to give products a long shelf life, parabens can contribute to a number of nasty health issues for your pet. Easily replaced by a natural alternative such as Poly Epsilon-Lysine, found in tomato plants and completely organic.

Sulphates

Sulphates are used to increase the amount of foam and lather given off by shampoos and cleaning products to add the perception of a super grooming product. Sulphates can be replace by natural alternatives such as Cocamidopropyl Betaine which adds foam, however some organic products are even manufactured not to over lather purely for effect making them easy to wash while still leaving your dog beautifully clean.

The above outlines just three products that are best avoided, as with anything on this topic you can often get lost and overwhelmed when starting research. We hope this has kicked you off in the right direct if you’re looking to make the switch to healthy, natural dog products.

Have a pawesome week!!