Are Essential Oils Safe for Dogs? Avoid These Common Mistakes...

It really bothers me seeing so many consumers rush into using essential oils with their dogs without doing their research, quickly leading to their four legged friends gagging, having skin reactions, liver issues and more.

None of us want that for our dogs, right? Essential oils are supposed to make our lives better!

As a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist, I know the benefits of essential oils as well as the safety - and in this episode I'm sharing 5 common mistakes you might be making without even realizing it.

 ..and I'll share the one thing you probably AREN'T already doing that you MUST do before using essential oils with your dog.

 Most pet owners who hurt their animals with essential oils don't consider themselves irresponsible - until things go wrong, so let's make sure that doesn't happen to you...

https://www.leajacobson.com/EOsForDogs-CommonMistakes

This is Lea Jacobson  empowering you to use essential oils safely. I hope you learned something new today. Tell a friend about our podcasts so they can learn, too. All episodes are available at LeaJacobson.com/podcast. 

Transcript

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It really bothers me seeing consumers rush into using essential oils with their dog without doing their research quickly, leading to their four-legged friends, gagging, having skin reactions, liver issues and more. None of us want that for our dogs, right? Essential oils are supposed to make our lives better. As a certified clinical aromatherapist, I know the benefits of essential oils as well as the safety, and in this episode, I'm sharing five common mistakes that you might be making without even realizing it. And I'll share the one thing you probably aren't doing that you must do before using essential oils with your dog. Most pet owners who hurt their animals with essential oils don't consider themselves irresponsible until things go wrong. So let's make sure that doesn't happen to you. If you're going to learn about using essential oils safely, get your information from someone who doesn't profit from selling them. Lea Jacobson is an essential oil safety expert with the honor of educating over a million health conscious families on safe remedies for themselves and their loved ones. Welcome to using Essential Oils Safely with Leah Jacobson. There's a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to using essential oils with your pets. What may seem like good tips often have safety risks, and since most people aren't going to invest in aromatherapy certification to discern the truth about essential oil safety, you've probably made one or more of the five common mistakes that I've seen people make when using essential oils with their dog. But before I start sharing these tips, I want you to hear me loud and clear. It is not your fault. It really isn't. There's way more excited, untrained essential oil users posting information than experts. The good news is now that you know there is a safe way to use them, you can make better choices moving forward. Sound good? Okay. Today we're talking about the five common mistakes when using essential oils with your dog. And the one thing you probably aren't already doing and need to, the first mistake that people make when using essential oils with their dog is to pick essential oils they already have without finding out if they're safe for their dog or not. Example, members inside of my community, no eucalyptus is not safe for young children, and we use fur needle instead. It's more effective anyways, but fur needle isn't safe for dogs due to the high levels of the constituent. A -pinene that's found in fur, what may be safe for children may not be safe for dogs. So it's important to check the safety of an essential oil before using. The second mistake people make when using essential oils with their dog is to use them when they're still puppies. Essential oils are really strong and dogs are generally much smaller than we are by weight. Puppies are even smaller and like children, we use extra caution with them. Avoiding the use of essential oils until they are at least six months old is preferred. The third mistake people make when using essential oils with their dog is adding essential oils to their water bowl. Yep. I've seen websites devoted to using essential oils with all sorts of animals and suggesting that you should add essential oils to your dog's. Water bowl, sprinkle over food, and even put in their ears. Do not recommend essential oils don't belong in your pet's water bowl for a number of reasons. Since water and oil don't mix, the essential oils will float on the surface and touch your dog's tongue, mouth, and nose at full concentration, which can cause topical irritation and sores, not to mention internal damage. There are safe intentional ways to use essential oils with your dog, but this isn't one of them. The fourth mistake that I see people make when using essential oils with their dogs is not realizing that inhalation can be an effective remedy for physical issues. Allowing your dog to inhale essential oils can help not only with emotional issues, but physical issues as well. But there is a specific way that you must do it in order to be both safe and effective. And I'll share that in a minute. The fifth and final mistake that I want to share with you that I've seen people make when using essential oils with their dog is thinking that essential oils are the first go-to when health issues arise. We have a variety of options when it comes to helping our pets, so we should consider other remedies like herbs and hydrosols instead of going immediately for the essential oils out of habit. Hydrosols, for example, are gentle and effective for dogs and other pets. These are a great first choice for topical skin issues as well as internal issues. I'll talk more about Hydrosols in an upcoming episode, but in case you're hearing about them for the first time, hydrosols are co-created during the steam distillation of essential oils. They look like water, but they do have a light fragrance and they can be used therapeutically. So there you have it. Five common mistakes that people make when using essential oils with their dog. Now I'm going to share the one thing that you aren't already doing that you must do before using essential oils with your dog that you never have to do when using with humans. But first, if you'd like to refer back to this content, you can watch, read, and listen to this episode over on leajacobson.com/petclasses. Upcoming episodes will continue to explore using essential oils safely with your dog and other pets. But if you don't want to wait, you can grab my book You Using Essential Oils Safely With dogs at LeaJacobson.com/dogbook. In this book, I've included safety profiles for 250 essential oils clearly marked so you know which essential oils are safe to use with your dog and which ones to avoid. You'll also find recipes designed specifically to use with dogs with the same detailed information I include inside Recipes Lab™ for humans, the essential oil's best to use for the health issue specific dilution, exactly how to use and more. Now, for the one thing that you probably aren't doing that you must do before using essential oils with your dog, but I just wanna warn you that first you're going to go, wait, what? But when I explain it, it will all make sense. Ready? We never have to do this when using essential oils with humans, but for dogs, essential oils should always be diluted before they inhale them. Dogs have an estimated 40 times more smell receptors than humans, and that translates into their noses being a hundred times more sensitive than ours. In order to protect them from the dangers of over inhalation, we must dilute essential oils first before offering them a remedy to inhale. And in my next episode, I'll go over exactly how you can know which essential oil your dog can benefit from most without learning any chemistry. If you found this helpful, share with a friend and we can use essential oils safely together.