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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! ;)
Thanks for taking the time to post your recipe, but I have to agree with the groomer above. The dishwashing soap is way too strong and drying to use on your dog regularly. They use Dawn on animals who are victims of oil spills so that should tell you how strong dish soap is. It should not be used on a regular basis. Liquid castile soap is actually drying also. If you want to use a natural soap, Dr. Bronner’s bar soap in Peppermint has many good reviews by pet owners. It rinses real clean with no residue left behind.
Being from the south and the never ending flea season, we had a vet told us if we didn’t want to use the shampoos with chemicals in them (we had a dog with flea bite dermatitis) that Head and Shoulders is a great alternative. Soap well into coat and let sit for 5 minutes. The fleas will be dead from the zinc from shampoo. And it leaves them soft. Use this with the other instructions and you could work some miracles for a coat!
I use that myself all the time it is great. Now my dog is getting an introduction. It is suppose to keep bugs away.
Hi, great idea! Thanks for sharing! I was wondering if this is a single use recipe? I skimmed it since I don’t have a dog but have a few friends who might be interested in making it for their furry friends. :) By the way, you and your hubby look so cute together!
Hi Sophie,
This recipe makes enough for probably 3-4 baths on my medium sized dog. Hope that helps! :)
Hi there! Just wanted to pass along my own experience with DIY dog shampoo! I have a Jack Russell as well as two cats. Face it! Dog shampoo is darned expensive! Our Jack, Henry, seemed to need “special” shampoo because his skin always seemed dry and itchy. He would bite and scratch sometimes and chew big chunks of fur out. Especially in the summer when he would pick up fleas (and pass them on to the cats!). We tried various shampoos from the pet store and none of them seemed to help his problems. And I never liked putting topical flea treatments onto the animals, although I’ve had to when their flea problems were very bad. We live in Southern California, so the flea issues were a yearly problem and lasted about 6-8 months out of the year. About a year ago my granddaughter and I searched online and found a homemade recipe to try. It consisted of tea tree hand soap, vinegar, and a small amount of olive oil. It soaps up beautifully, rinses cleanly, makes the dog smell delightful, leaves his coat fluffy and soft. The added bonus? For the first time in years, we did not have a single flea on any of the animals for the entire year!
I really like your blog and how you have it set up. Your doggie is so adorable. Your concept and idea of acquiring a natural shampoo for your animal is very honorable and noble.As a dog groomer for over ten years and a veterinary student, I would just like to add that using a dish washing soap of any kind is not the best for your animals. The reason being is because the pH levels for a dog is in the range of pH 5.5-7.7 depending on the breed of the dog and other factors. Shampoo being used shouldn’t have levels higher than that medically stated. A dogs shampoo should be of an alkaline solution NOT acidic. The acidic levels in the apple cider vinegar and dish washing soap is way too high. With levels that high you are allowing bacteria killed at alkaline levels run rampart producing an over abundance that leads to a number of skin issues.That being said the use of a dish washing soap pH levels are so high that it actually dries the beautiful natural coat causing a host of problems. I have been a witness to this problem in a dog grooming shop where Dawn was being used to wash the dogs and not a pH balanced dog shampoo. Owners would bring there dogs back to the shop complaining about constant scratching after grooming visits. When the owners sold the shop and pH balanced dog shampoo was utilized the complaints stopped. For a more safe approach use products that are more alkaline more basic and not acidic.
Could you substitute Castille soap for the dishwashing soap? My pet groomer agrees with Saundra’s comments. She also states that it is unwise to use baby shampoo on dogs, can’t remember why, ph is probably wrong.
Jeryl, I think castile soap would be a great substitution!
Castille soap, although I love it, has a PH level of 9
is this shampoo good for fleas as well?
I haven’t used it as a flea repellant or remover, I would recommend using something else for fleas!
It is better or possible to replace dishwashing liquid with baby shampoo instead? We would not think of using dishwashing liquid to bathe on our own skin let alone use dishwashing liquid on an animal.
Whatever type of soap you use I would definitely go with a natural option. I used method dish washing soap but a natural baby soap would probably work fine!
I was actually recommended to use a mild dishwashing liquid and mild baby shampoo on my dog when she was a puppy from both a vet and a well-known groomer. It helped kill fleas before she was old (and heavy) enough for prescription flea repellant. As long as you don’t a strong detergent like Dawn that is made to strip the grease off of dishes your dog will be fine. Now that she’s older, I normally use either Wen (yeah for people) or other natural shampoos for my dog. I like your post and I WILL try it soon :)
Hi,
have English Bulldogs and when I would take them to the Vet , the girls their told me to use Baby Shampoo, I use the Johnsons brand
I made this recipe and the apple cider vinegar coagulated my natural soap by Dr. Bronner. I am hoping my cockapoo can tolerate this shampoo. She has really dry skin that makes her crazy whiney for a scratch. I am afraid to wash her. She does well on the no bath ever protocol. BUT it would be nice to have a clean pooch for Christmas:)
I love dr bronners! I’ve used it on my dog before!
My dog has dry skin as well. It tends to be a food allergy reaction. We switched our dogs food and give him fish oil pills or feed him Evangers Canned Salmon to help his skin.
Hi, here’s a trick to try for your dog’s dry skin. Immediately after you bathe her, massage her with extra virgin olive oil. Make sure to really rub it into her skin. A little goes a long way so go slow & sparingly. Then when it’s applied wrap her in a warm towel (like fresh from the dryer “warm” and try to get her to stay that way for as long as possible. The warm towel will help the oil stay more fluid and absorb easily into her skin. When she’s had enough of the towel treatment just give her a good rub down with another clean towel. You can also try adding olive oil to her dry food and also if you eat tuna the juice can be mixed in with her food as well, NOT the water packed kind though. Since it’s winter, running a humidifier will help (that’s what we do for our 2 girls).
Thanks Stacey!
I will definitely have to try that trick asap on my dog!
Hello,
The shampoo is great! I love your pictures! OMG, your dog looks exactly like mine, but I dont know her breed whats your dogs breed? Hopefully you get back to me. :)
-Monse
Monse,
She is a miniature golden-doodle! I wonder if that is what your dog is? I’m glad you liked the shampoo! :)
-Liz
Oh wow.. Dogs are using natural shampoo as well lol.
First of all, I like vivid pictures on this post!
Nice post!
This post is what I want exactly.
Nice tips and vivid photos
Great!