What Is Canine Aromatherapy? Does It Work?

Aromatherapy involves the use of essential oils from aromatic plants with its main purpose to treat medical and behavioral conditions.

Although aromatherapy has been in used by human civilizations for centuries, canine aromatherapy is a fairly recent phenomenon—about two decades ago. It all began in early 80’s when a French veterinarian, Dr. Patrick Pageat use natural pheromone to modify unwanted behavior. It was first tested on cats to dissuade them from urine marking at home. Due to its success, Dr. Pageat started working on canine pheromone.

Pheromone is the odor signal that animals use to communicate with each other.

Unlike aromatherapy, pheromones therapy uses synthetically produced pheromones to inhibit any unwanted behavior. For example, applying onto an area where the cat had sprayed urine on. One similarity is that they both use scents to alter mood and behavior of the animals.

Aromatherapy is more thoroughly defined as the skilled and controlled use of essential oils for physical and emotional health and well-being. How canine aromatherapy works is fundamentally similar to how aromatherapy works for us humans.

What Are Essential Oils and How Are They Produced?

Essential oils have healing properties on both physical and emotional levels. Absorbed through the skin and through the olfactory-brain connection by inhalation, they have been considered among the most therapeutic and rejuvenating of all botanical extracts throughout the ages.

Only nature can produce whole essential oils. They are tiny droplets contained in glands, glandular hairs, sac, or veins of different plant parts—root and flower. They are the “essence” of that particular plant form and are responsible for giving the botanical its unique scent and “fingerprint.”

It takes as many as 2000 rose petals to produce just about one drop of pure essential rose oil.

Each oil has its own individual properties when used as a therapeutic remedy. In general, essential oils are antiseptic and detoxifying. It also helps to strengthen the immune system and to regulate the metabolism.

Some oils (i.e. peppermint and pennyroyal) used for aromatherapy massage on people are potentially toxic to dogs when it is orally consumed.

How Toxic or Dangerous Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are volatile, which means they turn from a liquid to a gas very readily at room temperature or higher. Essential oils are very potent and are usually diluted before being used directly on the skin. Either they are heated, or diluted in streaming water to be used via inhalation or diluted in vegetable-based carrier oil when used for massage.

To illustrate how potent these essential oils are, picture this: one drop of essential oil equals about thirty cups of herbal tea in terms of concentration. When you make a cup of chamomile tea by pouring boiling water over the dried herb, and letting it steep, you are extracting miniscule amounts of the essential oil present in that herbal tea along with water-soluble constituents. Sometimes these oils can be 75 to 100 times more concentrated than the fresh herb. This is one reason why essential oils should be used with caution and knowledge of their potency.

I hope I didn’t terrify you too much on the potent of essential oils which might put you off from knowing the many benefits of using aromatherapy on treating our canine friends.

The Complete Series on Canine Aromatherapy

1. What is Canine Aromatherapy? Does It Work?
2. What Are The Benefits Of Using Aromatherapy On Dogs?
3. Canine Aromatherapy: Tips On Buying Essential Oils
4. How Should Aromatherapy Treatments Be Used On Dogs?
5. Home Aromatherapy Treatment Versus Consulting an Aromatherapist. Maybe??? Unless you are interested to know my opinion? =)