Protecting Your Yard From Pests

March 14, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Natural Ways to Control Pests in Your Yard

Spring is right around the corner so it’s time to strategize and implement your pest control plan before fleas and ticks spring from their hidden worlds. I live in the deep South where just one warm day can trigger a sudden explosion of fleas and ticks so it’s vital to be prepared before it happens.

Thankfully, we have natural pest control options to choose from and I find cedar oil products work best if you begin early. When devising a pest control plan, a combination approach works best. You’ll need to protect your dog, home and yard for maximum protection so let’s get started in the yard first.

How to Keep Pests Out of Your Yard

Hands down, controlling pests in your yard is the most labor intensive portion of pest control. Depending on your yard size, it can take a couple of weeks to implement so let’s break tasks into easily manageable sizes. Take it from me. It’s best to start before spring has sprung or you’ll be chasing fleas and ticks all year long.

Rake

The part I dread is cleaning up after winter. Boo! Our yards resemble post-apocalyptic wasteland consumed with dead grass, battered branches and decayed piles of leaves that hide under piles of snow. Excuse my eye roll as I reach for a rake. It’s time to clean up the yard.

Remove all fallen branches from your yard. Ticks love to burrow on moist dead wood and patiently wait to hitch a ride. Once all branches are gathered, it’s time to rake leaves. Fleas and ticks thrive in shaded moist areas to reproduce, and piles of decayed leaves are their perfect habitat.

Mow

Once the yard debris has been removed, mow your lawn. While grass remains dormant during winter months, weeds still tend to grow so it’s important to shorten them before using pest control protects.

Protect

By removing yard debris, you’re allowing the glorious sun to work its magic. Fleas and ticks can’t survive in direct sunlight so allow the sun to dry moist areas in your yard for a week before protecting your yard.

It’s time to use an insect repellent. Since I live in the deep South, I choose to spray a cedar oil insect repellent on grass and suburbs, along the fence and sidewalks lines, and under decks. We’ve had excellent results using Dr. Ben’s Cedar Oil PCO Lawn Protector, which is highly concentrated in cedar oil (85%). We attach it to a hose and spray the entire yard, making sure the treated area is soaked, as the first application is the most important.

Using Cedar Oil to Protect Your Dog

March 13, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Cedar Oil Spray

Natural Pest Control

Spring is right around the corner so it’s time to pull off our snow shoes and implement a pest control plan before fleas and ticks spring from their hidden worlds. You’ll need to protect your dog, home and yard for maximum protection. Let’s discuss ways to protect your dogs.

Thankfully, we have natural pest control options to choose from and I find natural products, such as cedar oil, work best if you begin early.

How Cedar Oil Works

When devising a pest control plan, a combination approach works best. To understand its value, it’s important to understand how cedar oil works.

Cedar oil “kills, neutralizes or repels the existing adult insect population. It eliminates the next generation of insects the eggs and larvae by dehydrating the exoskeleton and then interrupting the egg layer cycle. It creates a barrier of re-entry deterring insects migrating from other areas into your area of concern. Perpetual egg layers are immediately controlled because of this barrier, if the adults won’t enter the treated area, then they can’t or won’t lay any eggs. This barrier then results in controlling the insect populations in treated area,” according to Dr. Ben’s Cedar Oil website.

Check out the EPA report on safety of cedar oil for humans and pets and this Animal Wellness Magazine article about using cedar oil as a natural pest control for dogs.

Protecting Your Dog

The first steps should be ridding and applying repellents to your home and yard of biting pests. Use repellents to keep pests off your dog when he’s away from home.

When protecting dogs from biting pests, you’re basically spraying or applying a product to his coat and skin to keep pests away. Personally, I would rather use a natural pest control, such as cedar oil, to keep pests away because it works and it’s less invasive.

Living in the deep South, I’ve had great results using Dr. Ben’s Paws and Claws Cedar Oil spray, which kills fleas and ticks on contact. During application, there’s a strong cedar odor. Most dogs tolerate the smell very well while others may attempt to rub the product on rugs and furniture. Cedar oil is very safe, but if your dog is sensitive to odors, there are other options to choose from, such as essential oils, shampoos and vet recommended topicals.

Do Dog Facial Scrubs Work?

March 13, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Facial Scrubs for Dogs

About eight years ago, I stumbled upon dog facial scrubs while attending a grooming expo. I giggled, but leaned in for more information. I could certainly understand the need for a face-specific cleaning product. Once I discovered the details, I was hooked. Now, my dogs have sweet smelling clean faces!

What Do Facial Scrubs Do?

Dog facial scrubs are gentle and tearless, meaning they will not sting your dog’s eyes if it should accidentally come into contact with them during a bath. Plus, these scrubs contain specific ingredients for cleaning and deodorizing eye, beard and mustache stains. If your dog has long floppy ears, a thick beard or a mustache, dog facial scrubs will safely clarify (remove impurities) from caked and matted food boogers to smelly matted ears that have soaked in a water bowl or were dug around the backyard.

My Story

Stella must be bathed with a medicated shampoo so I was terrified of using an antiseptic shampoo around her eyes and mouth plus she eats a raw diet of meat and organs–gross! Now I have a tearless cleaner that clarifies and deodorizes her face and keeps her white patches looking brilliant instead of beige. Sobek, being a Rottweiler, gets a facial scrub too. He has lots of wrinkles and loose lips (flews) that trap moisture (aka slobber and gunk)–and boy, does it smell. But not anymore, he smells divine!

My favorite dog facial scrub is Espree’s Plum Perfect Facial Wash. It’s gentle, hydrating and clarifying. It doesn’t contain bleaching agents, rinses well and leaves a pleasant scent behind.

Now that you know the down and dirty about dog facial scrubs, maybe a blueberry facial will be in your dog’s future? 🙂

READ ALSO: Heavy Duty Dog Shampoo

Does Aromatherapy Dog Shampoo Work?

March 12, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Aromatherapy Shampoo for Dogs

Aromatherapy dog shampoo mostly works, but it depends on ingredients, as with anything. By far, this is the biggest craze in the dog grooming world. Now, your dog can upgrade to an aromatherapy experience during her next groom.

Why Aromatherapy Dog Shampoo?

As with any human trend, it usually trickles down to the dog world. I mean, have you seen clip-on feathers for dogs now? 🙂 One concept I find extremely interesting is aromatherapy dog shampoo. The smell is powerful not only for dogs, but people too. Science is catching up it seems, as this type of shampoo contains many essential oils to promote calmness, relaxation and healing.

Human Perception

One of the top complaints after a dog has been groomed is the lack of a refreshing scent or presence of dog odor. So the dog grooming industry caught onto the aroma therapy trend and incorporated it into dog shampoos with smashing success. Not only have complaints decreased, but people have also returned to their grooming salons more often to refresh their dog’s essential oil scent.

Dog Perception

Essential oils promote relaxation, healing and calming within the dog world too. Most essentials oils are added into shampoos and conditioners, spritzed on a dog’s coat or wrapped in bandanas and tied around a dog’s neck. Now, some shampoos contain tea tree oil, which works as an antiseptic and smells wonderfully–a great shampoo for dry dog skin. Some scents are calming for both dog and owner. When choosing an aroma therapy shampoo for your dog, choose one with natural essential oils and not synthetic or detergent-based scents.

Product Recommendations

My favorite aromatherapy shampoos are Espree’s Rainforest shampoo and any richly scented shampoo by Show Season Products. If you’re interested in spritzing or applying safe essential oils to your dog’s coat, check out Young Living Essential Oils for Pets. These are by far my favorite. Plus, their website explains the proper way to apply essential oils, which is a must read for all pet lovers.

READ ALSO: Best Medicated Dog Shampoo

Dog Whitening Shampoo for all Coat Colors

March 12, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Dog Whitening Shampoo Works for all Dog Colors

When watching the Westminster Dog Show, you’ll notice a glistening alabaster dog with his streaming hair glistening in the dancing light. Don’t hate! Your dog can too resemble a runway model with a shimmering coat. 🙂

Allow me to introduce you to color enhancing dog products. You’ll be shocked at how safe and well they work!

Pearl White

White dogs are hard to keep white. If you share your home with a four-legged blonde, you understand the struggle. When Stella’s white patches resemble beige blobs, I reach for a whitening shampoo.

Whitening shampoo contains small amounts of blue toner dilated with shampoo. Blue color will not turn your dog’s hair blue. Instead, the blue color neutralizes yellow stains. And if, by accident, white enhancing shampoo is left on your dog’s coat for too long, your dog’s flaxen mane will resemble a silvery glow–almost luminescent.

When it comes to whitening dog shampoo, White on White is the best. For stubborn stains, apply shampoo and brush through with a comb. White on White shampoo requires contact time with your dog’s coat to work its magic. Rinse thoroughly and reach for your sunglasses.

Crimson Red

As with humans, a dog’s red coat can fade and turn a ghastly corn chip color, especially when viewed in direct sunlight. Life is too short to live with that color! A red color enhancing dog shampoo contains reddish blue toner, diluted with dog shampoo, and restores a rich mahogany coat in 10 minutes. When a red dog’s coat fades, it’s usually missing blue undertones, which are always the first to fade for whatever reasons. My favorite is Red on Red shampoo. It really works wonders.

Charcoal Black

Black coats can turn red usually from frequent exposure to sunlight. Long black hair will fade, as the hair is older, and lose blue tones first. Hence, the red glow mid-shaft and ends. Using Black on Black color enhancing shampoo will revitalize ebony coats by depositing color, and your dog will glow again.

While we giggle at color enhancing shampoos for dogs, they are very safe and who doesn’t want to look fabulous?

More:
Deep Cleansing Shampoo for Dogs
Best Medicated Dog Shampoo
Heavy Duty Dog Shampoo
Dogs with Dry Skin

Protecting Your Yard From Pests

Natural Ways to Control Pests in Your Yard

How to Keep Pests Out of Your Yard

Rake