“Expert” Advice on Eliminating Dog Odor

I was surfing a hugely popular Internet Dog portal and found a feature on how to live with a dog and make your home smell “fresh.” It advised using deodorizing products, regularly laundering any fabric the dog encounters, using air fresheners, room- and fabric-sprays and carpet powders.

All this advice probably would eliminate doggie “odor.” Good for us! But what would the dog have to say about how those things affect him?

Manufacturers of this particular range of consumer products are not required to disclose their ingredients. Many contain toxic chemicals such as acetone, limonene, acetaldehyde, chloromethane, 1,4-dioxanephenols and glutaraldehydes. In recent studies five out of six products tested emitted one or more known carcinogens.

The artificial fragrance products used in air-fresheners and room and fabric sprays contain high concentrations of potent and long-lasting synthetic chemicals. They are designed to disperse quickly into the air where they can linger on fabrics and surfaces for months. They can numb the olfactory sense, increase allergies and asthmatic reactions, and cause migraine headaches, throat irritation, fatigue, forgetfulness and irritability. Found in some products are 1-4-dichlorobenzene – a suspected carcinogen that caused liver and kidney tumors in animals.

Artificial fragrances are also used in laundry detergent. And, if you see the word "surfactant" on the label it means that the product may contain benzene and sodium sulfonates, ethanols, ethoxylates, phenols and di-, ti- and monoethanolamines. Detergents also contain phosphates and phosphate alternatives, optical brighteners and petroleum distillates. These chemicals can have toxic effects on mammals, creating chronic health problems and altering the activity of certain genes.

Do the right thing for the planet, yourself and dog in your life. NEVER use products that contain chemicals and artificial fragrances. Clean with a dilute solution of vinegar or use only eco-friendly, unscented cleaners. Moreover, learn to love the smell of a dog!

The Toxic Yard

Our yards have shrunk into small rectangles of grass from which all forms of life have been banished or have voluntarily vacated. To maintain a certain standard of appearance, we dispense bagged weed-and-feed products or pay a service to soak these areas with a cocktail of toxic herbicides and pesticides. Some of the over thirty chemicals routinely used on millions of American lawns have been found to cause lymphoma, cysts, leukemia, bladder cancer, neurological diseases, developmental disabilities and increased mortality in canines. In studies of the effects of chlorophenoxy herbicides, dogs were found to be more susceptible to their toxicity due to poor urinary clearance. It took them nearly 100 hours to clear amounts that rats could clear from their systems within about an hour. Curiously, some of the companies that make and dispense these chemicals use images of dogs on their products, marketing materials and vehicles.

The toxins we introduce to beautify our lawns and green spaces find their way inside the dog’s body through airborne particle drift or inhalation, direct skin/body contact or absorption and grooming activities or ingestion. Studies have shown higher levels of herbicides and pesticides in the carpets dogs lie on and in the house dust they inhale than in the soil of their treated yards. When the brains, immune systems and bodies of developing canines are exposed to these chemicals, the resulting damage can have life-long and life-threatening effects. We may not be spraying chemicals ourselves but there is a very good chance our neighbor or community is. Exposure to unhealthy environments can sicken and kill yet it is rarely ever considered to be the cause of the perplexing disease complexes veterinarians see in thousands of dogs annually.

If you don’t consider the beauty of your lawn to be more important than the health of the dog in your life, intend to find a better way. Feed the soil with leaf or bio-mass compost produced by your county or state. Spray weeds with distilled vinegar or just pull them out. Better yet, spread a compost made from your own yard and kitchen waste, leaves and clippings and learn to love your weeds.