Over the years, I have told so many people about the amazing benefits of apple cider vinegar.
I thought I'd share some of that information here as well. I'm not speaking of the apple cider vinegar you find in your local supermarket next to the bargain brand of the white stuff we use to clean out our coffee makers. I'm speaking of the ACV you find in health food shops as well as some supermarket organic sections. For this to be of any benefit at all it must contain the cloudy gunk that settles at the bottom. This is called the mother.
I have two little beasts of my own. A snappy little chihuahua with a massive attitude named Zoey, and a Chug...part chihuahua and part pug named Roxy. Let me add that Roxy...is a perfect angel and Zoey....well...she's the lovable baby and also a spoiled brat. I use and have used these methods on my own dogs. Roxy has major flea sensitivity. One bite and even if it hops right off... Houston, we have a problem.
I remember one year she was so incredibly itchy she would cry and chew her tail and hind quarters till they were bloody. One time things got so bad she even chewed her tail completely bald. She looked like a possum and had to wear a bandage over her entire tail. Sure it only stayed on until she shook it off, but I did try. Apple cider vinegar is a great thing to try , hopefully long before your precious pup ends up with “ Possum Tail”.
Note: Always shake your ACV mixture up as the mother will always settle to the bottom.
These are the uses that I swear by using Braggs or any other apple cider vinegar containing the mother. I always have at least 2 giant bottles on hand at all times.
1) Ears: You can purchase a small bottle from the cosmetics aisle or save one from your pooches old ear cleaning solution. Shake up the ACV and add half to half filtered water. So it's 50/50. Gently squirt a bit into dogs ears. I aim for the sides so it runs down but doesn't do so forcefully. Gently massage the ear canal from the outside. Make sure you hear the squishy sounds while doing so. If you don't , you may not be using enough. After a minute or so, let pooch shake his head as I'm sure he's been trying to do the whole time you were trying to do this. After he shakes, simply wipe out with clean cotton balls. Never use q-tips on the inside of your dogs ears. It would be so easy to hurt their sensitive ears accidentally. Sure your pooch will smell like a salad for a short while, but it will fade. This method is especially great for dogs with chronic yeasty ears. You will know your pooch has a yeast problem when his ears smell like fritos corn chips.
NOTE: ACV is a safe and natural anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and antiseptic.
2) Skin: This is great for hot spots and yeasty skin. Again, same solution 50/50 water and ACV. You can dab it on hot spots as long as they are not raw and skin is not broken. Remember that ACV is acidic and it will be extremely painful on broken skin. You can dab directly onto skin with a cotton ball. This kills bacteria as well as an assortment of other nasties. Roxy had a flea bite a few summers ago. She chewed and chewed until her entire belly was covered in oozing stinky yellow crust. I simply diluted the ACV to ¼ and the water to ¾ until there was no open or broken skin. As soon as there were no more raw or broken spots, I used the ½ and ½ again. I cleaned this area 3 times a day, morning , afternoon and night. It took awhile but it healed. The skin may become traumatized and turn black before healing fully. This is normal and it will look like normal skin over time.
3) Skin overall: This should be prepared in a spray bottle. Again it's the ½ and ½ mixture. This is great for larger areas of the body. This also works to minimize attraction of fleas and really makes your pups coat look great at the same time. This method also helps keep bacteria and yeast, on entire surface of skin in check. Your dog will smell like a salad for a short while, maybe an hour or so, but trust me when I say you will smell nothing but the lovely shampoo you are using after that. After a bath, towel dry just a bit. Don't really get in there and worry about getting pooch dry. You just want to get a bit of the water off. Shake up your bottle of ACV and water and mist pooch thoroughly. Don't get her/him in the face as it may burn his/her eyes. Really mist them down and then work it in the skin a bit. DO NOT RINSE. Now you can towel dry or blow dry. This keeps things clear on their skin. In the summer I never skip this step after a bath on my dogs. In the warm flea infested days of summer, I find that bathing my dogs weekly and following with this ACV spray helps keep fleas and pretty much everything at bay.
4) Feet: Does your dog chew on his feet? This is usually a sign of allergies. To help alleviate the itch, simply mix one part ACV to one or two parts warm water. Place in small container or tub and let your pup soak for a few minutes. Do not rinse. Blot dry.
I thought I'd share some of that information here as well. I'm not speaking of the apple cider vinegar you find in your local supermarket next to the bargain brand of the white stuff we use to clean out our coffee makers. I'm speaking of the ACV you find in health food shops as well as some supermarket organic sections. For this to be of any benefit at all it must contain the cloudy gunk that settles at the bottom. This is called the mother.
I have two little beasts of my own. A snappy little chihuahua with a massive attitude named Zoey, and a Chug...part chihuahua and part pug named Roxy. Let me add that Roxy...is a perfect angel and Zoey....well...she's the lovable baby and also a spoiled brat. I use and have used these methods on my own dogs. Roxy has major flea sensitivity. One bite and even if it hops right off... Houston, we have a problem.
I remember one year she was so incredibly itchy she would cry and chew her tail and hind quarters till they were bloody. One time things got so bad she even chewed her tail completely bald. She looked like a possum and had to wear a bandage over her entire tail. Sure it only stayed on until she shook it off, but I did try. Apple cider vinegar is a great thing to try , hopefully long before your precious pup ends up with “ Possum Tail”.
Note: Always shake your ACV mixture up as the mother will always settle to the bottom.
These are the uses that I swear by using Braggs or any other apple cider vinegar containing the mother. I always have at least 2 giant bottles on hand at all times.
1) Ears: You can purchase a small bottle from the cosmetics aisle or save one from your pooches old ear cleaning solution. Shake up the ACV and add half to half filtered water. So it's 50/50. Gently squirt a bit into dogs ears. I aim for the sides so it runs down but doesn't do so forcefully. Gently massage the ear canal from the outside. Make sure you hear the squishy sounds while doing so. If you don't , you may not be using enough. After a minute or so, let pooch shake his head as I'm sure he's been trying to do the whole time you were trying to do this. After he shakes, simply wipe out with clean cotton balls. Never use q-tips on the inside of your dogs ears. It would be so easy to hurt their sensitive ears accidentally. Sure your pooch will smell like a salad for a short while, but it will fade. This method is especially great for dogs with chronic yeasty ears. You will know your pooch has a yeast problem when his ears smell like fritos corn chips.
NOTE: ACV is a safe and natural anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and antiseptic.
2) Skin: This is great for hot spots and yeasty skin. Again, same solution 50/50 water and ACV. You can dab it on hot spots as long as they are not raw and skin is not broken. Remember that ACV is acidic and it will be extremely painful on broken skin. You can dab directly onto skin with a cotton ball. This kills bacteria as well as an assortment of other nasties. Roxy had a flea bite a few summers ago. She chewed and chewed until her entire belly was covered in oozing stinky yellow crust. I simply diluted the ACV to ¼ and the water to ¾ until there was no open or broken skin. As soon as there were no more raw or broken spots, I used the ½ and ½ again. I cleaned this area 3 times a day, morning , afternoon and night. It took awhile but it healed. The skin may become traumatized and turn black before healing fully. This is normal and it will look like normal skin over time.
3) Skin overall: This should be prepared in a spray bottle. Again it's the ½ and ½ mixture. This is great for larger areas of the body. This also works to minimize attraction of fleas and really makes your pups coat look great at the same time. This method also helps keep bacteria and yeast, on entire surface of skin in check. Your dog will smell like a salad for a short while, maybe an hour or so, but trust me when I say you will smell nothing but the lovely shampoo you are using after that. After a bath, towel dry just a bit. Don't really get in there and worry about getting pooch dry. You just want to get a bit of the water off. Shake up your bottle of ACV and water and mist pooch thoroughly. Don't get her/him in the face as it may burn his/her eyes. Really mist them down and then work it in the skin a bit. DO NOT RINSE. Now you can towel dry or blow dry. This keeps things clear on their skin. In the summer I never skip this step after a bath on my dogs. In the warm flea infested days of summer, I find that bathing my dogs weekly and following with this ACV spray helps keep fleas and pretty much everything at bay.
4) Feet: Does your dog chew on his feet? This is usually a sign of allergies. To help alleviate the itch, simply mix one part ACV to one or two parts warm water. Place in small container or tub and let your pup soak for a few minutes. Do not rinse. Blot dry.