Review: The Aromatic Dog, Safe Use of Essential Oils

Mom’s Review: The Aromatic Dog

The Aromatic Dog, by Nayana Morag, is an exceptional introduction to using aromatherapy with dogs, and it’s a book I’ve found myself returning to time and again over the past couple of years.

Like many during the most intense period of the coronavirus pandemic, we adopted a puppy. With our previous dog in her final few months with us, I had used aromatherapy to help improve her quality of life. But deciphering a new puppy’s body language and response to essential oils, hydrosols, and herbs was a different experience.

So, the pages of Nayana Morag’s book, The Aromatic Dog, have softened and curled as it has become one of the most referenced books in my pet care library.

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Concept of Aromatic Self Selection

Nayana provides some excellent starter recipes, making clear that you need to work WITH the dog to make the final selection of essential oils or other aromatics used, and that those choices will likely change over time as the dog’s needs change.

This concept, known as “zoopharmacognosy,” describes how an animal selects only those plants that will be most supportive of their therapeutic needs. The method is taught by Caroline Ingraham, the world’s preeminent expert and pioneer of Applied Zoopharmacognosy, under whom Nayana studied. This theory is the basis for the guidance provided in The Aromatic Dog.

“To have a truly healthy dog you must reduce stresses whenever possible… Aromatics can help dogs cope with the everyday stresses of normal life.”

~Nayana Morag, The Aromatic Dog (2015)

Kiko: The Aromatic Dog

What I’ve discovered over the past couple of years using the techniques outlined in The Aromatic Dog is that, while her needs and preferences change, Kiko has some consistently favorite aromatics:

• Frankincense (specifically Boswellia carteri) essential oil, hydrosol, and resin
• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) hydrosol, especially the one I distill, and fresh herb; not a fan of the essential oil, though
• Ho Wood (Cinnamomum camphora ct linalool) essential oil on a passive diffuser
• Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) hydrosol especially

The Aromatic Dog has quality content with important information about using essential oils, hydrosols, and lipid carrier oils with dogs. Bullet point summaries help solidify the information covered. The recommended starter list is a good bonus.

Nayana discusses appropriate uses for different modes of aromatherapy, including an entire section on safety.

The Aromatic Dog provides details on 26 essential oils, 9 hydrosols, and 8 carrier oils, including history of the plants and typical therapeutic uses and properties.

As one of the world’s authorities on Animal Aromatherapy, Nayana shares her experience with these aromatics and how she commonly uses them in practice. These mini materia medica are very helpful in creating a short list of essential oils and/or hydrosols to present in a given situation.

One thing I found interesting is that Nayana highly recommends Frankincense for fireworks fear, and that is exactly the experience we had with our dog. Out of the four oils I thought would be most supportive and calming, our dog has responded best to Frankincense. We’ve also found Frankincense essential oil and hydrosol very supportive to her on long road trips.

The Aromatic Dog packs a lot of information into its pages. I recommend it as a simple and basic, well-written introduction to using aromatherapy with dogs—definitely worth having in any dog-owner’s library.

You can pick up The Aromatic Dog at your local bookstore, library, or on Amazon. It’s also available as a Kindle, but I highly recommend the print version!

The Aromatic Dog and other good aromatherapy reads can be found on Mom’s Library Favorites list on Amazon.

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Also by Nayana Morag

• The Aromatic Cat (with Julie-Anne Thorne)
• Essential Oils for Animals (2011 edition)

To learn more about Nayana Morag and her courses visit her website Essential Animals (not an affiliate link).

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• Title: The Aromatic Dog
• Author: Nayana Morag
• Publisher: Off the Leash Press, LLC (June 14, 2015)
• Language: English
• Paperback: ‎148 pages
• ISBN-10: 0984198261
• ISBN-13: 978-0984198269