Make your home ‘Pawsitively Fresh’ with our new candle

Is there anything more unpleasant than the smell of a wet dog? When you’ve just come in from a walk in the rain with your pooch, or you’ve just finished bathing the pup, there’s an unmistakable odour that seems to infiltrate every corner of the house.

This unique smell has bothered families for generations, but we think we have the solution – we’ve created ‘Pawsitively Fresh’, the lavender and lilac-scented candle that can mask the smell of wet dog. 

Let’s take you through the scent specifics of the candle, who it will work best for, and why wet dogs even smell in the first place.

Meet the candle that will solve your wet-dog smell!

Our brand-new candle, ‘Pawsitively Fresh’, has been created with one reason in mind: to mask the odour of wet dogs. We’ve picked the scents in our candle because of their ability to mask almost any odour, but also for some other beneficial reasons too:

•    Lavender oil - has great benefits for dogs, including repelling bugs, easing joint pains and helping with their skin and coat, as well as deodorising and refreshing them – and it helps to calm them too. 

•    Lilac – strongly scented, and dogs are naturally attracted to it – great news too, as it’s not toxic or harmful to dogs! 

Now, we know that some of our educated dog owners will see lavender oil and think their pooches may not be safe around lavender. Although it can be toxic if dogs ingest a lot of lavender in plant form, our candle is made from lavender oil which, when diffused throughout the home (e.g., by burning the candle), is perfectly safe! 

Animal reflection coach, Tara Paonessa, backs our carefully chosen candle ingredients, saying: 

“Lavender is the perfect ingredient for candles, as it is safe for dogs and has some fantastic properties that go beyond calming and soothing. It is a natural flea and tick repellent, and can be found in most natural sprays. It is also widely used in oils and supplements for joint care, and it can also be used topically for pain and is a go-to favourite for dry and itchy skin.”

Ideal for our fluffy friends, then! But why did we need to create this candle in the first place? And why do our dogs seem to smell so bad when they have been wet?

Why do wet dogs smell so bad?

There is no distinctive smell from the dog itself, but rather from microorganisms (yeast and bacteria) that live in its fur. They emit strong-smelling, volatile compounds that are released into the air as the water evaporates off your dog’s skin. By increasing the humidity around the dog, the stench becomes even stronger, since humid air holds more odour molecules.

So, if you’ve ever tried to pinpoint exactly what the ‘eau de dog’ smell is comparable to, according to Andy Brunning, a British chemistry teacher who runs a blog called Compound Interest, it’s apparently a combination of lovely woody notes, such as almond, honey and fruit, and some more sour scents like sulphur and faeces. So, it’s little wonder then that we humans have such a difficult time dealing with the smell! But just how badly do we try to avoid the wet-dog smell? We surveyed the nation and found some interesting insights into the inner workings of dog owners.

How do Brits cope with the wet dog smell?

We carried out a survey of dog owners to try to find out just how far they will go to avoid the wet-dog smell, including asking if they would avoid walking their dogs in bad weather! It turns out that only roughly 1 in 3 dog owners clean and dry their dog after every walk with their pooch, while nearly 70% only clean their dogs after a particularly rainy or muddy walk. This left 5% who admitted to never cleaning or drying their dog after a walk!

Interestingly, our participants were much more split about whether the bad weather affects their dog walking habits, with 75% admitting that if the weather doesn’t look good, they will never walk their dog! Just 25% say they would brave a dog walk no matter the weather. 

We also wanted to find out if our participants had ever purchased a product to get rid of the smell of wet dog, and we were happy to hear that over 87% of our survey takers had either already purchased a product to try, or were interested in purchasing one in the future. 

Does the weather affect different regions’ dog-walking habits?

We broke down our survey participants into their regional cities and found that the different cities have some varying reactions to the wet-dog smell. Birmingham has the cleanest dogs in all the land, with a whopping 45% cleaning and drying their dogs after every single walk, while Belfast has the dirtiest dogs, with the highest number of participants claiming that they never clean or dry their dogs after walks (6%). 

It’s little wonder that Birmingham has the cleanest dogs because Brummie dog owners are the least likely to walk their dogs if the weather is bad! Meanwhile, Newcastle pet owners are much more accustomed to the bad weather and were ranked highest for walking their dogs whatever the weather, with nearly 45% of participants exercising their dog come rain or shine.  

Southampton dog owners appear to be the most concerned about the wet-dog smell, with nearly 50% admitting that they have purchased a product to get rid of the stench, and Sheffield owners are the most adamant that they will not purchase a product to get rid of their pooch’s poor perfume. 

Wherever you hail from, we can guarantee that our ‘Pawsitively Fresh’ candle will work for you and your pooch, and you can keep your eyes peeled on our social media accounts  for more info on the candle. 

Once you’ve got your hands on one of these candles, you’ll want to take your dog on lots of wet walks to test its powers, so why not book a stay at one of our dog-friendly holiday cottages? You can even book a stay near the beach for the ultimate wet-dog smell!