The Dog and I

Who doesn't love a clean dog and this year I have some fantastic gift sets on the website with a WHOPPING 15% off until Sunday 3rd November? I know it is early but early birds get the worm or in this case the fab gift set! The discount is auto applied so you just need to hop over to the website, grab your gift and I will do the rest. 🐦‍⬛🪱

20% off all gift sets until 03.11.24 for early birds 🐦 🐦‍⬛ The Curly Coat Care kit is for owners of the harder to manage curly or longer coat breed of dogs. Includes CockerPoo, Labradoodle, Shih Tzu, Poodles and more. All gift boxes are packaged as shown in a brown kraft card box with wood filler. The front of the box has the message as shown on each product image. A handy 'How to Use' insert card is included. Set Contains 200ml Conditioning Shampoo 200ml Tame Those Tangles , 100g Dog Soap for grubby muzzles and paws.(selected at random or please specify at checkout) PLUS a FREE 15g mini Winter Salve which is a 2 in 1 travel size product for dry skin, bikes, stings, cuts, grazes and more. This is a fab gift set and great value too 👍☺️ #naturaldogcare #naturaldog #handmadedog #dogownergift

Mini soaps are not my usual jam but these were for a one off trade order. I don't sell them as singles but if you order 60 or 70 or so at a minimum I will oblige 😆 They are a bit fiddly but do make great little gifts. I don't keep them in stock however, so made to order only and they require a cure time so if you are eying them up for client gifts or similar they do need to be ordered in the next few days really 😉

👉Comb through daily with a wide tooth comb. 👉Ensure the comb teeth reach down to the skin, not just the top layer of coat. 👉Use a detangler to make the job easier ( whatever friends/family may say dogs left to their own devices would not manage in the wild with a coat type like this!) 👉When bathing, use a conditioning shampoo. 👉Use a soap bar for mucky beards and muzzles. It is much easier to manoeuvre. 👉Pat and squeeze dry, don't rub the coat as that will cause matting. 👉Discuss the best coat length for your dog with your groomer. Much will depend on your lifestyle and the time you have to maintain the coat between grooms. Feel smug that you don't have to do the walk of shame out of the groomers with a shaved dog 👌

The little pot of magic that is Soothing Salve starts out life as a bunch of herbs infused in Sweet Almond Oil. I LOVE this product and it has even been recommended by a vet when a steroid cream didn't work ( and yes it worked). I can't make rash promises about what this salve does, there are no clinical trials, none of those '99% of people say this' statements but there are a tonne of reviews on the website and it is worth keeping a pot in your canine first aid kit. #Just saying If you have tried it and love it please share your experiences with us in the comments. 😊

I really don't like making them 😕 They are a pain to get the ropes lined up correctly. The hemp rope I buy seems to go out of stock for a pastime, and they are a general PITA 😅 But you like them, they are good value therefore I will keep making them 👍 #dogsoap #soapfordogs #plasticfreedogproducts #dogbath #naturaldoguk

Plopping neat shampoo on a dogs back and trying to rub it in evenly all is not great it has to be said and it is also not cost effective. This is a trick I learnt in grooming school and another trick is to leave your dogs head until last. Water on the head is the most common reason for a dog shaking so do it last and you reduce the risk of you ending up like a drowned rat! My shampoo is super gentle, can be diluted up to 18:1 and is suitable for sensitive skins too. With aloe and oatmeal.

Today I made... 👉 Lavender soap on a ropes 👉 Large and small paw balms 👉 Zest conditioner bars 👉 Zest moisturising bars Then had to have a bath to recover !!!!

This is such a simple tip but I do this all the time and it makes life SO much easier. If you have a bog snorkler then sorry, no it won't help you much 😂 Thankfully Willow is a bit more ladylike these days.

The last 10 years have been a crazy roller coaster for me and much of it driven by a desire to reduce my plastic use so here goes 😉 2014 As a somewhat stressed police officer I retrained as a dog groomer. City & Guilds 2 and 3 completed. This enabled me to reduce my hours at work and work from home which made family life a little easier. 2015 Keen to use less plastic and chemicals I learnt how to make soap including soap for dogs! That raised a few eyebrows 😂 2016 The Dog and I was born. I didn't start off with dedicated dog grooming products but very quickly niched down. The business grew and dog soap was and still is my most popular product 2019 I started teaching how to make soap and @thesoapcoach was created 2024 The Soap Coach is now my bigger business but it still has the same values around using less plastic in our lives. I just wanted to share how much things can change in a relatively short space of time and you are never too old. I was 44 10 years ago😉 Hopefully that will help someone out today 😀

I am so grateful to have frozen instead of mud 🎉😄

A day of making up nose and paw balms Want your own branded balms? That is no problem. You can either have them unlabelled ( I will let you know what you need to include on the labels) or I can ask my printer to help with incorporating your logo into a design. There is a design fee for this and a minimum order of 100 tins but it makes a great client gift or something to add to your range. ☺️ #nosebalm #pawbalm #naturaldogproducts