hi, sorry to be a pain again but my pup keeps eating my lavender plant. is this harmful to them? i read a post on lavender and their pup, but all it said was to worry about bee's however its only a small bush and dont seem to attract many bee's, i'm just worried its dangerous.

My pup seems facinated by my lavendar and my rosemary. Sometimes I just stroke my hands along them and let her smell my hands and she is absolutely enthralled. Shame it doesn't give her the 'mild sedative' action the oils are supposed to contain! I am totally uunsure how safe they are if consumed, so I have fenced them off (along with most of my other plants!) just to be on the safe side, and she doesn't go out into the garden unsupervised. I would be really inmterested to know though.

Hi there..... After realising i had a few toxic plants i set about finding at all about them, to make sure my garden was free of them. My pup will eat anything.

I have searched and searched and no-where does lavender appear on the toxic or potenetially toxic lists from around the world.It would appear to be quite safe :-)
But if your dog does develop sickness/diar then obviously if it continues see the vet and let them know what he's been munching on as its not unusual to develop allergys and intollerances to considered safe stuff. :-)

ahhh thats brilliant cheers, but to be on the safe side i'll probably move the plant to somewhere puppy proof! bad enough him tearing up all my grass let alone my plants :D

i know all about a gardens that look like war zones eaten plants and a dozen big holes :D
The only plants i have left in the back garden (kai's domain lol) are 5-6ft high roses...... he hasnt worked out how to eat those yet!! :D :D

Hi-just read your post and it got me thinking! My 8 months old JRX, Pippa has been scratching herself silly.  Shes always in the garden digging and being nosey, we have some Arun Lillies, excuse spelling, are they toxic? How can I find out what plants are toxic for dogs and cats-do you know of any websites?
Thanks
Noel :)

Hi noel
If you put "toxic plants dogs " into a search engine like google you will get loads of pages come up. Theres quite a list really some have been posted on here before so search this site aswell.:-)

Hi janeandkai
Thanks for your reply will have a look on search engine and here too.
Noel :)

This post has got me wondering - Lavender has a major effect on me, zonks me out entirely ... wonder if it would do the same for my firework nervous girl [wanders off pondering ...].

M.

It would certainly relax her, personally I would say it would work better blended with other essential oils.

Rescue Remedy has worked very well for my eldest dog who suffers from anxiety caused by fireworks.  As soon as she hears them go off she'll go and sit next to the cabinet in which its kept and stops shaking within minutes of application.

Lavender oil is applied onto the leg furnishings and can be used neat - some aromatherapist's advise that this can have an overpowering effect.

Since it is one of the few essential oils that can be used on humans and dogs undiluted I would think it is safe to say that the plant its self is fine :)

"The volatile oils contained in lavender can be very hard on the liver and kidneys of animals,so internal use of this herb is best avoided.Under no circumstances should the highly concentrated essential oil be ingested.The oil should NOT be used on the skin in undiluted form because it may cause irritation.Avoid using essential oils on or around cats"

Primary medicinal activities-Elevates mood(antidepressive,anibacterial,astringent,analgesic,antispasmodic.

Strongest affinities-Skin,nervous system,respiratory tract,joints.

Taken from "Herbs for pets" by Greg Tilford.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tasha does your dog have joint problems,arthritis etc? Is he high strung or nervous?

HUH I didnt double check that one!. Kristen Leigh bell in 'Holistic Aromatherapy for animals' says:" Lavender is one of the few essential oils that can safely be used neat or undiluted...The supream gentilness of the oil in combination with its antibacterial, anti itch and powerful regenerative properties make Lavender the perfect choice. Lavandin shares some properties but is generally harsher".

Since essential oils are many times more concentrated than the plant itself, I think it is very unlikley that the plant will do any harm. Although as Hailey suggests he may be self medicating - or he may just like to be chilled out :D You should see my cats after they have been at the catnip :D  :D

oh blimey, well i had to take him to vets the other day as he has a gastric virus. but other than that he is in perfect condition, dont think he's highly strung or nervous. maybe that is causing his virus? i've turned the plant around now (and i think he's killed it anyway!) so now he cannot get at the flowers.

so you can use lavender oil on a dog? how would you use it and for what reason? i love the smell of lavender and him smelling of lavender when he's having cuddles would be lovely!

Hi Tasha

Lots of dogs love the smell of Lavender. I use it all over the place, in bicarb of soda sprinkled on the carpets to freshen them up, as an air freshner, in my bath (the dogs often come and sit in the bathroom) and mixed in a carrier oil such as almond I put a few drops on their neck/tail area to ward off fleas. I normally mix in other things like neem and citronella for that. The key is to use very small quantities, for the flea treatment I would use a TOTAL of less than ten drops of all the oils to 10 ml of carrier. Also it is importaint to 'listen' to your dog. I always put the oil mix on my hand beore applying and mine normally come over and sniff it and have it rubbed in but especially the first time it is very importaint to let the dog assess it and if he backs away or otherwise uses negative body language, dont use it.

If you want to be ultra safe you can always use hydrosols, this is the scent that is recovered from the steam used to extract the oils. It is very gentil and very safe (make sure that it is a hydrosol and not just oil added to water, which is not the same). It is even OK to use Lavender Hydrosol on cats, who are normally very sensitive to essential oils and can be killed by as little as one drop of some of them.

If you are really interested I would recomend checking out Amazon or similar for books on animal aromatherapy. Only thing is you can get a bit carried away and end up spending £100s on the oils to get started :D    

hehehe i bet! sounds very interesting though, might actually give it a go. thankyou :)