Gentle massage, encouraging words and hydrosols such as Rose and Neroli work great on puppies or rescued timid dogs and any dog that has a history of abuse. Use touching techniques carefully with any abused dog. Rule of thumb is to start slowly with a gentle petting and observation. If you sense that your dog is acting timid, withdrawn or defensive, give her/him some time to trust you (and humanity). Soon with your help and repetition your dog will gain his/her self-confidence.

For example I have successfully used hydrosols of Rose, Neroli and have diffused Neroli (Citrus aurantium) , Rose Otto (Turkish-Rosa damascena), Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) and Green Mandarin (Citrus reticulata) Essential Oils while I trained my dogs to deal with noise fear (thunderstorms, fireworks). Though they work, Essential Oils without proper anti-fear training is a temporary relief to the problem, but if used in conjunction with the training, it will be a very successful complementary therapy.

Note: I would never use any essential oil undiluted and when diluted without doing a patch test or on any dog that has unidentified allergic reactions. I would not suggest using any essential oils internally and would use it carefully topically. I also suggest keeping your feline and avian friends away from all essential oils, diffusers (do not diffuse essential oils in a room that has cats or birds) or products that contain essential oils.

When buying essential oils (like thyme, rosemary) ask for chemo types. Knowing the chemo type of certain essential oils is vital as some species differ significantly in morphology. Look for GC tested essential oils. Ask your supplier for copies of GCs for oils you purchase.

Here are some of the things I look for when I buy essential oils. Essential oils (absolutes, resins etc.) I purchase should have:

1. clearly readable labels

2. common name

3. botanical name

4. chemo type

5. country of origin

6. amount of essential oil in the bottle

7. lot number (optional)

8. distillation date

Toxicity concerns are generally related to the internal use of EOs, which we should avoid using on any pet. As for topical use, I would not use undiluted or untested oils on my dogs.

Aromatherapists are not trained to “treat” or “diagnose” any canine illness and should not attempt to do so. Especially dangerous is attempting to use essential oils internally on your pet. Even if the essential oils are administered internally by a veterinarian, you owe it to your dog to always question the source and refuse any "treatment" that seems to be an “experiment", money making scheme or a temporary fix to a serious or infectious disease, for example like Parvo.

Also, sadly most Veterinarians (holistic or not) are not educated on the safe use of essential oils, but depend on information given them by the product manufacturer or supplier, or an aromatherapist who bases their knowledge on unproven information contained in many of the popular, but redundant aromatherapy books or, on anecdotal information.

I would avoid using expressed Bergamot if your dog will be exposed to sun, however the use of FCF (furo-coumarin free) grade should be safe. Among some of the oils/extracts I’d strongly caution against using on any animal is Almond (bitter), Benzoin, Birch, Cinnamon Bark, Calamus, Inula graveolens, Mugwort, Oakmoss Concrete, Palmarosa, Peru balsam, Rue, Pine (dwarf), Sassafras, Tolu Balsam, Thuja, Tagetes, Tansy, Verbena, Wintergreen, Wormwood, Wormseed and Yarrow.

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