I'll be the first to admit that we've been a bit lazy in the dog washing department since Max came on the scene. Stella the Great Dane is blowing her winter coat, which is to say that my entire house is covered in a layer of black fur.

The weather was gorgeous outside so we thought it was a good day for a bath. The only problem - we were completely out of dog shampoo. Naturally.

I was bound and determined to getting this done today, so I took to Pinterest and found a few recipes for dog shampoo that were natural and used things I already had lying around the house. Obviously, if I was too lazy to go to the grocery store for dog shampoo, I wasn't about to drive to the store for an ingredient.

Click here for the original recipe with step by step instructions. I made a few modifications:

I put 3 large rosemary sprigs from my garden into 3 cups of water and microwaved for 3 minutes to warm it up. I let the herbs steep while I gathered my other ingredients.
I didn't have the special soap she called for, but I did have good old blue Dawn dish soap. If it's safe enough for baby ducks covered in oil, it's probably good enough for Stella. I removed the rosemary and added 5 tablespoons of that, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (isn't coconut oil the best! Great moisturizer for her coat), 1/2 cup regular white vinegar, and 8 drops of lavender oil.
I poured the mixture into a glass bottle and gave it a good shake. I made a label for it with my label maker, complete with two dog wingdings (obviously).

The shampoo was thinner than what I'm used to with store bought varieties, but it actually made it easier to work into her coat. The rosemary and lavender oil offset the vinegar odor, so she didn't smell like a wet dog covered in potato chips, which was a plus.

Also, I think I might be turning into one of those crazy essential oil people. Lawd help me.

Her coat is nice and shiny and soft again. Isn't she pretty?