Top Essential Oils to Calm Anxious Dogs

by | Nov 7, 2021 | Essential Oils

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Raising five dogs isn't easy. We chose active breeds and understand that they need plenty of exercise, but sometimes exercise isn't enough when we have a thunderstorm or when we're sheltering in place during a pandemic. I love to diffuse essential oils to calm everyone in the house PLUS make the house smell nice. This post shares which oils I prefer to diffuse to calm our pack.

When it comes to anxious dogs, I've found that the best cure is exercise. They say a tired dog is a well-behaved dog and I don't disagree. With the upcoming shorter days, I may not be able to squeeze out that last bit of ‘bouncing off the walls' energy out of the dogs and need something that will help to chill them out and that's when I turn to essential oils.

We have four dogs and all of them have some level of anxiety, but Rodrigo is usually the focus in the house because he's freaked out by…

  • windstorms
  • thunderstorms
  • fireworks
  • loud noises (pressure washer, generator, vacuum cleaner)
  • cleaning and rearranging of the garage

So I use and diffuse essential oils daily because essential oils are great for:

If you're into essential oils like I am and you're looking for essential oils and blends that help to calm anxious dogs, keep reading. Surprisingly, there are a lot of options.

Essential Oils that Calm Anxious Dogs

The following is a shortlist of essential oils and essential oil blends that I alternate in our diffuser to keep peace in our home:

With the exception of the animalEO essential oils, which are formulated by a holistic veterinarian, I do not apply the above essential oils directly onto my dogs. And I NEVER add essential oils to their meals unless I'm under the direct supervision of a holistic veterinarian who is experienced in healing with essential oils.

Diffusing Essential Oils

When it comes to changing the energy of a room, I diffuse essential oils on our main floor (living room, family room, and office), which is where the dogs spend 99.9% of their time. If a scent or blend is too much, the dogs can leave the room. The number of drops added to a diffuser depends on the size of a room and the blend that I'm using. If an essential oil is strong OR a room is small, I use fewer drops to avoid overwhelming the dogs (and myself).

So far, I've been using the following diffusers and I'm happy with them:

Diffusing Oils for Anxiety

Individual oils that work great for my dogs:

Blends that work great for my dogs:

When I want to get fancy and blend oils, then I go with the following:

I use the following combination of oils for separation anxiety, fireworks, and when guests are coming…

Do Essential Oils Work for Dogs?

When it comes to essential oils, it's tempting to think that this is some woo woo, tree hugger nonsense and that smelling flower essence doesn't do anything except give improve the scent in a room. But there have been studies on humans to show that essential oils do reduce anxiety.

  • In December 2009, the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing found that the essential oil lavadin (which is a combination of two different types of lavender plants) reduced anxiety in pre-operative patients.
  • In a March/April 2009 article for Holistic Nursing Practice, a study found that lavender essential oils reduced stress in graduate nursing students.

The above-mentioned studies are on humans, but I believe they can be applied to dogs too. And while I don't have an issue with diffusing oils in a room with my dogs, before applying essential oils on my dogs I check with the Animal Desk Reference Guide written by Dr. Melissa Shelton, who is one of the foremost experts in using essential oils with pets.

To be honest, when it comes to calming anxiety using essential oils alone doesn't work with my dogs. I still need to make sure the dogs get plenty of exercise daily and training is key to raising a houseful of dogs. If my dogs are bouncing off the walls, diffusing essential oils isn't going to turn them into calm, well-behaved pups. But it helps.

Don't Forget the CBD Oil

Another thing that helps is CBD oil. Each of our dogs gets CBD oil from CBD Dog Health two to three times daily. CBD oil calms their anxiety while…

  • alleviating chronic pain, including arthritis and joint pain
  • calming allergies
  • soothing skin conditions
  • reducing the frequency of seizures
  • helping the body with autoimmune disorders
  • slowing the growth/spread of cancer and tumors; encouraging apoptosis in cancer cells

Together, CBD oil and essential oils keep the house happy and calm. That is until the UPS truck arrives. Nothing will keep the dogs from saving my life – AGAIN – when that brown truck is on our property.

Raising five dogs isn't easy. We chose active breeds and understand that they need plenty of exercise, but sometimes exercise isn't enough when we have a thunderstorm or when we're sheltering in place during a pandemic. I love to diffuse essential oils to calm everyone in the house PLUS make the house smell nice. This post shares which oils I prefer to diffuse to calm our pack.

Read More About Essential Oils

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