If you spend any time on Pinterest, you’ll soon learn that body butter is all the rage. There are countless beautifully composed pictures of body butter, a white creamy mixture that looks almost good enough to eat.

It seems as if nearly every Mommy blogger has her own DIY body butter recipe. These are typically made with coconut oil, shea butter and sometimes cocoa butter. Recipes designed for for people often include various essential oils or other natural ingredients. The possibilities are endless.

However, the basic recipe you’ll find below is intended for dogs. So I’m leaving the aromatics out of the equation.

Being the good dog Mommy blogger that I am, I definitely wanted to try body butter for my own pooch. I’ll admit I was making it for myself, in the first place. But I knew it was something that would work on my dog as well. The online recipes looked easy enough. The pictures of the end results were intriguing, to say the least. These all natural ingredients certainly can’t hurt my dog. So, I decided to try.

 

How to Make Body Butter for Dogs

(This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything, I receive a referral fee, at no extra cost to you.)

 

I searched on Pinterest and found what seemed to be the easiest body butter recipe. I needed only two ingredients, coconut oil and shea butter. Coconut oil is something I already had in the house. But I had to order the shea butter online.

 

DIY Coconut Oil Body Butter

 

Making body body was ridiculously easy. I was really surprised that it worked, since it didn’t seem as if two simple ingredients, mixed together, would produce a stiff creamy homemade body lotion. But this recipe does work. Here’s what I did.

• I put about three tablespoons of coconut oil in a small sauce pan.
• Then I added half the amount of shea butter. This recipe can be adjusted if you want to make more.
• These two oils were gently heated on the stove.
• After the oils become liquid, you take the pain off the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
• This liquid is then put in a glass bowl and placed in the freezer for just 10 minutes.
• Then you whip it with an electric mixer until it becomes body butter. The recipe I used said you needed to whip the ingredients for just 2 to 3 minutes. I found that I needed to whip it longer. I turned the mixer off when it reached the desired consistency.

Here is the end result. I was pleasantly surprised that this recipe worked as well as it did. Although you can’t really tell from the picture, this body butter is luxurious. A little lavender essential oil (2 drops to 2 ounces) could be added as it’s being mixed if you intend to use it for hot spots, in a place where your dog can’t lick. But always check with your vet before using aromatics on a dog, and never use essential oils on pregnant or nursing females.

Although I just made this today, I don’t know how long it will last. But I did hear it will last for months, and retain its consistency, if it’s stored in a closed glass jar. (Update: It lasted about six months.)

This body butter could be used as a snout paste. However, in that case, I’d skip the lavender oil because dogs have such a heightened sense of smell. Older dogs tend to have dry cracked noses. This is how I used it on my own dog, after I made him some body butter. Our Cocker Spaniel is 16 and his nose gets very dry. I imagine this is uncomfortable.

Another potential use is as a DIY paw conditioner. Paw pads take a beating, any time of the year. In the winter they are often exposed to harsh road salts. In the summer, they carry the dog over hot pavement.

Anyway, I love having natural organic shea butter in the house, for my family and for our family pet. If you don’t own any of this incredible emollient, you can order it online. Here is the brand I used.

Pure Organic Shea Butter

&

For Additional Reading

Natural Remedies for Dogs With Dry Skin

Dog Paw Pad Problems

Coconut Oil for Dogs With Dry Skin