Is having scented candles around OK for dogs?
It really depends. I LOVE a scented candle but before creating candles I did some research to make my candles as dog friendly whilst still being as cost effective as possible.
Candles are bad for us humans and our lungs to an extent, burning something and breathing it in? Makes sense it isn’t good! But there are quite a few things to make them better for us and our dogs.
Many essential oils are bad for dogs so personally I just say any scented candles that use essential oils is a no-no! I have done the hard work in researching what is it about essential oils is toxic, what I am looking for and what fragrance oils are OK and where the cross over between essential and fragrance is. The best scents are more natural scents such as lavender, vanilla, chamomile. A dogs sense of smell in at least 10,000 times more sensitive so if you can smell you candle, your pup surely can! Citrus scents are tricky. They are a favourite for many people in their homes. Lemon and oranges are generally a no-no but a lime can be OK and the use of a basil base helps. You are on the lookout for di-limone in the scent, di-limone is a no-no.
Scents are tough because if you google it you can read on some websites that peppermint is OK as a fragrance oil but not OK as an essential oil so you have to do the research onto what makes that oil and what makes it toxic but I would be looking for dog friendly candle companies only on google if you don’t want to put the time and research into it.
Next up you want to look into the wax used. The BEST for your pet is a natural beeswax, the catch here is that is the most expensive wax and therefore one of the most expensive candles! The big no-no is paraffin wax. Parraffin wax is bad for us, it emits toxic chemicals when burning and paraffin is made from either petrol, oil or coal! Whilst beeswax is the best, a natural wax is great! This means any vegetable waxes or soy wax.
Lastly, you want to look at your wick. Cotton wicks with lead centres are not saleable in New Zealand, however, with internet shopping these days I would always be careful about being sure you are purchasing an all natural, non bleached, cotton wick. Cotton wicks aren’t terrible, but cotton candle wicks release fumes into the air when it burns. Wood wicks are the way to go for less chemicals – however, you want to ensure, each time before you light, you trim the top of the wick off because whilst they release less carcinogens than a cotton wick, they will release carcinogens into the air if you do not trim that charred top off before you light it! If you don’t have a wick trimmer, you can just break it off with your fingers (and then wash your hands before you touch anything,) before you light it.
All candles can be bad if inhaled in large quantities. When you first burn your candle, you want to make sure the top layer fully melts. I don’t understand how, personally but candle wax has A MEMORY! So if you don’t burn it evenly, you will always end up with a lip of wax around your candle This can take a few hours the first time you light it. Going forward after your first burn, I recommend to only leave your candles burning for 1 hour, however anything less than 3 is fine. This should give your house the scent you are after and not be to harmful.
Lastly – keep your candle away from you dog. Keep it on a high shelf that your dog can go inspecting and sniffing it and tip it over!
If you notice your dog is sneezing a lot, struggling to breathe, drooling, has gotten diarrhoea for seemingly no reason, lethargic, red eyes, then it might be the candle! Ventilate the space and don’t light it for a week or so and see how you go.
