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Clean your horses, dogs and cats the natural way

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By Laurie Denger, Staff Writer Updated 6:33 PM Friday, November 6, 2009

It’s nearly slush and snow season and we all know what that means.

Your dog will be bringing half the yard — in the form of muddy footprints — to your floors. Years ago, I started keeping wipes near the back door just for that reason. You wipe the dog’s feet before he gets a chance to run all over the house.

Recently, I received samples of new products from a company called earthbath, which specializes in “totally natural pet care.” The products, which range from wipes to shampoos to spritzes to shampoo bars, are soap-free and pH balanced, nontoxic, 100 percent natural, biodegradable and phosphate-free.

The company also makes cleaning supplies for small animals, horses and wipes and nonfoaming products to clean cats — who aren’t especially keen about being dipped into a bath.

An earthbath spokeswoman said the products also don’t use artificial fragrances and dyes, animal ingredients or by-products.

For more information on their products, visit www.earthbath.com.

There are also shampoos called Gold Medal, available from a company called Cardinal Pets, which promises to rinse and dry faster than other shampoos.

Among the shampoos are a citrus shampoo that even gets rid of skunk odor, an oatmeal shampoo that has vitamins to soothe itchy skin and a whitening shampoo to make white dogs look even cleaner. The company also makes flea and tick shampoos, shampoos with tea tree oil and shampoos that are supposed to make dogs shed less.

Gold Medal also makes detangling spray, a spray for between baths and an oatmeal spray to sooth the skin.

For more information, visit www.cardinalpet.com.

There’s also a way to make washing your dog a lot easier.

The HydroSurge RapidBath pet bathing system claims to be able to wash your dog in three minutes or less.

The self-contained wet, wash and rinse system is in a unit that connects to a shower head, garden hose or faucet. The unit has a shampoo cartridge — so you don’t have to put down the water source to squeeze shampoo from another container.

You’re supposed to be able to practically bathe your dog using only one hand.

HydroSurge RapidBath sells for $69.99 and is available at a wide range of pet and department stores. For more information, visit www.rapidbathing.com.

And once the pet is sparkly clean, what’s the air in your house like?

There’s a new odor eliminator called “Clear the Air” made by Earth Care Products in California that is supposed to get rid of pet, mildew and other odors by actually removing the odor instead of covering it with a fragrance.

And it’s supposed to be natural, nontoxic and environmentally friendly for kids and pets.

Clear the Air granules are safe for children and pets even if swallowed. The 14-ounce canisters sell for $9.99.

For more information, call (800) 611-1611 or visit www.cleartheair.com.

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