I usually wash my dogs in the backyard with the hose. It's a cold, chaotic, treat-heavy experience. But today, I turned my guest bathtub into a mini dog spa to sample one of a new line of animal skin care products recently launched by Bellevue organic chemist Adelia Ritchie.

I poured a half-cup of the DERMagic Aromatherapy Dead Sea Bath Salts into warm water. The aroma of mint and rosemary made me want to slip into the water myself. Lulu, who usually bolts from my grooming efforts like I'm a vet tech with a thermometer, calmly submitted while I rubbed cupfuls of the salted water into her fur.

I picked the bath salts because they are formulated "to draw toxins from the skin, relieve itching and dandruff." My dogs don't have any severe skin challenges -- knock on rawhide -- but they do sometimes develop little white flakes. I can't say if the dandruff is completely gone, but I can say the bath experience was more spa than battle and my shiny, sweet-smelling pup sleeps blissfully at my feet.

The story behind DERMagic is like the story behind so many entrepreneurial pet products. An animal has a problem -- in Dr. Ritchie's Yorkshire Terrier's case, serious skin ailments -- and the guardian, who can't buy a solution, creates her own. That's how Kongs and Ruff Wear collapsible bowls and pretty much every spot-on pet product is created.

The DERMagic line also includes hot spot lotion, salve and cell restoration cream with organic aloe vera, and peppermint and tea-tree oil shampoo and conditioner. DERMagic is sold in Seattle at Unleashed Pawsabilities, Urban Beast, Crown Hill Pet Supply, Ideal Pet and Great Dog Shoppe. To learn more about animal skin care, check out Dr. Ritchie's blog.

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