Good Clean Dog products help dogs smell their finest

Recently, a friend of mine informed me that my pug smells like a Caesar salad. With anchovies.

It's sad, and true. But what can I do? Pugs are a flat-faced breed, and their snoutlessness necessitates that they stick their entire face into the food bowl to gobble up their kibble. Compounding matters is the fact that most pugs have deep nooks and crannies in the loveable folds and wrinkles of their flat mug. Despite an attentive owner's best efforts, sometimes a dog just smells.

Thank goodness for Good Clean Dog. Created by local aromatherapy and body-care company Sweet Petula, this natural line of canine shampoos, salves, sprays and soaps gives a stinky pooch a chance to smell sweet.

Good Clean Dog products contain mild natural cleansers, herbal infusions and high-quality essential oils that are gentle enough for sensitive skin, yet strong enough to combat the smelliest dogs.

After wrangling my pug into a tub filled with warm water, I lathered her up with the herbal shampoo ($14) -- no small task, given that fawn pugs have a thick double coat and are master escape artists. But once I shampooed, rinsed and repeated, and she had a chance to race madly around the house, we sat down to dry off and snuggle. And she smelled good. Really good. Like a lovely combination of lavender, rosemary and lemongrass.

Other products from the Good Clean Dog collection include a detangler ($14) to smooth and condition the coats of longhaired breeds and a shampoo bar ($7.95) perfect for pooches prone to itchy skin. The spritzer ($9) is an essential-oil-based flea repellant -- a warm-weather necessity -- and the beeswax-based first-aid salve ($8) helps soothe and heal irritated skin.

Good Clean Dog products are available online at shopping Web site Etsy.

Now, with the smelly Caesar salad situation taken care of, I wonder if the good folks at Good Clean Dog would be willing to work on a remedy for snoring...

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