Bach Flower Remedies for Dogs

Within traditional natural medicine for humans and animals, we find Bach flower remedies, which are nothing more than the same Bach flower essences used for people, just with a different dosage.

These are a set of specific flowers, macerated and preserved in alcohol for human or animal use. In total there are thirty-eight different flowers that make up this floral group, each with different properties for various emotional states.

We should note that this natural remedy has no scientific basis. Let's take a detailed look at what it involves and its uses in dogs.

What are Bach flower remedies used for?

Bach flower remedies are said to have specific properties for restoring negative emotional states. In other words, they're a kind of natural remedy for repairing emotions that aren't working the way they should, or that carry a negative charge.

If our dog is sad, stressed, agitated, grumpy, suffers from separation anxiety when we leave them home alone, and so on, we can try to repair that mood with this natural treatment. It's said that every physical illness has a mental origin, so a healthy mind equals a physically healthy dog.

Each flower has a particular property or set of properties, and it doesn't matter if a different one than needed is given, since there are no known side effects. According to people who use these flowers as a therapy for their dogs, they only bring benefits without causing any harm. Although we stress again that they have no scientific basis — that is, their effectiveness hasn't been proven.

These are the flowers that make up the group of thirty-eight, along with their respective properties. We should choose the one we believe best suits the emotional issue we need to address in our dog, and always consult our vet beforehand.

1. Agrimony: For animals that hide their feelings. Outwardly they always seem cheerful even when they're suffering or in pain. Some symptoms can include hair loss, being tense, or excessive licking. This flower helps them be themselves.
2. Aspen: For fearful, sensitive animals. They're afraid of everything and startle at any noise. This flower helps them get over these panic attacks.
3. Beech: For aggressive, intolerant animals. They don't relate well to people or other animals of their species, and don't adapt to change either. This flower helps them socialize and become more tolerant.
4. Centaury: For animals lacking willpower. They're excessively submissive and eager to please. They fixate on their owners and constantly need their approval. This flower helps them become more independent and self-assured.
5. Cerato: For insecure animals. They lack self-confidence and seek protection and approval from people. They're also restless and have trouble concentrating. This flower helps with learning and self-confidence.
6. Cherry Plum: For animals that are always tense. They have uncontrolled outbursts of temper caused by buried fears. This can be caused by early separation from the mother. This flower helps them control their fears.
7. Chestnut Bud: For animals with learning problems. They're nervous and have trouble concentrating, so they learn very slowly and make the same mistakes over and over. This flower helps them concentrate to make learning easier.
8. Chicory: For animals possessive of their owners. They constantly demand attention and are overprotective of their surroundings and family. This flower helps them become more independent from their family.
9. Clematis: For absent-minded animals. They seem indifferent, unmotivated, and aren't entertained by anything. This flower helps them become aware of reality.
10. Crab Apple: For excessively fastidious animals. They're disgusted by sharing their food and water bowls and don't like getting dirty, so they're constantly grooming themselves. This flower helps them feel comfortable in their own skin.
11. Elm: For animals overwhelmed by too much responsibility. They're tense, restless, and seem tired — this can happen especially in working animals who feel overloaded by the task assigned to them. This flower helps them accept their limits.
12. Gentian: For easily discouraged animals. They're hypersensitive to change and quickly become disheartened if something doesn't go their way. This flower helps them get past setbacks and be more optimistic.
13. Gorse: For animals with no will to live. They're apathetic and look sad and tired — this state can occur after a separation or loss. This flower helps them regain their zest for life.
14. Heather: For animals that can't stand being alone. They seek constant attention and can become quite clingy. It differs from Chicory in that the animal doesn't care who gives them the attention, as long as someone does. This flower helps them tolerate solitude.
15. Holly: For jealous animals. The animal behaves in a hostile way toward the object of their jealousy. This flower helps them accept the changes that triggered this feeling.
16. Honeysuckle: For animals left melancholic by a loss. They have great difficulty adapting to new situations, so they appear uninterested and indifferent. This can happen especially in animals that have been abandoned. This flower helps them regain their former confidence and joy.
17. Hornbeam: For tired animals. They're physically and mentally exhausted for no apparent reason. This flower helps them regain their vitality.
18. Impatiens: For restless animals. They're hyperactive and seem never to stop. This flower helps them control their nerves.
19. Larch: For very insecure animals. They're submissive and easily intimidated, which leads to learning problems. This condition is very common in animals that have been mistreated. This flower helps them regain self-confidence.
20. Mimulus: For animals with known fears. They're afraid of specific situations, people, or places. This flower helps them overcome known fears.
21. Mustard: For animals with deep depression. They're sad for no apparent reason, which can show up as self-destructive behavior, excessive coat grooming, etc. This flower helps them overcome sadness.
22. Oak: For animals that don't know when to stop. These tend to be working animals that always push beyond their strength, even when sick or exhausted. This flower helps them recognize their limits.
23. Olive: For physically exhausted animals. Due to a major previous effort, such as surgery or a long illness, the animal is tired and drained. This flower helps them recover.
24. Pine: For animals with feelings of guilt. They're insecure and easily startled, hide when there are arguments, and feel targeted when scolded even when they weren't the ones at fault. This flower helps them feel more secure.
25. Red Chestnut: For overprotective animals. They're afraid something will happen to their loved ones and are especially protective of the weaker members of the family, such as babies. They dislike changes in routine and are constantly on edge. This flower helps them let go a little of their attachment to their family.
26. Rock Rose: For animals prone to panic attacks. They're easily excitable and suffer from uncontrolled fears that leave them paralyzed or make them flee in terror. This flower helps them control their fears.
27. Rock Water: For animals with overly rigid behavior. They're very disciplined, take their tasks very seriously, and any change to their routine upsets them. This flower helps them better accept change.
28. Scleranthus: For indecisive animals. They're insecure and have a very changeable mood, which makes them unpredictable. This flower helps them become more stable.
29. Star of Bethlehem: For traumatized animals. They're physically and mentally shaken. Highly recommended for animals that have suffered any kind of trauma or shock, whether recent or in the past. This flower helps them recover better from bad experiences.
30. Sweet Chestnut: For exhausted animals. They're depressed and downcast after going through a difficult situation. It's also recommended for animals that no longer want to keep fighting after a long illness. This flower helps them regain their strength.
31. Vervain: For hyperactive animals. They're stubborn, easily get worked up, and behave in an exaggerated way. This flower helps them moderate their emotions.
32. Vine: For dominant animals. They're authoritarian, aggressive, and territorial. They always want to impose their will on those around them, whether animals or humans. This flower helps them become more tolerant.
33. Walnut: For animals with adjustment problems. They're insecure and struggle to adapt to new situations, which causes them anxiety. It's also recommended to help them cope with small changes. This flower helps them feel less insecure when their routine changes.
34. Water Violet: For solitary animals. They're reserved and distant, prefer to be alone, and avoid all contact or displays of affection. This flower helps them become more sociable.
35. White Chestnut: For animals with obsessive behavior. They're insecure, easily distracted, and have a constant need to be moving. This flower helps them find mental calm.
36. Wild Oat: For disoriented animals. They're indecisive and have learning problems because they lose interest easily. This flower helps them with decision-making.
37. Wild Rose: For apathetic animals. They're completely unmotivated and have no interest in life, appearing uninterested and passive, letting everything happen around them. This flower helps them regain their vitality.
38. Willow: For resentful animals. They hold grudges and are easily offended, and often misbehave as a form of protest. This flower helps them become more flexible and forgiving.

How are Bach flower remedies used?

The essence of the flower we've chosen for our dog comes in a glass bottle with a dropper. The extract of the selected flower is stored in alcohol in that bottle to preserve it.

Generally, four drops a day are used, but since it's likely a strong, unpleasant taste for our dog, it's best to dilute about ten drops in their water bowl each day (fresh water and ten drops should be added every day).

We need to remember that alcohol is harmful to dogs — very toxic. That's why we should never exceed the recommended dose, since we could end up harming our dog instead of helping them heal. Another way to give the four daily drops is by adding them to their food, so the dog takes them without paying much attention, masked by the usual smell of their food.

When do the effects become noticeable?

No two therapies are alike, so there's no set timeframe for seeing any benefit. Every dog is a unique case, and while some may show improvement within a few weeks, others may take several months.

Bach flower remedies are used to balance, repair, and heal emotions that aren't working properly in our dog, which for some reason are out of balance. We simply need to be patient and keep evaluating progress.

The best advice is to keep a calendar noting when we started the treatment and when we begin to notice progress. This way we can assess how long it took our dog to show a bit of improvement and work out roughly how much longer they'll need to keep taking Bach flower remedies to fully recover.

Do Bach flower remedies work, or are they a myth?

Depending on who you ask, you'll get one answer or another. Some people don't believe in the benefits of these flowers, while others do. The same goes for the results after trying them. From a veterinary standpoint, it's considered a myth.