Made+Remade is dedicating this week to Pet Love, a celebration of our beloved, four-legged companions. Our bloggers will share cool projects and tips to help DIYers get the most out of pet ownership.

Just like people's feet, dogs get rough, dry skin on their paws. The thick skin on their paws helps them traverse all types of terrain since they don’t wear shoes (most dogs don’t anyway). It's not unusual for dogs to have cracked or dry pads as they get older. During winter and summer, ice and heat can cause pain to your dog’s paws.  Keep your best friend's paws in tip-top shape with a homemade, soothing paw balm.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  
• 2 tablespoons shea butter
  
• 2 tablespoons beeswax
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 20 drops lavender essential oil
  
• 4 ounce glass bowl
  
• bamboo skewer
• 4 ounce wide mouth contianer and lid

Add all the beeswax, shea butter, coconut oil and olive oil together in the in 4 ounce glass bowl.

Pop the bowl in the microwave. Heat on high in 30 second intervals until all the ingredients are mostly melted (ours took 60 secs total). The beeswax will take the longest to melt. If there are a few solid bits floating around, that’s fine. Stir with the bamboo skewer until the beeswax is completely melted.

Add about 20 drops of lavender essential oil. You can use whatever scent you like, but we chose lavender for its anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties, as well as its soothing scent.

Pour into a wide mouth glass jar or tin and let it cool. It will solidify as it cools.

How to Use

You can use your fingertips to scoop up a bit of the balm and rub it into your dog’s paws. Our preferred method is to place the paw into the balm container and then rub the balm into your dog's paws. Whatever works for you and your pup. Our dogs are squirmy and it’s easier for us to just put their whole paw in. Gently rub the balm into the paws. Dogs love having their paws rubbed!

The oils absorb well and the beeswax leaves a light protective coating on the paw. Our dogs were not too fond of the lavender smell, so they were not interested in licking it off. Just make sure you don't put too much on and rub it in well to discourage licking. Treat your pup to a nice little paw-di-cure every once in awhile—they’ll love it.