This spring, Poppy’s Picnic is headed in a fresh new direction with the launch of our very own fragrance house, Maison de Poppy. The idea behind the exclusive scents is to bring a dog’s favourite essences from the outside, into their favourite parts of the home. Our natural, subtly blended Spring collection, ‘L’air de Chien’ was created in collaboration with GQ’s Barber of the Year, Carmelo Guastella, and will be sold as a collection of four sprays as a limited 500 box run.

As many of you well know, Poppy’s Picnic’s fresh raw dog food is handmade in the heart of Wiltshire by fourth generation butchers and puts a pet’s wellbeing at the fore. We champion a dog’s sensory-filled eating experience as has been seen on ITV’s This Morning and Channel 4. It has long been a dream of mine to broaden this experience and expand into natural canine cosmetics to bring wellness into additional areas of dogs’ lives.

Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses to thank for their stellar sense of smell, while in comparison, humans have around 6 million. My friend and celebrated stylist, Carmelo Guastella and I have been discussing bringing the sprays to fruition since the early days of our friendship nearly 18 years years ago.. Carmelo’s role was to use his talents to determine and carefully distil a dog’s favourite fragrances into a spray that was the perfect strength for dogs, but undetectable for humans.

I have always been conscious that like us, dogs are very emotional beings and their surroundings can impact their mood. When exploring the outdoors, dogs are enchanted by all sorts of sights and smells, but at home they’re just not stimulated in the same way. I knew Carmelo would be able to channel his award-winning grooming experience into our new and natural perfume collection which now means owners can spruce up their dog’s favourite bed, blanket or toy with their favourite smells, while having minimal impact on their home.

Creating the fragrances was no mean feat. Carmelo closely studied a sample of 50 dogs for 500 hours to determine their favourite fragrances. It was incredibly important to him to be at one with the dogs, and a condition of him working with us was that he should be allowed the freedom to mimic their movements as best he could alongside them. He spent quite some time patrolling parks, hiding in bushes and pressed up against lamp posts as he carried out his investigation. It sounds over the top, but I fully support his creative processes which enabled him to understand the psychology of our four-legged friends, and get the most authentic samples to incorporate into our original blends.

After some deliberation Carmelo and I decided to move forward with the following eau de parfums for the L’air de Chien collection:

• Cul de Chien
• Caca de Renard
• Le Réverbère
• Le Boucherie

Of our many accolades and achievements, Carmelo and I are really proud of this collection. Yes, dog groomers have sprayed dogs directly to make them appeal to humans, but no-one has ever considered a dog’s environment and what sprays and smells are most attractive to them in the home. It’s a beautiful understanding that just like we humans can crave certain foods or sensations, some days a dog just wants to sniff fox poo, or their friend’s bum. We’ve created something incredibly fulfilling for them.

We truly hope you and your dog enjoy our latest sensory triumph.

Much kindness,

Dylan and Poppy

PUPDATE! We don’t advise you spray the essence of dog’s bum around the home..! Thank you to everyone that played along with our April Fool x