CG Pure Wash puts spotlight on pet care

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This article was published 25/03/2022 (1529 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STURGEON CREEK

An entrepreneur’s pet products have caught the attention of dog lovers and are now being sold at five Pet Valu locations in Winnipeg.

Celeste Goncalves worked in the dental industry for 20 years before founding her home-based business, CG Pure Wash. The Sturgeon Creek resident started making her own soap 17 years ago after learning her son was allergic to most store-bought products.

Since then, her line has expanded to feature pet products. Goncalves’s dog, a mastiff named Charlie, also lives with food and environmental allergies. Goncalves struggled to find limited-ingredient pet products to accommodate her furry friend’s needs, so she decided to create her own.

Her doggy shampoo bar, which retails $14, is made with neem oil from the Azadirachta indica tree. The underused oil has benefits for both humans and dogs, Goncalves says.

“It’s an anti-inflammatory, which was the biggest seller for me when I did research on it, because that’s what Charlie deals with,” Goncalves said.

Aside from neem oil, her shampoo bar is filled with antioxidants and repels bugs and ticks.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Goncalves was mostly sharing her creations with friends and family. When she got laid off from her job for the first time in 25 years, her husband encouraged her to take CG Pure Wash to the next level.

“I tried selling the products, and it worked. From there it just grew,” Goncalves said.

CG Pure Wash’s second pet product, a lotion called Pawsies that retails $12.99, is also all-natural and has no preservatives. It’s made with cocoa butter, coconut oil, almond oil and beeswax.

“It’s for everything – you can use it on their nose, you can use it on their paws and you can use it on their skin,” Goncalves said. “The lotion is in five Pet Valu locations across Winnipeg, Pet Food Source on Roblin Boulevard and two other pet stores in and near Brandon.”

Pawsies has been one of Goncalves’s best sellers between the pet and human line. Unlike other dog lotions, Pawsies is a stick lotion that resembles a deodorant container. When you push from the bottom, the product raises itself.

“I designed it around Charlie’s needs,” Goncalves said. “Having a large dog comes with large challenges, from giving baths to grooming it’s consistently a nightmare.

“The stuff that’s in the store comes in a round container or is liquid form. The problem I was having is if I’m holding onto his paw and trying to reach over for the lotion, by the time I let go of the dog he’s taken off.”

Since incorporating the soap and lotion into Charlie’s daily routine, she noticed his skin clear up. He doesn’t get flare ups or lumps, and the black spots on his skin are starting to reduce.

CG Pure Wash products are made with high quality ingredients and are 100 per cent cruelty-free, with two per cent of all sales donated to Manitoba animal rescues.

More information can be found at www.cgpurewash.com or on Instagram @cgpurewash