Hey - Guess What? Dog Oil is not for dogs! Well, it could be - you can use it on lots of animals, but it is used primarily by people for people and this was something of a surprise to me. I was guilty of making a false assumption based on the container. I think dooyoo did too since it appears in the Pets section.

I acquired a little yellow tub of this oil in a box of bric-a-brac won at auction. I automatically assumed it was something for a dog and since my dog appeared to have no need for it, it sat in the cupboard for ages until I heard a colleague talk about it. His mum used it regularly for a problem with her knee and swore by its effectiveness in keeping the joint mobile and pain free.

Now it just so happens that my wife is currently suffering with aches and pains associated with a bout of flu and she is strapping hot water bottles to her front and back to try to achieve some relief from her pain.

However, it proved rather difficult to convince her that she should let me massage her achey bits with something called Dog Oil. Hardly surprising that I had to show her the Dog Oil website so that she could get some corroboration of the fact that it is used for all kings of ailments by all kinds of people. Eventually she relented and the white creamy waxy substance was massaged into her skin. It was a little greasy to start with but did rub in, albeit leaving the area dry and sticky and unpleasant to the touch. It has all the appeal of the fat that is left in the grill pan after you have grilled Walls Sausages and it doesn't smell much better. Pretty rank in fact.

What is it? Well, basically it is a blend of rape oil and petroleum jelly to be massaged into the skin and it is made to a recipe first established nearly a hundred years ago. It contains no animal products, no drugs and no perfumes and is not tested on animals. That said, in its original formulation, some say that it included fats from dead dogs - hence the name (although it was also once used for racing greyhounds - presumably instead of WD40). There is some fascinating information on the Dog Oil website so if you have been struggling to find some relief from your muscular or joint aches and pains, then this stuff may be worth trying.

My wife isn't desperately keen on having a second application of the stuff. It did nothing for her. Maybe if I had mixed a bit of perfume with it and not told her the story about the dead dogs, she may have been more receptive to further treatments.

Apparently, this product is stocked by Holland and Barrett so is widely accessible at around £2.50 per 100g tub. You can also buy it from the Dog Oil website.

I rather fancy that the remainder of the tub will remain unused.