Bathing your dog helps keep its skin free of infections and dirt. It is also a great way for dogs and their owners to bond together. Aside from that, bathing your dog with a nice smelling shampoo ensures that the dog smells nice around you and other people.
Therefore, since it is clear what the benefits of bathing your dog are, it is important to know everything there is about dog bathing.
How often should I bathe my dog?
This is a good question to ask. The answer depends on your dog’s coat, teh weather and environment around which you live.
Ideally, a veterinary doctor should be able to help you figure out your routine. However, for most dogs, bathing once or twice a month should be enough. There are exceptions like dogs with oily coats which will need more frequent baths to the tune of once a week.
Where should I wash my dog?
There are a few reasons as to why you might choose a particular place to wash your dog. For instance, if your dog is small, then it can fit in a small basin or sink. However, if your dog is quite big, you might use a bathtub or get in a shower with them and use the detachable nozzle to sprinkle water.
By all means, if the dog is truly dirty you can use the garden hose but this shouldn’t be a regular way to do it. Dogs hate cold water just as much as humans do. In addition, they don’t like being water shot at using a hose.
How Should I Go About Bathing the Dog?
There are various ways but the bottomline is that you will first sprinkle water and a shampoo then rinse. However, it is not always that simple. Therefore, let us get into some little details:
- Socialize with your dog and be gentle – dogs generally treat bathing as a chore. They hate it. However, if you are gentle and talk to them often they will get used to it.
- Dog’s teeth – brush them before a bath. It is highly likely that you will brush your dog’s teeth when you also bathe them on some sort of general dog cleaning day.
- Get a shampoo – Always wash your dog with a natural shampoo. If the dog is shedding a lot use a dog shampoo for shedding to help you control that, and get rid of infections causing too much hair to fall off.
- Use lukewarm water to bathe the dog – Very hot water can cause skin burns. Always use water as warm as what you would use for a small baby.
- Rinse your dog with a lot of water – this helps get rid of all the soap as well as any loose hair that might shed onto furniture. It is important to note that some soaps can easily irritate your dog if left to dry on the dog’s body. Therefore, rinse a lot with lots of water.
- Reward your dog – while your dog is getting used to all this cleaning and bathing, they might be frightened by the whole process. If you have a dog treat, give it to your dog after the shower so they don’t start to think that bathing is some world war preparation. It also just gives them affirmation for being cooperative during the process. However, don’t always give it rewards because it will start associating bathing with a treat.
This is a summary of how to bathe your dog and the basics that you should know about. Now go and make your dog’s next bath memorable.
