How To Bathe Your Dogs at Home!

In today’s world, Pet Parents have options of sending their pets to groomers for this or do this themselves. If you plan to bathe them yourself or you are already doing it, then this article is for you.

There is no rule of thumb on the frequency to bathe your dog. Dogs tend to keep themselves clean by licking their body parts, but that doesn’t mean that you can avoid giving them a bath. Bathing your dog should be a regular activity. It should not be done to frequently nor should it be between large intervals. Too long a gap between baths can lead to dandruff and patchy skin.

A pet parent should take the decision on the schedule to bathe their dogs based on the type of breed, weather conditions and your schedule. A pet parent can also choose to wait to bath their dog till they smell, but that is not necessarily the best way. Some dogs do not smell even if you don’t give them a bath for months and the odor is generally dependent on weather conditions. Hence sticking to a regular schedule irrespective of whether they smell or not is the best way to maintain their coat and general wellbeing. Bathing twice a month is generally a good practice.

Below are a few benefits of bathing your dog’s regularly –

• Cleans your dog’s coat by removing dirt and odor - This is an obvious reason and the most important reason.?One thing to remember while given them a bath is that we need to take extra care about their ears, eyes and nose. I have provided a trick to managing that in the tips and tricks section below. Use a good conditioning/moisturizing shampoo to ensure that the coat feel good
• Reduces Hairball – More regular the bath, the lesser the hair fall. In the tips and tricks section, I have provided a trick to reduce after bath shedding
• Better relationship – Bathing is a habit that needs to be inculcated from an early age. Generally, 3 months and above is a good age to start giving them a bath. And as this continues, they will slowly steadily get into the habit of bathing and will not be scared. When you start bathing them the first time, they will be scared and hesitant, during these times use treats and praises to positive reinforce this behavior.

For me giving my kids a bath is all about the experience that I create for them and me. I consider their breed, coat conditions, weather conditions etc., and plan for the bath and related activities beforehand. Once the schedule is finalized, then it is just a matter of sticking to it.

Based on my experience and learnings from giving more than 700 plus baths to my 5 dogs for the last 6+ years, I have the below tips and tricks to share.

1.?Prep for the bath

Prepping for the bath is an important activity and below are the activities that I do as a prep.

• Oil Massage (Optional)

A day before the bath, apply oil (use oils that are meant for dogs, human oils don’t necessarily work on animals). I use Flematic Pro Skin Oil or Virgin Coconut Oil. Apply oil liberally and massage them. This is an enjoyable experience for them, but it’s a habit that they need to get used too. I then let the oil do its wonders over the period of the day before the bath next day.

I also use the oil massage activity to monitor my dog’s skin, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, nails and overall body to see if there is any inflammation, redness or any abnormal conditions or if there are any ticks and fleas.

• Have the Shampoo ready

Ensure you have the right shampoo and conditioner purchased beforehand. You cannot use human shampoo for your dogs. You can choose to buy a conditioning/moisturizing shampoo (basically a Shampoo + conditioner/moisturizer combined) or have a shampoo and conditioner separate. There are thousands of options available in the market and a pet parent can choose the product they want. The only recommendation that I give is to choose a shampoo that is dye, paraben, alcohol, and sulphate free.

If you dog has medical conditions related to itchy and inflamed skin, allergies, or fleas and ticks, then you need to have specific medicated shampoos for them. Reach out to your vet to understand what the best shampoo for these conditions is

• Have the combs ready

Different breeds need different combs and then there are combs that fit all size and breeds. So, ensure you have the combs that are needed. Because giving them a comb before and after is recommended

• Have a Elizabeth collar (e-collar) ready

Most dogs fear water getting into their ears or eyes when they are given a bath and hence, they may not allow you to bathe them.

A simple bathing hack that we use at our home, to ensure that water/soap/shampoo does not go into the face region of our kids is to use an Elizabeth collar. Using a e-collar ensures that the bathing experience is not problematic and with time your dogs will understand that they do not need to be afraid of water/soap/shampoo going into their face region.

2.?????Before the bath

• Depending on the weather conditions, you may use hot or cold water. I generally prefer using hot water as that is good for the skin, opens the pores and hence need to ensure that I have the hot water ready. Depending on the size of my kids the amount of water needed varies
• Comb their hair before you take them for a bath. This will help to remove any mats, tangles, lose or dead hair.

3.?????During the bath

During the bath, shampoo liberally and massage it into the coat to generate a thick lather. Then comb them with the shampoo on. The simple trick to reduce after bath shedding is to comb right after you shampoo your dogs.

The activity of massaging the shampoo to build up the lather, helps in dislodging the lose hair and these hair particles generally cause the high after bath shedding. Below are the benefits of combing them right after you massage the shampoo in

1. The dislodged/lose hair particles come off
2. Due to the combing action, the shampoo penetrates deeper into the skin of furry breed and reaches the scalp
3. This also removes the excess shampoo lather and makes it easier to rinse

Since you are using the e-collar to avoid the shampoo going into the face region, you will have to divide the shampooing activity into 3 parts.

1. First part will cover all the body from the tail to the neck.
2. Second part if to clean the face area. I recommend using a waterless shampoo for the face region
3. Third part is to remove the e-collar and shampoo the neck area

Once you have completed the above shampooing and combing activity, rinse your dog thoroughly to remove all shampoo residue

4.?????After the bath

• Towel dry them and then isolate them in a room or crate. I isolate them in a room as I have seen that all my dogs get very energized after a bath and want to play and run around for some time
• Once they relax, we blow dry them using my wife’s hair dryer. This activity must be done carefully as you cannot have the hair dryer too hot or blowing near the face region. You may choose to comb them again, though this is unnecessary as you combed them during shampooing
• Once dried, you may apply a coat conditioner or de-matting/detangling conditioner to help soothe the skin and make it smell good ??