5 Steps to bathe your dog
( step-by-step)
How to bathe our Dogs? How to make your dogs’ bath easy and effective? experienced Pet Parents recommended Step By step tips to bath Your Dogs to stay healthy
Introduction
Pet parents…. I bet you would have wondered or still wonder, “how to bathe your dog?”
Aside from your knowing your furry friend’s defining characteristics, understanding when and how to bath is also important.
Giving your dog regular baths is an essential part of ongoing grooming and good hygiene. Certainly, Baths help remove visible dirt your dog earned through happy walks and romps through natural environments.
Also, it helps to keep your pooch more pleasant to hang and cuddle around…!!!
How hard can it be to bathe a dog? Bathing your pooch in real life isn’t always such a positive experience.
Bathing is important but, not all require bathing at the same frequency. Let us know some easy technique and tips on how to wash a dog that will make your pooch familiar with bathe time, making it a much more friendly and fun activity for you and your pooch.
“ Bathing can be a bonding experience for you and your pooch ”
Overview
When to bathe your dog
Preparation
Location
Shampoo
Some Precautionary Measure
Proper Shampooing for happy Bathe
How to Wash a Dog’s Face
Post bathe steps
Drying Methods
Tips
When To Bathe your Dog
Not All dogs require to bath every day as we need
How to know the right time to bathe
In general, dogs can have a bath every 1 – 3 months. But not all pooch requires bathing at the same intervals. According to Dr. Jennifer Coates, veterinary advisor adds, “the best bath frequency depends on the reason behind the bath”.
How often you should wash your dog vary greatly based on several factors like his health, breed, coat, Lifestyle, season and activity level, as well as where these activities are taking place.
To know more, do check our article by clicking on, 5 things to determine dog bath frequently
Preparation
Everything need Planning and Preparation
Location
Choosing a location to bathe your furry friends tends to vary depending on individual circumstances. Owners of small dogs have a benefit…, they can just splash your little ones in a sink or the bathtub or get in the shower with them and use a detachable nozzle. For some dogs, particularly medium to large-sized pooches it can be easiest to bathe them outside in the backyard on the ground. This can also be a desirable choice for dogs who try to jump out of the tub. Notably, If the weather’s cooler it may be necessary to use buckets filled with comfortable, warm water instead as the hose water may be too cold. A portable pooch tub is also a choice. They are used outside or inside.Check for Water Temperature:
Pooches skin is more sensitive from ours, and hot water can burn their skin more simply. Test the water temperature (Warm Temperature) to make sure it’s comfortable so your pooch is happy. It is always best to check the temperature of the water with your hands. “Can I bathe my dog in freezing water?” is a common question we hear. And yes, you can only for large-breed dogs who can easily overheat, still keeping it warm is advisable. It’s also advisable to use low flow and light water pressure only. Make sure to fully drench your pooches coat.Shampoo
Your pooch needs more attention when it comes to grooming products that we use for them. Dogs skin is more sensitive when compared to human skin. Unlike humans, pooches have fewer layers of skin. Their skin has a different pH balance level and is more towards acidic. To counter this, we should use a shampoo that is designed for our pooch buddies. Also, the right shampoo is one of the key ingredients and will always make bathe time more pleasant. To know more on right shampoo, do check our article on, Why should we use paraben free and sulphate free shampooSome Precautionary Measure
Some of the precautions apart from mentioned to be taken care of are, Ears: You want to be incredibly careful not to get water into your dog’s ears during the bath as it’s something that can cause health problems. If your dog will let you do it, stuff cotton balls into his ears. Don’t clean inside his ears with a washcloth; this can get the ears too wet and promote infection. Brush your Dog: Matted hair holds water and shampoo leaving your pooches with irritated skin especially with thick coat / long-haired breeds. It is always advisable to brush your furry friends’ hair before bathe to make it easy and comfortableShampooing to Bath Your Dog
Proper Shampooing for happy Bathe
Tick Toodeloo
Treat your furbaby with some protective care this monsoon. Help him to love his bath time with a shampoo that cleans and protects both!
INR 300
How To wash Face When you bath your Dogs
How to Wash a Dog’s Face
Washing your furry friends head is one of the riskiest parts of the dog bathing process. Do not apply shampoo to your pooch’s head or face. You don’t want to get soap or water in sensitive areas like your dog’s ears, nose, and eyes.
The best way is to wash the face at the end of the bathing process. It is recommended to carefully wash the face of your pooch with a washcloth.
Dip the cloth in soapy water, carefully wash your dog’s head and face, and then dip a clean washcloth into clear water and use that to rinse. You just really want to make sure all the soap is out of those areas.
Procedure after Bath your Dog
Post bathe steps
Drying Your pooches Face and Head
For the fact, it’s always easiest and pleasant for your pooch to towel dry rather than blow dry. Firstly, towel off their face and head and then go for drying their body to give their face time to air dry. If you’re using a blow dryer for nearby areas, it is always good to use a hand to shield their ears and eyes from the blowing air as the noise and heat will be difficult on them.
Drying Methods
Regardless of the type of drying you choose for your pooch, it’s important to dry him with a towel first to avoid common dog skin disorder also known as acute moist dermatitis; it causes sores and pain.
Air Dry: A simple and effortless way to dry your pooch is to towel her off. If you choose to air dry your dog then towel off as much as possible first, and then brush out their coat every few minutes while they dry. Dogs with heavier coats should be dried thoroughly to prevent damp spots in the undercoat which can lead to itching, skin infections or hot spots. Also, damp fur gets matted so quickly than dry fur.
However, for pooches that have a smooth single-layer coat, a thorough towel-dry is the ideal method.
Blow Dry: Many people swear by dog blow dryers, but the noise and feel is definitely something that you have to get your pooch used to. Always take all safety precautions while blow-drying. Start with towel drying and pat dry completely. Then, spray on leave-in conditioner before starting to blow dry.
Set the blow-dryer to a comfortable temperature (not too warm or hot) to avoid accidentally injuring the skin. Dryers made just for dogs’ blast room-temperature air. They make drying quick by blowing the water out of the coat so it can air-dry more swiftly.
The dryer should also be placed a good distance away from pooches. Blow-dry in small sections and start from the back of the head/neck area and moving downwards. Always avoid the head area. One trick is keeping the airflow focused on one area and only moving the nozzle of the dryer in steady back-and-forth motions. This helps to dry as quickly as possible and helps prevent the forced airflow from tangling up longer fur. If you move the dryer in a circular motion, then the risk of twisting longer fur around itself is more.
When working on more sensitive areas (such as belly or paws), take the nozzle off for a softer airflow. When the nozzle is off, you can hold the dryer closer to your dog. While this might mean it takes a bit longer to dry those areas, it’s much more comfortable for your pooch.
For pooches with double coats or with hair-like coats, this is a fairly worthwhile investment. Also blow dry is suitable during cold seasons to avoid our furry friend from catching a cold or any skin infection.
Clean the ears: Remove the cotton balls from your pooches’ ears. You should clean the ears of excessive earwax to help avoid irritation or infection. As a DIY you can use witch hazel, hydrogen peroxide, or a mixture of equal parts organic apple cider vinegar and purified water.
Apply some of the ear cleaners on a cotton ball. Do not use cotton swabs. You could damage your dog’s eardrums if you insert them too far. Check the cotton ball for waxy residue. Once you don’t see any more residue on the cotton ball, your dog’s ears are clean.
You can also use a soaked cotton ball to clean the dog’s outer ears (the large flappy bits are called the pinna). To avoid as many negative associations with bathe time as possible do not pour or spray the solution directly into the dog’s ears
If your furry friend has hairs growing from his ear canal, consult your vet. Some breeds can develop tangled ear hair, which can lead to ear infections.
Lean off tear buildup: Some dogs have a condition called epiphora, which occurs when your dog’s tears overflow onto his face. Wash this extra tear buildup away to avoid irritation or bacterial infection.
A simple trick is to Dab a bit of coconut oil beneath the eyes where the tear stain “tracks” as they can help keep the skin from getting irritated.
Also, you can use stain cleansers or pre-saturated pads. Notably, make sure that the product is marked hypoallergenic and that it doesn’t have the substance tylosin tartrate as this is not approved for use on dogs. If you notice that your dog has frequent tear buildup, consult with your vet.
Do not use hydrogen peroxide, apple cider vinegar, makeup remover, human eye drops, or milk of magnesia to clean your dog’s eyes.
Treats
Surprise your pooches with treats with favourite food as a reward for calm behaviour and for staying with you, throughout the activity. Other rewards may include new chew toys or playing a favourite game. You can always go by pre & post bathe treats. By this, your pooch will learn to love bath time making the experience fun and enjoyable for them as this will help us bond more with our furry friend.
Tips
Recommendations from the Experienced Pet Parent
- We generally do not recommend bath for young puppies, particularly in winter. A sponge bath with plain lukewarm water ought to do the trick.
- Start giving your furry friend a bath when they are a puppy to help them get used to bath time. Take baby steps in introducing them to water. Don’t take the dive right away. Be patient and be gentle.
- Many dogs shudder to bathe time. To combat this, try saying lots of positive reinforcement to your pooches during the bath.
- To save yourself from soaking after bathe gently take hold of his muzzle with your thumb and forefinger. Pooches try to shake from the head back, and if he can’t rotate his head, he can’t rotate his body either. After you’ve towel-dried him the best you can, allow them to have “shaking allowed” zone.
Bathing can be a bonding experience for you and your pooch. With these tips and approach in mind, you’ll be ready for a safe, successful, and stress-free dog-bathing process.
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