DOG BATH

DOG BATH

Dog bath is an indispensable act of hygiene, a prerequisite for any subsequent grooming and for maintaining healthy skin and coat.

However, dog bath requires a certain method and preparations that will help transform this moment, a little painful for your doggie, into a real moment of complicity. The ideal is to get your dog used to the bathing ritual as early as possible and especially to the drying that follows, especially if you use a hairdryer.

When to give your dog a bath?

As a general rule, dogs should only be bathed when they are really dirty, when they start to give off an unpleasant odor or if, during a walk, they have rolled around in something that smells particularly bad. Alas, droppings, manure, dung, and various excrement tend to attract them irresistibly like magnets!

Bathing can also take place if you notice that their hair is very tangled and brushing becomes ineffective or if their skin itches. Dogs should not be bathed too often as this will damage the protective layer of sebum on their skin. A maximum bathing frequency of every month or even every 2-3 months is usually more than sufficient.

What do I need?

The simplest way is to use your own bathtub or, failing that, your shower tray. There are also tubs - similar to small children's pools - specially designed to bathe your pet and sold in pet stores. A garden or, if you don't have one, a balcony is required to install the tub.

If you have a very small bathroom and/or a large dog, you should know that there are "dog washes" in some cities. These are washing stations where owners can come and wash their dogs themselves for a fairly small fee. The washing station provides large tubs as well as areas for brushing, mowing, clipping the animal's nails and of course drying it. The advantage? No need to clean the bathroom completely.

Outside the bathtub, you will also need a brush to untangle your dog's hair before bathing. Once the hairs are wet, the knots tighten and become almost impossible to untangle. So remember to brush your dog meticulously before washing him. Use this time to inspect your dog from every angle and check for small wounds, lumps, parasites, etc.

If your doggie is not a fan of the toilet with an ace of escape, it will be recommended to tie him up to prevent him from injuring himself. Ideally, give him a collar that you will attach to the sidewall using a small hook fixed in the wall or mounted on a suction cup. To prevent him from slipping, equip the bathtub or shower tray with a non-slip mat or, failing that, an old towel which, once wet, will do the trick.

Of course, make sure you have a special shampoo for dogs. Ban the use of shampoo for human beings, including baby shampoo, which is not adapted to the nature of its fragile skin. There are also detangling products to be applied after shampooing, to be reserved for dogs with long hair and if brushing has not been able to get rid of all the knots.

Finally, provide plenty of clean towels for drying. If your dog is not afraid to, you can use a hairdryer to speed up the process. There are even special hair dryers for dogs that are more powerful, so you can dry your doggies in no time at all.

Dog bath: How to do it?

1. Place your dog in the empty bathtub or under the shower then, once calm, wet your dog with lukewarm water (between 28 and 35°C maximum) using the hand shower. Make sure that the water penetrates well under the topcoat to the dog's skin. Wet the dog's entire body, taking care that the water does not run into his eyes or ears. You can even protect your dog's ears by inserting a small piece of sterile gauze into them while you are washing.

2. Once the coat is well wet, apply a few drops of shampoo all over the dog's body and emulsify the product without forgetting to rub his belly, the underside of the tail and the chest. Massage your doggie while talking to him and finish by cleaning his paws. Take a dab of shampoo if necessary and massage the paws without forgetting the gaps between his fingers.

3. Then rinse your dog with warm water. Rinse abundantly until there is absolutely no more shampoo and the rinsing water becomes perfectly clear. Again, be careful with eyes and ears! Rinsing is a crucial step. Incomplete rinsing will dull the hair and irritate your pet's skin. If you use a detangling product, apply the product after shampooing followed by a complete rinse and then rinse again for a long time to remove any product residue on your pet's skin.

4. Once the washing phase is over, proceed to dry. After letting your dog snort, apply a towel to your pet's back and rub gently. Replace the towel with another, dry until the animal no longer feels the need to shake.

You can complete this summary drying with a hairdryer if your pet is not afraid of it. Indeed, this device, harmless for us, is very noisy and all the more so for the ultra-developed hearing of our dear pets. Therefore, it can  be particularly frightening if the animal has not been used to it since its earliest childhood. If he is afraid of it, don't insist and let him dry out in the warmth, inside if it's cold outside. If he tolerates hair drying, take care not to burn your pet's skin. Set it to moderate temperature and run the hairdryer at a respectable distance from his coat and do not stop moving the hairdryer.

5. Finish this moment with a reward: a treat or a game for your dog that will make him forget a “dirty quarter of an hour” he just spent!