Dogs, Baths and the Six Sense

When you are planning to give your dog a bath you need to prepare everything in advance, have the towels to hand, the shampoo, a flannel and of course your dog who by this time is probably hiding out somewhere attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible, advises Marie Date.

Dogs seem to possess a sixth sense when it comes to knowing in advance when certain events are going to happen, the problem is that you need to be organized and prepared for bathing your canine chum. Your dog observes you running to and from the bathroom, works it out a duly heads for cover!

Now a puppy is akin to a blank canvas, you have a completely fresh start at ‘painting’ their future and their behaviour.

The best approach with a puppy is to bath them as soon as you can because this will help them to become accustomed to the sensation. A sink or even a large bowl will suit a puppy better than a huge bathtub as they will not feel quite so lost.

Put some tepid water in the receptacle with a flannel, you do not need to add anything to the actual water just keep it plain and only run it so that it is deep enough to cover your puppy’s paws. Also pop some more tepid water and another flannel, for rinsing, in another container.

Now lift your puppy firmly but gently into the water, reassuring continuously. What you have to remember is the fact that your pup has probably never seen water let alone stood in it so they are more than likely going to be feeling slightly apprehensive about the whole situation.

Slowly and gently take the flannel and pat your puppy’s legs working your way up to the top of the legs and the chest, then work down the chest onto the tummy area. The next area to concentrate on is the back and working downwards to the tail and gently underneath the tail, the last section will be the puppy’s head and face.

You need to be extra careful around the eyes and ears and ensure that you wring the flannel out prior to starting these particular parts, just softly dab around the face, in between the ears on top of the head, around the nose and around the eyes.

Now if your puppy seems to be relaxed enough and taking it all in their stride the next step is to add a tiny amount of puppy shampoo to your hands, rub them together to form the beginnings of a lather and gently rub your hands over your puppy’s back.

Most puppies will enjoy this experience as they all love being fussed anyway, just be very careful and do not let any shampoo splash into the eyes or ears.

Always use a specific puppy shampoo as these are milder than regular dog shampoos for adult dogs therefore making them perfect for your puppy’s delicate skin.

To rinse the shampoo just gently use a jug or cup and take the clean water you prepared earlier and slowly pour this over the puppy’s back, then using the clean flannel dab your puppy’s face softly to rinse away any renegade suds.

Adult dogs are much the same as puppies when it comes to bath time, they need to build to it slowly if they are not used to it. Now unless they are a small breed you will struggle to stand them in a sink or bowl so you will have no choice but to use a bathtub, do the same thing with the depth of the water as for a puppy and apply the same method of washing your dog.

How far you go with adding the shampoo or not is dependable on how your dog reacts, so really it is exactly the same as bathing a puppy just be sensible. If either the pup or the adult dog is terrified by the experience the next time it comes to bathing them they will remember it, if they are worried then stop and try again the following day.

The secret is to go a bit further each day so one day you might only stand the puppy or dog in the water and the next you might progress to washing their legs. Slow and steady is the best approach to adopt and you will soon begin to see the results.

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Tags:  bathing a dog, dog grooming advice