Bathing Techniques to Help Keep Your Dogs Neat and Tidy
Bathing a dog may seem like such a simple task as to be hardly worth discussing, much less devoting a chapter in a book to the subject-but again there is a professional way of doing things and an amateur way. Once again we stress that the bathing is done only after the coat is thoroughly brushed and combed. In the book, The Stone Guide to Dog Grooming for all Breeds" By Ben and Pearl Stone, here's the step-by-step guide on how to bathe your beloved pups.
The first thing the professional does is prepare all the necessary materials ready at hand before putting the dog in the tub. These materials include a sponge, bristle brush, container of shampoo and a heavy towel. A hose attached to the faucet with a spray for rinsing is most helpful. The water temperature being 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Following the same step-by-step method used in brushing, start at the hindquarters and completely soak the dog. Use your hands if necessary to force the water through the coat as some coats are more water resistant than others. Do not fill the tub with water. Let the water run freely down the drain instead. Correctly bathing the dog is really more like giving it a shower than a bath. Incidentally, since the dog may decide to shake the water off, get a rubber or plastic apron you slip over your clothes, for protection.
Once the dog is thoroughly soaked, saturate the sponge with shampoo and from the rear to front, shampoo every part of the dog. Areas usually overlooked are anus and the foot pads. Be especially careful about shampooing around the eyes. Even with shampoos claiming to be tearless, it is best to be careful about getting any shampoo directly into the eyes. One way to avoid this is by using a very small bristle brush rather than the sponge, around the head.
After shampooing is completed, take the bristle brush and work the soap thoroughly into the coat. When this is done, rinse all the soap out, rechecking for the right water temperature. Rinse until the water runs completely clear of any soap. Care should be exercised in rinsing the face, for we do not want any soap or water sprayed directly into the eyes. Cover the eyes with one hand when rinsing the face, and cover the ears (by placing your thumb over the ear canal) when rinsing near them.
If the dog was extremely dirty, one shampoo may not be sufficient, so just repeat the whole process all over again.
When you are certain that the dog is thoroughly clean, squeeze the water out of the coat with your hands, to whatever extent possible. Then with a heavy towel get as much water off the dog as possible. You will then have to use a cage dryer on the coat to get it deeply dry. Our next step will be to blow-dry the dog.
To review the steps in bathing
The first thing the professional does is prepare all the necessary materials ready at hand before putting the dog in the tub. These materials include a sponge, bristle brush, container of shampoo and a heavy towel. A hose attached to the faucet with a spray for rinsing is most helpful. The water temperature being 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Following the same step-by-step method used in brushing, start at the hindquarters and completely soak the dog. Use your hands if necessary to force the water through the coat as some coats are more water resistant than others. Do not fill the tub with water. Let the water run freely down the drain instead. Correctly bathing the dog is really more like giving it a shower than a bath. Incidentally, since the dog may decide to shake the water off, get a rubber or plastic apron you slip over your clothes, for protection.
Once the dog is thoroughly soaked, saturate the sponge with shampoo and from the rear to front, shampoo every part of the dog. Areas usually overlooked are anus and the foot pads. Be especially careful about shampooing around the eyes. Even with shampoos claiming to be tearless, it is best to be careful about getting any shampoo directly into the eyes. One way to avoid this is by using a very small bristle brush rather than the sponge, around the head.
After shampooing is completed, take the bristle brush and work the soap thoroughly into the coat. When this is done, rinse all the soap out, rechecking for the right water temperature. Rinse until the water runs completely clear of any soap. Care should be exercised in rinsing the face, for we do not want any soap or water sprayed directly into the eyes. Cover the eyes with one hand when rinsing the face, and cover the ears (by placing your thumb over the ear canal) when rinsing near them.
If the dog was extremely dirty, one shampoo may not be sufficient, so just repeat the whole process all over again.
When you are certain that the dog is thoroughly clean, squeeze the water out of the coat with your hands, to whatever extent possible. Then with a heavy towel get as much water off the dog as possible. You will then have to use a cage dryer on the coat to get it deeply dry. Our next step will be to blow-dry the dog.
To review the steps in bathing
- Soak dog thoroughly.
- Shampoo with sponge
- Brush shampoo into coat.
- Rinse thoroughly.
- Squeeze water out of coat.
- Towel dry.
- Cage dry leaving coat damp-dry.