How often should you Wash your Dog ? – Expert Advice

Washing or bathing a pet is one of the most time consuming and also most stress full and hectic job a dog owner usually have. Many of the dogs run away or hide when they tend to know that his owner is going to wash or bath him. Some of the dogs may even know with your Initial preparation like filling a tub in water or getting soaps that its time for them to bath and will be aggressive towards you when you come near to him. This is mainly because most of the dogs and other pets likes to be dirty and they tends to roll over mud and also they identify stinky stuff like dead animals and other things to roll in it. So In order to make bathing your dog stress-free and easy we will give some tips so that you can use it very effectively next time. We will cover following topics through this article.

• How often should you wash your dog?
• Tips for stress-free dog washing for dog owners.
• Things you need to care of before washing dogs.
• Things you need to care of during washing process.
• Alternatives for dog bathing or washing.

How often should you wash your dog?

Most of the family members either will not share their lives with smelly and dirty dogs. Also, some of the owners will have a doubt regarding the exact time to wash a dog when a dog becomes dirty after getting out. Mainly this occurs at winter time or in rainy days as dogs normally tend to get out after rain and will be getting dirty by rolling in mud and come back. This usually makes the home also dirty as well as there will be the concern in owners as sometimes bathing or washing dogs in these type of climate can cause skin irritation and flaking in dogs.

Generally, Newborn pups don’t need to be bathed up until they are about three months old as normally the shampoos and soaps normally available in the market for a dog which are at least 3 months old. But Still if you feel like they are dirty you can just wash them in a sunny day or use a hair dryer for quickly drying them if it’s cold. The main problem which arises during the cold winter is that dog’s fur and skin can become dry. And if your dog grows an undercoat, you need to comb it out in warmer weather. If a dog’s fur gets matted, the skin cannot breathe — compelling the dog to scratch and pull out fur, which can result in sores. For keeping your dog clean between baths, Main thing you must to is clean vigorously every day so that it will be good for coat and skin and you dog smells goof. If you are allergic to the dogs hair then do wear a mask or anything that cover you face.

In the case of adults dogs, the Main point does not bathe your dog too often because that will dry out the skin, deplete healthy oils from the coat and skin, and lead to scratching and irritation.The frequency of dog bathing mainly depends upon the breed and also the age of the dog. Some of the dogs as expected to have a tendency to go outside and play in the mud and all when they grow older and some of them even roll in mud while playing.Mainly for these types of dogs, the must be bathed once in  every week. If your dog is an adult and doesn’t do things like these then bath time have been around once in six weeks. Some trainers mainly recommend bathing double-coated dog breeds only about 3 times a year, also for smooth coated breeds the bath time can go much longer, this also acceptable in smooth coated dog breeds. Mainly trainers recommend these long time periods between the bath mainly due to the fact that regular bathing can cause dogs skin to shrink and lose some properties of healthy oils present in it. which are must need for them. Between the baths, you can clean them with a towel as it is a good practice for dogs coat and skin to be fresh and can make dog smells good. This is good for the coat and skin and helps the dog look and smell good.

Tips for stress-free dog washing for dog owners

Every dog owner is concerned about dog bathing. As in everyone’s case, some of the dogs may even run away from home if it gets the idea that its bath time. Normally this happens when a dog owner tries to fill water in a tub or carrying the full bucket of water in the backyard etc. So If your dog doesn’t like to take bath Then it’s definitely a nightmare for the owner. So How we can avoid this? If u are a person who is concerned with these issues then this part of the article is definitely for yours. Taking a time to make a bath a positive experience pays large dividends for the future.

Before starting the grooming sessions of your pet bath, What you have to make sure is that the interactions with you dog has to be very much positive experiences for both you and your pet otherwise it never works. Never ever try to groom if you are in a negative frame of mind. Always think that one bad experience may cause the whole session to be failed, Session must include longer grooming sessions as well as shorter ones as you know shorter ones will work more and in a very quick manner. If you feel that dog is reluctant to do a session then you must slow down as sometimes your dogs may be reluctant so for avoiding that you must give your dog a reward for eating and then you have to try it again.

So moving on to the first thing that is the Dogs tub. You must look that whether the dog is  comfortable with it. Sometimes you will see dogs getting away from tubs after a step inside it. It will be mainly because that his legs can’t be placed comfortably in it and if it slips after a step it makes fear in dogs and causes running away. So First you have to get the tub right. Make the tub rough and without slippery by using a rough mat or a towel. By using that the dog will first step into it and then onto tub without any fear and makes your job easier.

Whole above idea is to make dog comfortable with the place where you are  going to bath him. You can even place some attractive items such as food or even a chew or even you dogs favourite toy near it so that dog will not be reluctant to come into an area, which will make your task easier.

So if you are ready with the above steps then the real task starts that is getting your dog  into the tub. So You can try following  steps for it. We will call each of them a trigger.

1. First You have to walk towards the tub you placed
2. You must make sure that dogs are not getting scared by it if you have a feeling that it’s scared then repeat it, once they understand there is no problem with it they will soon come near it.
3. So once you got success with it that is he comes to tub without and fear you can try the triggers such as the first touch in tub, getting him into tub etc….

If you are success in doing all the above then its time to move on to the second stage which is filling water into tub with dog inside it. One main thing you have to consider here is that dogs won’t be able to stand in tubs or in sinks for longer periods of time. So in order to increase the time period of stay, what you have to do is to  get him some feed so that dogs will refuse to come out knowing that they will get their favourite feed if he stays inside it. And some people may use the sink for the bathing dog. So such a people should first pick up the dog and move slowly towards sinks fill the water and lower the dog slowly into the tub as much as he is comfortable.

Once your dog is comfortable to stay in the tub and can stay for longer time in it then next step is to fill out the tub with water. This is also a risky task as sometimes dogs may fear and tend to run away when they hear the sound of water. so what you have to do is Just slowly open the tap and allows water to gently  fall into the tub and then gradually increase the speed of water flow into the tub. Remember you have to make sure that your pet is still in the tub when you do this process. So once water is filled and the dog is ready then starts your real task of bathing. Do not get too anxious, make sure you start very slowly, First you have to start washing from legs and once your pet is comfortable with it then you have to move to the body and also to other parts. What you have to really make sure is that do not ever use a shampoo if you are washing your pet first time as it can increase time and may cause premature washing.

Once your dog is groomed in such way as it really loves bathing after doing these above sessions It will be a treat for you. By that way, You won’t be much stress full for washing dogs and it will be a real treat for yourself too.

Things you need to care before bathing dogs.

Brush thoroughly and remove all tangles and mats, For badly matted fur, you may have to snip mats with scissors. Be very cautioned because it is easy to nick the dog’s skin, and you do not want to do that.

• Once you are about to start bathing dogs you have to remove ticks and also other particles or items which may be embedded in its body.
• So if your dog is reluctant to bath in the tub there may be a chance that it uses his nails to scratch or even to get away so be sure to trim  the nails of your dog.
• As you know dogs may go outside and play in dust must or even in your backward so there may be a chance that some particles may stick into its hair maybe some paint like substance. Do not forget to trim off that part if it’s not going after applying a turpentine  on it.
• Another thing is to protect its ears remember to put a cotton in its ear to avoid water getting into ears.
• Also For protecting your dog’s eyes from the water, Apply some mineral oil around eyes or even petroleum jelly will do.
• Next thing is regarding the tub. Make sure it’s not too deep and also apply some rubber mats or sheets  in order to avoid slippery
• Next thing is to remove the dogs collar. Just use a small piece of nylon cloth instead of the collar so that it will be comfortable. Make sure that leather collar won’t get touch with water as when you put it back its colour can get into dogs fur causing problems in fur.
• You have to get a hair dryer ready so that you can use it for drying the hair after the dog bath.
• Do not use human shampoo for dogs bath as its ph level is much higher than what dogs fur can able to withstand. Using the human shampoo can also reduce the important properties of dogs fur.

Things you need to care before bathing dogs.

• So if you are ready to wash your dog First thing you need to care is that make sure that you are using gentle hot water and fill the water until the legs
• Once dog is comfortable with the above its time get rid of leather collar and put the nylon collar.
• If you are using a sink then gently take the dog and gently lower into the sink. For raising dogs, You have to place once hand into its chest and other into back legs and take him into sink. it may not cause you a back pain.
• Make sure that dog is not reluctant to bath when water comes touch into his body. Spray some water in his body so that he will get used to it.
• Never spray the water directly into the dogs face as they may get feared, Once they get feared then it will be difficult to get them to next bath
• Use you hand to cover eyes if you dogs ears are raised during washing and rinsing process.
• Make sure to give  treats and some feed while bathing to make it more comfortable.
• Make sure to rinse and wash the dog if he is dirty even after the first bath.
• Make sure to wash and rinse the residues and particles during the was and also in dogs bad as some dogs may lick the residues and can cause problems. also, some residues may even get into its fur causing rashes and itching for you dogs. So remember to wash out all the residues.

Alternatives for dog bathing or washing.

How Can I give my dog a dry bath? This is the main concern every dog owner ask during the cold weather. Especially in winter season if you bath or wash a dog, there is the chance that skins may not get drier which cause foul smell coming out from dog’s fur. even it can cause the skin infection. So How we can avoid this scenario which is explained in this section.

Main thing the dog owners or trainers use for alternative bathing is the Dry shampoos which are available in a market. It can be applied very easily and effectively. First you have to rub the dry shampoo into the dog’s skin, Then after sometimes, you have to brush it away. You can see the dirt and grease are absorbed by the dry shampoo which makes you dog’s fur clean and healthy. Another thing used is the Dry bath powder. We don’t need to get our pet wet for using it. Apply the powder and by using a damp cloth wipe out the dirt from his fur and paws.

Dry shampoos are mainly a powder like substance that you can apply in dogs skin as it absorbs grease-like substances. They are easy to use: Just rub the powder into your dog’s fur, wait according to product instructions, Then brush it out. Dry bath powder is a good cold-weather alternative.

Conclusion

As we can definitely conclude with a fact to be kept in mind that if your dog is older and/or has always hated being groomed, any of these training goals will take a little longer to achieve, and will require a lot more patience. Ultimately the goal is to change everyone’s perception of grooming. Ideally, both pet and owner come to look forward to the grooming time as time together. Also, if you are having a puppy then you won’t have to bath your puppy until 3 months. You can start the grooming sessions from the young age and make them comfortable for a bath. Hope the above training and tips helps you in future in case of your puppies as well as old dogs.