Things you need to know about bathing your dog

By Kodichukwu Okonkwo, DVM | April 2nd, 2015




Some persons have serious negative mind set about dogs, so they refuse to give the dog a good bath. During one of my home services I coincidentally met the dog owner bathing his dog and this dog was screaming on top of his voice. The man practically locked the dog in his cage, connected a long water pipe to the tap and started to “shoot” the dog with the pressured water right inside the cage there. I saw a dog undergoing one of the most terrible life experiences of his life and I wondered why the man started doing this. Out of curiosity I asked the man why he bathes the dog in that manner and he said that every time he tries to bath the dog he ends up wet due to struggles from the dog and shaking from the dog.

One of my newly employed staff did another very terrible one by immersing a 3 month old puppy inside a bucket filled with water and was scrubbing the dog inside it. I saw the puppy struggling to run out of the bucket and this boy keeps pushing the puppy back inside the bucket until I came to the puppy’s rescue. There are many stories on this issue but enough of it lets move forward.

Should a dog enjoy bathing?

Yes, absolutely. One thing is clear, dogs love to be touched or petted so the touch sensation that comes from bathing should be employed in such a way that it will be pleasurable to the dog. Some dogs might show some resistance to water splashing on their body but if you show the dog that it is not harmful but nice, they will accept it and will be waiting for it. My dog enjoys bathing. In fact, whenever she sees me going to the bathroom with electric kettle she rushes to the position where I normally give her the bath and stands there waiting for the “action”.

So how is this bathing done to achieve great results?

First of all you must know that by reflex dogs do not feel comfortable when water enters into their ears. Secondly, dogs do not want water to enter their eyes that is why they shake their body when the water reaches their face. Thirdly, any dog will run as defense to water that comes as an “object” like water from a pressure pipe. So my advice is to fetch water in a bucket or whatever you use and gently pour it on the body of the dog following the steps below.

Step 1:

Get everything ready before you start. Make sure the water is fetched and waiting, bring the bathing kit of the dog close and handy. I recommend cotton wool, a handy bowl to fetch water, a good dog soap or shampoo with nice perfume some of which come with anti-parasitic active ingredients, a soft brush or sponge to help massage the foaming soap into the body through the hairs and a towel to wipe the dog clean or semi-clean. The reason why I recommend towel is because some dogs will roll themselves in sand to dry the water on their body but when the towel reduce the wetness, they tend to see it as rain water and merely shake their body. You may like to keep a hand drier if your dog stays indoors.  

Step 2:

With the collar of the dog in place chain the dog to a stead pole or object. Chain him very close to the pole or object so that he won’t be able to move far from you. At this point pet the dog to make him feel calm and obedient.

Step 3:

Start bathing the dog by first fetching some water with the bowl and gently pouring it on the shoulder never on the head first or the tail region. Use your hand to spread the water gently towards the tail. At this point the dog will not be soaked with water but the trick is that the dog is enjoying the gentle movement of your hand over his body.

Step 4:

At this time the dog is steady waiting for more “touch”. Pick up the soap or mix your shampoo with some water in the bowl and gentle pour it along the back from the shoulder to the tail region again. Now with the soap foam forming, grab your brush or sponge, wet it, fetch more water with the bowl then scrub the body while pouring the water on the body. Follow the direction of the hairs so that the brush gets to the skin to scrub it properly. Continue down to the forelimb first by gentle raising it. Please do not struggle with the dog let him raise it by himself. Scrub between the claws and under the paw. Extend your hand to the chest right under the forelimb and scrub. Proceed to the opposite limb and then to the back limb. The reason is that the dog gets to know what you intend to do at the back legs after you have done the forelimbs. Scrub the tail at this point.

Step 5:

Remember that we have not gotten to the head yet. Fetch clean water and gently rinse the body of the dog by washing off the soap foam.  Apply gentle squeeze to press out some of the water clogging on the hairs for very hairy dogs. Continue until the water coming out looks very clean.

Step 6:

Now it is time for the head region. Wet your hand with water and massage unto the face of the dog starting from the forehead towards the nose avoiding the eyes. Do this repeatedly until you achieve a level of wetness. Do the same from behind the ears through the neck to the shoulder.  Grab the soap and rub in the same fashion. Grab the brush start to scrub gently first at the neck region going from behind the ear to the shoulder avoiding putting water into the ear. Do the face region the way you rubbed the soap. Fetch water to rinse the neck first leaving the face. After rinsing the neck take a cotton wool, rub it on the soap and scrub under the ear and proceed inside the ear. Try to go as deep as possible but very gentle. By this time the dog is getting uncomfortable and might be crying softly. Continue to the other ear holding the muzzle of the dog to stop him from shaking. Get a clean cotton wool to wipe the soap in the ear.

Step 7:

Still holding the muzzle of the dog fetch your last water and gentle pour on the face. Keep the bowl quickly and use your two hands to rinse the face especially around the eyes and the left and right side of the mouth. Then stay away quickly this time the dog will start to shake mainly to remove the water inside the ears. The shaking transmits to the body towards the tail.

Step 8:

Use the towel at this point to clean the dog and I recommend you start from the shoulder again.

Please note that this might not be the best way to bathe dogs it’s only a way I developed to bathe dogs. Haven bathed over 4000 dogs I developed this procedure to bathe dogs quickly and without getting wet. I just thought I should share with you. Just try it out.

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    Kodichukwu Okonkwo, DVM

    Founder of Fairvet Animal Clinic Ltd since 2011, studied at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is well experienced in small animal, large animal & poultry medicine, and also skilled at zoo medicine. He loves animals and builds both professional and personal relationship with pet owners in order to sustain a good interaction with pet and animal owners, coupled with His great skills in programming; he brought about www.fairvet.com which he personally built from scratch.



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