Dog owners love to have their favorite pets looking and smelling good. Bathing your dog at home is an excellent way to save money on pet grooming. This is a guide to giving a dog a bath.
I decided to try taking her in the shower with me and it worked like a charm. I hold her in my arms with the water running gently. Having a very long coat, it takes a bit to wash all her parts. I can turn her over on her back and wash her tummy properly, around her genital area and tail and even have the water running on her head. I think she feels safe and secure because I'm holding her firmly. No doubt it would be a funny sight, but as long as she's not stressed, I'm happy. She then stands on the shower floor and shakes on command whilst I get out and grab the towels. It would be impossible with a bigger dog, but for us it's magic!
She also lays on my legs while I finish drying her with the blow dryer on cool temperature. She is very pampered, but I love her.
By Lois from Qld, Australia
I use a lot of vinegar during the summer months. After getting burned in the sun, I always take vinegar bath and than lather with some great lotion of your choose. I like hemp after sun repair. Good for you and your tan will be the best this year.
I think it helps with the bugs too!
By mhuskins1 from Murfreesboro, TN
Tea tree, or Melaleuca alternifolia oil, does have toxic potential, depending on the circumstances of exposure. Clinical effects that may occur following dermal exposure to significant amounts of tea tree oil include loss of coordination, muscle weakness, depression, and possibly even a severe drop in body temperature, collapse and liver damage. If the oil is ingested, potential effects include vomiting, diarrhea and, in some cases, seizures. If inhalation of the oil occurs, aspiration pneumonia is possible. Read more here...To be on the safe side, be sure to consult with you vet about using any homemade flea treatment.
She now gets only human treats. I usually by her a bag of honey turkey, that costs .75 cents at my store. I never give her any human food that is wheat or bread or corn in nature. She eats Pedigree dry dog food, and it seems to be doing well for her. There are other better foods out there, like Authority, Pro Plan, Blue Buffalo.
She takes a Comfortis tablet once a month, or whenever she seems to need it. It seems to work more than a month at a time, although it is supposed to be given once a month.
The unhealthy buildup on her coat is gone. These baths help her skin to breathe and kills any kind of yeast and the tea tree oil is like an antiseptic also.
Put a capfull of the tea tree oil in plastic cup. Notice I said capfull and not cup-full. Add to that about 1/4 cup of Dawn diswashing liquid, the blue original kind. No need to be exact. I go by how high it fills the cup. I put about an inch to an inch and a half high of Dawn in the cup. Wiggle the cup around a little to mix the two ingredients. Set aside where it will not be spilled.
After wetting Dutchess' coat very, very, very good with warm water and making sure she is sopping wet, fill up the Solo cup halfway with water that already has the Dawn and oil mixture.
Stir it really well with your fingers, mixing the tea tree oil and the Dawn. Then fill it up the rest of the way. Mix again with fingers. I pour the contents of the plastic cup onto a very wet Dutchess coat and lather into a rich lather.
If the dog's coat does not lather, even though it is sopping wet, make up another bunch and use it until you know it is on the dog's coat deep down to the skin and rubbed in, gently.
Only if the dog is wet, will it lather up really easy. Make sure to get the legs. The stomach is important too. Also don't forget to rinse the stomach and chest area. These areas might not lather up as much as the back but it is still doing a good job for those areas.
I always let the solution stay on Dutchess for about three to five minutes. It really doesn't matter, just try to let it stay on there at least a minute or two. I use this time to praise her and tell her how good she is doing.
When it is rinsing time, don't ever spray the face or facial area with water or get soap or anything on the face. If you get soap on the face, wipe it off with a dripping washrag. Rinsing does not mean going over once with the shower head attachment. Rinsing means adding a little bit of water, and lathering up the soap that is already on her, and then rinsing and rinsing and more rinsing.
This is what gets all the dead and gross stuff off the skin. A well rinsed dog is a happy dog. If the soap stays on the skin, it will turn into muck, attract dirt and cause problems by matting up and not letting the skin get air to breathe.
I then get a nice bath cloth and squeeze it out slightly. I wash Dutchess' face with this and go over the rims of her ears. This is where she needs it the most. I had put some of the bathwater on her ears and her face before and now I just wipe it off with a wash cloth a few times.
I put a towel or my robe on the floor and call her out of the tub. She shakes and we go outside and take pictures. She is smiling in one of them. She knows we will either go on a car ride and get a human grade treat or go to the park and walk around in the warm sun.
Here is Dutchess on the patio in a towel, smiling with the few teeth she has left after 10 years. This is my favorite picture of her!
By Robyn Fed from Tri-Cities, TN 
By Janette from Parkersburg, WV
By Rachel from Pine Brook , NJ
By Sandi (07/05/2005)
By zoombit
I guess your dog would have to be tall enough so he wouldn't touch the divider. He can't jump because he can't use his back legs. It worked like a charm, other than the shaking off the water, I still haven't mastered that yet.
It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. Two factors make giving your dog a bath a huge undertaking: I have two dogs. The smaller dog, Miss Bee, weighs about fifty pounds. I can actually pick her up and haul her into the shower with me when she needs a good scrubbing. She doesn't like it, but it can be done in emergency situations -- like the time she rolled in something really gross and stinky at the park.
My big dog, Nerman, is closer to a hundred pounds. He loves water, which is good and bad when I'm trying to give him a bath. During the summer, I tie him out to the back deck and hose him down when it's bath time. And he loves it! His favorite part is trying to bite the hose water, which just cracks me up.
But it is probably easiest to bathe your dog if you have a bathtub (or a large utility sink, for smaller dogs). Fill the tub up a few inches with warm (not hot!) water and get the pup in. A detachable shower nozzle is a delightful luxury when it comes to dog washing -- you can spray what needs spraying with ease. However, you can also just use a big plastic cup to dump water all over your pup.
Like other dog grooming tasks, bathing your big dog is much easier if you have a helper. Firstly, because it makes the scrub go faster; secondly, they can help hold the dog in the tub if your dog wants to make a break for it.
Once your dog is wet, it's shampoo time! For dogs that don't have skin problems, you can use a gentle baby shampoo. However, my dogs always seem to have dry/flaky skin, so I use oatmeal based shampoos. Scrub em up, then rinse em down. Don't get water in their ears; I usually avoid pouring water over my dog's head entirely.
Then it's time for the fun part: trying to keep your dog from shaking while you dry them off. Two towels (one covering the head) are better than one, and this is another time when a helper will be much appreciated with a big dog. If the dog manages to shake, you're going to be cleaning water and hair off the bathroom walls!
Keep in mind that when you bathe your dog, you're probably going to end up soaked yourself. It's just a fact of life! Put on your bathing suit and have fun with it. If you make bath time enjoyable for your dog, it will be less of a chore.
We also have a doggy wash where you wash your car. They have 2 big sinks and hoses. They work the same as a car wash. You put 6 dollars in and then soap them up rinse them off and blow them dry. A little expensive, but it works great.
By Linda from Hamilton, Ontario
I have found that the easiest way to give my dog a bath is to buy one of those plastic wading pools. Clean up is easy with the wading pool, just spray it out with the hose when you are done.
Fill the pool with water a few hours before you bath them, the sun will warm up the water some. If your dog doesn't like to stay in the pool, you can drill a hole in the lip of the pool and use a carabiner (or small clip) to attach a leash to the pool. Now you can keep your dog from running away.
I prefer to use a shampoo specifically formulated for dogs so that it doesn't dry their skin. However, you can use a mild, tear-free soap, too. Use a sprayer on your hose that is gentle or use a cup to rinse your dog off. After they are all clean they can shake off a lot of the excess water since you are outside. You can finish drying them with a towel.
I have to watch out for these things, corn in the food, grains, etc because they make a yeast problem much worse.
By Robyn Fed from Tri-Cities, TN
How often can I bathe my one year old dog in Dawn?
By ashleyrocks from Dallas, TX
By dreamwvr07/06/2011I don't think Dawn is the best shampoo to use on an animal. Because of it's degreasing qualities, it may strip essential oils from their skin and leave them irritated or with dry skin.
Tips to help you when giving your dog a bath. Post your ideas.
By Cricketnc03/23/2011I agree with Marietta. Christine's idea of sending the dogs into the lake to rinse off is terrible! What about the wildlife that live in or around that lake?
I have 2 dachshunds and bathe them both in the tub. I tried the shower but it scares them. So I put them both in the tub and do it there. I did fashion a longer hose on the hand held shower so that it reaches a lot farther and is easier to rinse them with.
I'm wantiing to get a laundry tub that's up higher so I don't have to bend (gets hard on my old back!). When I do I'm going to set it up on my back deck and fashion a way to run a long hose from the sink to the outside tub. Then I won't have to use the cold water from the outside spigot. One of my dogs is getting pretty old and the cold water hurts her joints. But she loves the warm water.
After the bath I set up a gate across the steps so they can't get down into the yard until they are good and dry. That way they can't get down and roll around in the grass and dirt and get filthy again. Once dry thoroughly I let them go in the yard and they have a ball without the dirt sticking to their wet fur.
I have a 2 year old German Shepherd Siberian Husky mix. I bought him from a family and he used to be abused. He doesn't have any problems with that but, he is deathly scared of baths.
He likes to play, but I can't find the right kind of toys for him. I have tried bones and stuffed animals, but he doesn't like either one. Any advise anyone can give me would be useful.
Thanks.
By Alichia from Ogden, UT
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Bathing Your Dog