Does your dog loves Bath Time? Sugar is a golden retriever who loves water and always enjoys a refreshing bath. I started giving Sugar baths at home since she was a young pup. We always have fun pleasurable bath moments.
For some dogs and dog parents, bath times can be stressful. To have a pleasant bath time it is important to prepare your dog; no matter what age, breed and size.
Tips For Bathing Your Dog
3 Tips: Preparing Your Dog For A Bath
1. Find a creative way to make your dog associate “bath time” to something he/she loves.
2. Familiarize your dog with the bathtub (or bath area), the sounds of water & dryer and grooming tools that you’ll be using during & after the bath.
3. Help your dog to trust you; handing his/her paws, face, tail, and body (actions necessary to wash your dog).
3 Tips: Before Bathing Your Dog
1. Thoroughly brush your dog’s fur and remove all tangles and mats.
2. Prepare to do a mini-grooming like cleaning your dog’s ears and trimming/filing your dog’s nail.
3. For safety, remove your dog’s collar/harness/leash. If needed, use soft nylon or cotton collar/leash.
5 Tips: Bathing Your Dog
1. Find a suitable place to give your dog a bath.
We have a spacious indoor bathroom that is used for Sugar’s emergency bath. If the weather is nice, Sugar gets an outdoor bath. Most of the time, Sugar goes to a local doggy “self-wash” establishment.
2. Water temperature is critical to your dog’s bath time enjoyment. Make sure it’s warm but not too hot.
3. Choose the right water nozzle. It plays an important role for bathing your dog.
4. Make sure to use a shampoo made for dogs. There are several dog shampoos on the market; use a good quality shampoo that best suits your dog’s need.
Sugar uses several kinds of shampoo; depending on the weather and her skin condition. Sugar’s most recent bath, she used PL360 foaming oatmeal shampoo.
5. Drying a wet dog can be stressful. A super absorbent dog towel is a must. We are a big fan of Soggy Doggy Super Shammy. We’ve been a consumer of Super Shammy since 2013. It is so great that we’ve recommended to our local doggy “self-wash” establishment.
Super Shammy is microfiber chenille dog towel. It is super absorbent, 5x more absorbent than regular cotton towels. It has triangle corners to provide “2 pockets”, where you can place your hands and have more control on drying your dog’s fur. What’s the secret of Super Shammy? From their packaging, it says, “The Super Shammy is made from millions of textured, ultra-fine strands woven together, so the surface area of the towel is much greater than meets the eye! The increased surface allows it to dry faster than regular cotton towels (and it remains bacteria and odor-free too!).” (from our review post: Soggy Dog in Cloud Star & Got Super Shammy)
Below is a fun BATH video from Soggy Doggy featuring their two best products the Doormat and Super Shammy.
Super Shammy is also great to use for a “wet dog” on rainy days and doggy beach adventures. We invite you to check Soggy Doggy: Super Shammy; Winner of Dog Fancy 2012 Editor’s Choice. Connect with Soggy Doggy on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Our friends from Soggy Doggy is providing one of our readers/fans a Super Shammy. Follow the giveaway tool instructions to join.
Do you give your dog a bath?
Bathing your dog can be a fun, pleasurable bonding moment.
Great tips! Sugar looks like she doesn’t mind baths. My girls are not fond of baths so after we are all done we have an “after bath party” with lots of treats and running around.
I will show that post to my staff, they need some good tips when it comes to bathtime again (hopenot the next 87 years lol). I like your oatmeal shame-poo…. I smell like a soy bean now :o(
Both my boys have had a bath once a month all their lives and yet they still hate it – water is just not something shelties in general like and my two won’t even step in a puddle !
WE think Baffs are sort of EVIL and Torturous Thingys…. WE pawpose that instead of giving US Baffs… Peep switch to giving them to SQUIRRELS… We think that in NO TIME AT ALL…. there wouldn’t be a Squirrel in Sight.
We put a small towel down on the floor of the tub to give the dogs more secure footing.
Make sure the water isn’t too hot and don’t turn on the faucet full-blast.
get em in the tub and don’t turn your back for a second or poof, no more doggy in the tub
One dog is good the other an escape artist.After baths both
get crazy and run around the house.
We lay many towels down as one the dogs is an escape artist,so
we can never turn our back.We put on swim suits too.
Bath time is always a wet mess around here, but that is what the second bathroom is for I think.
Lots and lots of praise and high value treats- make it fun for them- or at least tolerable- and it will make it much easier for you.
I always talk to my dogs in a calm voice and tell them how good they are doing through the whole process. Then afterwards it’s a big celebration 🙂 with running around, playing games and having fun. This makes them enjoy bath time more.
Start bathing from puppy on so they love bath time. My gang just loves baths they all stand in line and wait and then go back in after they are done.
We put a anti-slip mat or a towel in the bathtub when bathing our little girls to keep them from slipping. We also use about a half dozen towels. The Super Shammy looks like something we could really use.
We use big beach towels on the floor.
Great tips Sugar! That Soggy Doggy Super Shammy is cool. Mom always has a hard time getting Matt dry!
put cotton balls in the dogs ears so they don’t get soaked, Its best to brush out the dog before you wash your dog because wet mats are harder to work with and pull on the skin Always cover your dogs eyes when rinsing so the soap doesn’t get in their eyes
I put my bathing suit on and get it the tub and used the shower head to wash and rinse the dogs. I have my husband waiting on the outside of the shower doors to towel dry the dogs before we open the bath room door so they don’t go running through the house.
WOW! That looked so easy to bath and dry the dog.
We bathe our Bowser at home in the shower. We haven’t tried this tip yet but we will for B’s next bath: put your dogs ears in a shower cap to prevent too much water from getting in their ears while you’re bathing other parts of the body.
I sure hope this tip works as Bowser hates water in his ears and his floppy ears are susceptible to ear infections!
i have a big wash tub in my laundry room, i bought a rubber shower mat, to keep the girls from sliding, the water still gets thru and it is soft and keeps them from sliding on the bottom. it has the suction cups on it.
Melvin requires a lot of happy and positive words. Also.. lots of treats! 🙂 Love all of your tips!!
I try to make bathtime FUN. We do some playtime and cuddling before, and I give them plenty of loving on when they are being bathed (and slip a treat now and then) My dogs aren’t the best for getting baths, but we’ve managed to make it less stressful this way.
Bean is prone to ear infections, so we’re very cautious about water near her head and avoid it when giving her a bath!
My dog bathing tip would be to teach your dog to shake on command. That keeps us a little more dry during the process.
I made a special connector that attaches to our wash machine. Now, we can wash our dogs with temperate water outside. It makes a big difference in the mess factor.
I put cotton balls in my dog’s ears when I give them baths to keep excess water from getting in there.
Layla hates bathing but I make sure her ears never get water in as that really drives her nuts
Multiple dogs? Start with the easiest ones first…
When I bath my dog I do it outside in a kiddies pool and I put a towel on the pool for him to stand on.
As a professional groomer, I try to give my clients advice on how to handle those in-between-groom baths. As stated in one of the Sugar’s tips, it is so important to make sure your pet is brushed before the bath. Regular brushing is the best way to keep those mats from forming. It also gives you the chance to really look at your pet’s coat and skin condition.
If your pet doesn’t like to be sprayed with water, try using a cup to pour water over him. If this method is used, it is very important to change the water in the tub as it gets soapy. Better to leave the drain open and fill the cup with clean water directly from the faucet. Leaving any soap residue in the coat can cause itching which leads to hair loss and skin sores. It also causes mats to form due to the sticky soap residue.
Consult your local groomer for help if you run into a problem. Groomers care about your dog whether you have a breed that requires special grooming or not. The only time I can’t take a phone call or talk with a walk-in is when I am working on a dog. So, if you call your groomer with a question, ask if they have time to chat or if another time would be better. I’m sure they will appreciate you asking and try to help you.
I have a Soggy Doggy doormat. Never thought to use it at the tub! What a great idea!
I wash my little dogs out side and dry them off with towel then blow dry them..
my dogs have never minded baths but one thing i was not a fun off was when they shake their fur while you are washing them, i got a pair of goggles and that helped as lot. i hated getting it in my eyes. lol
We always have cool water, not cold or hot.
My bathing tip is to use a very gentle tear-free formula. Make the bathing experience as comfortable as possible.
Yes, because he likes them.
I gave my Bailey baths at home with lots of towels on the floor and talk to him in
a calm voice and he gets treats.
Watching the video I liked that the Super Shammy would dry Bailey off a lot
faster then my towels
This is an awesome idea!
My best tip is to have a warm towel to wrap them in when they are done. I always put a few towels in the dryer and all 3 love it when they are wrapped in them after their bath.
I always have extra towels on hand because we always need them
My G+ share for today https://plus.google.com/105398941076461924520/posts/X6dKBB7CqQv. I didn’t enter it into the form by error ….sorry!
I wash my dogs outside because they are too big and messy for the bathtub. My tip is to put their leash on them when washing outside so they don’t run off mid bath.
Mercer enjoys his bath but he LOVES the blowdry!!
As silly as this sounds, but speaking from experience, make sure you have all of your shampoos, towels, etc, already in hands reach before you start the bath (or even get the dog). thank you