Grooming Tips
The Bath!
After many years of trial and error trying to keep our furry friends clean, happy and looking their best here are some tips we have found useful when we groom our dogs at home.
First, and above all else, remember that bath time is a time to bond with your pet! Most experts advise starting the grooming routine with your dog when it is a young puppy and bath frequently while they are young. let your puppy be playful in its bath until it gets a little older. If you keep the bath fun for him eventually your dog will calm down and enjoy the experience of being bathed by you. Your dog will mimic your mood and temperment, so if you are calm, assertive and happy with him things will go much better. If you adopted an older dog that doesn't seem to be enamored with bath time, then just take it slow and keep it fun. Don't yell at the dog. Keep your voice calm and low. Talk to your dog throughout the bath. Let him take a break for some praise and affection. Eventually he will learn to at least tolerate the bath for the good time that follow.
Choose a bath time when your dog is usually calm. You don't want associate a bad experience with bathing. Bu if your dog has run off and rolled in the mud and grass and every stinky thing he can find don't take it out on him! He's was just doing what dogs love to do best. Join him in his funtime. Play with your smelly, dirty dog for a few minutes. Toss a ball, play run and jump but don't get heavy handed. Let your dog'a adreneline come down before you try to bath him. Once he is calm, then start the 'emergency' bath. When we have to give and emergency bath, we just bathe what's necessary (paws, legs, tummy) and save the rest for bath day. We have also found that if we finish the bath the way we describe later that our dogs often won't need a bath if they can dry off by themselves (of course we may have to vacuum, but that's what vacuums are for).
A successful dog bath is all about being prepared! We find it best to have an elevated place where you can bath your dog while standing. Our dogs are around 30 pounds and fit nicely into our laundry tub. The tub is high enough to be convenient for us, deep enough to contain the mess but not so deep that our dogs can't see out. We have fitted the faucet with a short shower hose and spryer head to facilitate the bath more easily. After you have selected the bathing area, gather together your grooming tools (brush, slicker brush, comb, etc),shampoo, rinse, finishing spray (more about these later) and towels - lots of towels!
Use a high quality dog shampoo that you can purchase here from us or at your local pet store. If your veterinarian has prescribed a shampoo and rinse then by all means use those. Choose a dog shampoo much the same way you would for yourself. It's generally a good idea to use a shampoo and conditioner that will also moisturize your dog's skin and fur. You may also want to use a flea shampoo (sometimes called flea dip) if you are having problems with fleas. We use a monthly flea control so flea shampoo is seldom necessary. A word of caution about dog shampoos. If you have a white dog and want to use a whitening shampoo, that's fine but be aware that those shampoos are somewhat harsher and may dry your dog's skin. Use them only when needed. Most regular dog shampoos will do a good job cleaning your dog's white fur. When your dog is young you may want to use a 'no tears' puppy shampoo which is fine. These shampoos are a little gentler for your puppy and will help protect their eyes. The trick to keeping your dog white is what you do between shampoos! More later.
Before you put your dog into the bath, run the water to get it to the proper temperature. The water should be warm but not hot. Remember that your dog's emperature is a little warmer than yours so tempid water may feel cold to him. Start by wetting your dog's neck all around and then lather shampoo around his neck. This will help keep any fleas (I know, your dog doesn't have fleas - neither do mine, but just in case do this anyway) that may be on your dog from running up to your dog's head and geting into your dog's eyes or ears. Praise your puppy fequently during the bath and keep it fun for him. Be sure the water is warm but not hot and no more than ankle deep. Work down your dog's body with the shampoo working up a good lather. Once the body is done, then wash your dog's head. Try to keep water and shampoo out of your dog's nose, eyes and ears as best you can. use a wsh cloth to wash your dog's face. Now rinse with warm water.
Your dog will probably try to shake after he is rinsed. Don't yell at him but you may find you can stop him by gently holding his shoulders. drape a towel over him if you need to and just resolve yourself that your going to get wet! See, I told you this would be a bonding experience!
Now use the creme rinse conditioner according to the product directions unless you have used a combination product. Rinse your dog, help him get rid of exess water and move him to the grooming table.
Vigouruosly towel dry your dog starting with the head and ears. Make this a 'feel good' time to reward him for the bath. Go ahead, massage him while you are drying him he'll love you for it! Once your dog is towel dry apply a detangler/conditioner spray. This will help with the after bath brush out and will also help your dog stay clean between baths. Yep, the secret to keeping clean between baths is the leave in conditioner! Your dog is going to want to run and roll on the carpet, the bed, the couch and anything else handy. When you put your dog dwon drape his towels over him and let him roll around on them. Wrap him up in the towels and play with him. After the initial adrenaline rush ids over give your dog something to chew on for a while before you start the next step in grooming. Depending on your dog and how warm your environment, you may need to blow dry your dog once he has calmed down. More on that in the section on 'The Brush Out.'