How to Clean a Dog

Secure your dog before a bath. This means two things. First, you must pick the right place to give your dog a bath. Your Newfoundland probably won’t fit in the kitchen sink, and you might lose your Chihuahua in your Jacuzzi tub, so pick the right place for the size and breed of you dog. As a Lab/mix owner myself, I prefer the kiddie pool during the warm months and the bathtub in the colder months. However, wherever you choose to clean your dog, make sure that the dog is safely secured during bath time. An excitable dog can hurt itself jumping from the kitchen sink or running from the backyard kiddie pool into traffic. Never leave your dog unattended during bath time.

Brush your dog. The best way to clean your dog is to brush your dog. This should be done on a regular basis anyway, to get rid of loose hair and dirt and to prevent matting. This is critical before you give your dog a bath. In fact, it’s like not scraping your plates before putting them into the dishwasher: you’ll probably end up mashing more crud around than you get rid of. Breeds with short hair will require much less brushing than say, a German Shepherd or Golden Retriever. If your dog was sprayed by a skunk, this might be a step you could skip and go right to the dousing. But regular brushing is the first step to grooming your dog at home and can help get rid of itchy skin and excessive shedding, and make your dog more happy and comfortable.

Rinse your dog. Beyond brushing your dog, you should also thoroughly soak him. Think of this as the pre-rinse to get rid of hair, dirt, dead skins cells, skin oil, and whatever your dog has recently rolled in. My dog has a penchant for horse poop and rodent carcasses. This will actually help to clean your dog instead of mashing that crud around. And you want to get rid of horse poop/skunk oil/swamp water/muskrat grease instead of soaking your dog in a big stew of it. Be sure that your dog is saturated down to the skin. Many dogs have a protective undercoat that helps insulate them against exactly that to prevent hypothermia. But since you’re probably indoors, in your bathtub, it’s okay.

Scrub thoroughly. There are a lot of natural dog shampoos available if you want to groom your dog at home. If your dog has been sprayed by a skunk, or has fleas or a skin sensitivity, there are shampoos for that. If you want to go the natural path, you can bathe your dog with baking soda or with vinegar. Both will help to get rid of dog smell and skunk smell and will get rid of any gunk that your dog has rolled in. Do NOT use human shampoo, human bar soap, or dish soap. These cleaners are not designed for your dog’s skin or coat and can cause dryness, itching, skin irritation, and even sores and hair loss. So select the right kind of dog shampoo for your dog, and get knuckle-deep scrubbing him up.

Rinse and dry thoroughly. Yes, it seems painfully obvious that you must rinse and dry your dog. But it’s important that you rinse and dry your dog all the way. Any remnants of dog shampoo on your dog’s skin can cause dryness and itching. And that means an unhappy and uncomfortable canine, one much more likely to find some soothing mud to roll in right after the bath. And, if you don’t dry your dog thoroughly (or allow the dog to dry in a clean, warm place), undercoat and all, your dog is at risk for hypothermia. A wet undercoat is a lot like wet long johns. Yeah, uncomfortable at best, but dangerous when exposed to the elements.

Each dog breed is different. Dogs like an American Staffordshire Terrier require little more than a brushing and a good rubdown with a wet cloth, but others require much more maintenance. A Chow, Akita, Sheepdog, or Golden Retriever is going to require different grooming techniques than a Chihuahua or a Boston Terrier. Keep that in mind when choosing your dog shampoo, your dog bath area, and your decision whether or not to just pay a groomer to do it for you.