Dog Bath Time

  
A Dog That Has Just Had a Bath Photographic Print
Curtsinger, Bill
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No matter how regularly you groom your dog and no matter how hard you try to keep him out of the worst of the mud from time to time you will have to face the inevitable.

Dog Bath Time....

The prospect of the dog bath is usually faced with the same amount of enthusiasm by both pet and owner - in other words none. Somehow dogs can sense that you are thinking about bathing them around 2-3 days before you actually steel yourself to do it. They hide in corners and under beds. When the time finally arrives you have to physically drag them outside or to the bathroom.

Around half an hour and several escape attempts later you will have a clean but dripping wet dog, a filthy bathroom to clean and you will be soaked to the skin. Your dog, on the other hand, will now be full of the joy of living and charging around the house like a lunatic, shaking himself dry all over your furniture.

Does Dog Bath Time Really Have To Be Like This?

No.There are ways to make this easier. The easiest of all is to just give in and take your pooch to a doggy beauty salon. You get good service usually and a shiny clean dog. And an empty wallet. Great if you have spare cash but a bit of a stretch if you don't.

What else can you do?

Well if you are going to bath your dog at home either outside or in your bathtub the main thing you should do is prepare properly before hand.

If you just dump you hound in the bath and then go off to find the dog shampoo...well you deserve all you get really.

Get everything gathered first including shampoo, his lead and lots of old towels. Its a good idea to have a few doggy treats to hand as well, just to concentrate his mind if necessary.

Use Your Deshedding Tool before Bathing

Very important, but lots of people for get to do this - give him a thorough brushing before you bath him. Get rid of most of the dead hair as this will make the bathing much easier and you will be left with a lot less mess afterwards. You are also less likely to block up your drains. Best of all use a deshedding tool for this.

If there is another person available recruit them to keep a gentle hold on our dog's head while you bath him. Then if he starts to show signs of shaking himself you can stop him by keeping his head still. You have to catch it before it starts though.

  
Dog Shaking Off Water on Dock Photographic Print
Henderson, Chip
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If you can get hold of an old tin bath this is ideal. However make sure you use warm water - it is not pleasant to be hosed down with freezing cold water whether you are human or canine.

There are some products on the market to help with the dog bathing nightmare. Some seem to be fairly useful and we have listed a few of them here. We have only listed ones which have some good reviews as there are some which a just gadgety junk.

HydroSurge Rapid Bath Animal Bathing System with Indoor Bathing Kit 

 This gives your pet a very rapid ( three minute) bath. It penetrated right through the coat and automatically dispenses the right dosage of shampoo. Switches from bath to rinse at the tough of a button. Gets some rave reviews although one customer thought it was a little bit pricey, although she loved how it works.

FURminator Super-Absorbent Microfiber Drying Towel

Getting your dog dry after a bath can take ages if he has a thick coat and this is where the Furminator Microfiber towel comes in useful. Faster drying means less shaking!

Booster Bath Plastic Dog Bath

This is a more expensive item at around $170 at the time of writing. However if you can afford it then it is a very good solution. It can be used indoors or outdoors and raises you dog up so that bathing him is not a backbreaking job. It has a mess-free drainage system and is large enough for any breed of dog. Gets very good reviews.