Jordan Walker – guest blogger – is a pet parent who will do anything so that he could provide for the needs of his canine companions. In this article, he will give you some tips on how to make your dog love taking a bath.
What makes you proud of your pet dog? Is it its loyalty? How does it manage to be in a great behavior when there are guests in your home? Or how is it able to keep your kids happy? There are so many things that could make you proud of your pet. But would you still feel proud of parading this around the neighborhood after gaining a reputation for being stinky? Imagine this, you are passing by a very attractive lady with your pet dog. But instead of making a great impression, she looks at your pet and then covers her nose with a hankie. You see, your dog could make you look good or bad depending on its cleanliness too. Bathing it should be a part of its dog grooming regimen.
How Often Should Your Bathe Your Dog?
Now, just because you take a bath daily does not mean that your dog should do the same. Although their bodies are covered with more hair, daily shampooing is not recommended. You also need to see if your pet shows obvious signs of being a dirty dog. Do the two of you go out daily for some rigorous exercise? Or is it a laid-back dog that is content of just being inside the house and only needs a bit of light exercise? If your dog has the tendency to get dirtied easily, you will need to give this a bath once a week. If not, once a month should suffice. But use your own common sense. If your dog smells stinky already, don’t wait a month more before getting its coat shampooed. Use your nose and eyes too.
Tips for Dogs to Love Bathing
It will make them smell good, look good, take their itch away, and even earn them a praise from your family and friends. But a lot of dogs just hate being shampooed and wet with water. Don’t be stuck with this problem. Here are some tips for pet dog parents to make canine pals love taking a bath:
- Give it a nice first experience. Do you know why some people develop phobias? It’s because of a particular bad experience. Canine pets that hate taking dog baths are probably the ones that did not enjoy doing this as a young pup. Dumping water on a puppy’s head without any warning is an easy way for you to create a bad bathing experience for your pet dog. Let it explore the tub and get used to playing with water. Don’t rush it. Allow it walk on shallow water until it gets comfortable enough with it to take a bath.
- Make it fun. If your dog loves to play, you can use this to lure your dog into the bathtub. Pick out some of its favorite toys and put these in the bathtub, signaling your dog that it’s time to play with you in it. If it’s the kind of dog that loves to play with you together with its toys, then indulge it with a game of tug of war.
- Take it out for exercise. Dogs cool down their bodies through panting because their bodies are not endowed with a lot of sweat glands. With exercise, their body temperature rises too. Dogs that feel extra warm will most likely be willing to take a bath. So during the scheduled dog bath days, take it out on a leash, and jog around the neighborhood to get its blood flowing.
- Watch your own attitude. Do you know that dogs are very sensitive and would respond according to what you’re feeling? If you feel anxious when giving it a bath, it will respond to you in the same manner. So when giving your pet dog a bath, make sure that your body language says that you are calm and in control. If not, you won’t make any progress in making it fall in love with its bath time.
- Do it with other dogs. If they don’t like taking a bath, seeking other dogs doing it calmly could convince your pet dog to finally use that expensive organic shampoo and relaxing conditioner you bought several weeks ago. Invite friends over for a public dog bath day in your backyard. Do this on a sunny day when your pet’s coat could easily get dry without the aid of hair blower (another experience that you might need to get your pet dog accustomed to).
- Bait it with food. Think of dog bathing as your pet trying to learn a new trick. And the best way to get this done? What else but with yummy treats! Bring some dog food with you in the bathroom. This will help reinforce positive association with bathing for your pet dog.
- Leave it to the expert. The tips mentioned above is not a hundred percent guarantee that you will be able to successfully make your dog take a bath without it giving a fight. If a professional dog trainer could make a pet dog sit, stand on its hind legs, or even mimic being dead, he is more than capable of helping you solve the water and shampoo phobia of your canine pet.
Additional Tips
Exercise precaution when washing your dog’s head. You don’t want its eyes hurt with shampoo, nor do you want to your pet dog to get water inside its ears. You can avoid this by being extra careful. Take your time when shampooing its face, tilting its head back when washing off the shampoo. Water should flow behind its neck and not on its eyes. You should also watch the water’s temperature when bathing your dog. This should neither be too warm nor too cold. When bathing dog during the colder months, make sure that you dry this right away and provide insulation since a wet coat could easily give them the chills. If you plan this do this frequently, you still can, but instead of using harsh soap, make use of mild shampoo to prevent skin dryness. Look for the latest dog bath products
Final Thoughts
Dogs are not like humans. They are not worried about what other dogs would think when they become smelly or dirty. Only you as its owner can do get to make it love taking a bath. Make it as pleasurable as you can for your pet dog by using the tips above.
Author: Jordan Walker 4-legged blog guest blogger. He loves writing and sharing his personal experiences as a pet lover at Coops And Cages and in blogs such as this one.
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