How often should I wash my dog?
Let your nose be your guide. If your dog becomes a bit smelly or they’ve had the time of their life playing in the mud (see photo below of poppy) you’ll need to give them a wash. Their coats are designed to be self-cleaning so you don’t need to wash them too often. How often you wash them will depend on the breed of dog you have, their lifestyle and whether they have any skin conditions. Speaking on behalf of the dogs I groom – Oodles, once a month is plenty. Washing them too frequently will remove natural oils from their coat, it can interfere with external worming and flea treatments and can lead to developing a skin condition. If your dog gets dirty legs from your daily walk, you can simply rinse their legs with warm water to remove the mud or you could try preventing them from getting dirty by dressing them in waterproof dog pants – Poppy and I LOVE these pants, they prevent her legs and belly from getting wet and muddy so I only have to was her little paws.
How to wash your dog in the bathtub
Rub-a-dub-dub, there’s a dog in my tub! There’s plenty of places you can wash your dog; in the shower, in the laundry sink, outside, at a self-wash dog wash or the bath – which is what I prefer. Before washing your dog, make sure you give them a big brush to remove any loose fur which will otherwise clog the drain.
I’ve attached a push-on shower hose to my bath forcep so I can easily rinse the dogs. Test the water temperature on your inner wrist making sure it’s luke warm and for dogs that are prone to ear infections, you can gently insert a ball of cotton wool into their ear to prevent water getting in.
Can you use human shampoo on dogs?
It’s not recommended to use human shampoo on dogs. Without getting into the nitty-gritty, dogs have a different pH balance to us, which means our shampoo can be too acidic for them and can damage their skin – no thanks.
When washing dogs, I like to rinse them first, shampoo twice and finish with a conditioner. Shampoo will remove the dirt as well as the natural oils from the skin and conditioner will help restore the skins and coats natural balance. I like to use Melanie Newman’s range of dog shampoo and conditioners – they’re really gentle of my dogs and they leave them smelling amazing.
When washing your dog, start from the top of their body and work your way down, don’t forget to wash their paws and their sanitary areas – as a dog groomer I often find dry poo stuck on their bum which you can just pull off. I also remove any eye goop while it’s wet and easy to remove. If your dog tries to shake, just hold the back of their neck and they won’t. Once you’ve finished rising off the conditioner (make sure the you can’t feel any conditioner on their body or it can irritate their skin and make them itchy) squeeze the excess water out of their coat – squeeze their ears, tail, beard and legs, and pat them dry with a towel before getting them out of the bath.
Hot tip: While your dog is wet, their flattened fur may expose any skin abnormalities. As you shampoo them, run your hands all over their body and feel for any unusual lumps or bumps that you may need to inform your vet about.
What’s the best way to dry my dog? Can I dry my dog with a hair dryer?
Now that your dog looks like a drowned rat, it’s time to fluff up their coat with a blow wave. There’s a few ways to dry your pooch, here are the pros and cons of each -
Air drying
It might be tempting to let your dog air dry, especially on a warm sunny day, however you may run into a few problems. As soon as you release your dog after their bath, they’ll instinctively shake and spray water all over the house, they’ll run around rubbing their faces and bodies on your couches and carpet, leaving that wet dog smell though out the house.
If you let them go outside to dry in the sun, some dogs will roll around in the dirt and on the grass, and if you have a white dog like me, their coat can turn green from freshly moved lawn, which means they’ll need another bath!
On a more serious note, dogs with long or thick coats that are damp can become matted or develop skin conditions and ear infections.
Towel dry
The most common method of drying dogs is towel drying. Most people use an old bath towel and rub their dog vigorously, trying to absorb as much water as possible. That logic makes sense, however if you have a dog with long or thick fur, the vigorous rubbing can create matting in their coat. When training to become a dog groomer I was taught to pat them dry with a towel and gently squeeze their body to soak up the water.
The best type of towel to use is a microfibre pet towel which are light weight, super absorbent and they’re designed to cut drying time by half.
Even after towel drying your dog, they still might run around the house afterwards wiping their wet dog smell all over your furniture.
Pet dryer
Using a dryer will dramatically speed up the drying process. You may be tempted to whip out your human hairdryer, however dog skin in a lot thinner than human skin which means our hairdryers can easily dry out their skin, or worst burn them when on a heat setting. You could use a human hair dryer on a cool setting, however human hair dryers aren’t as powerful as pet dryers which means it will take you a lot longer to dry your dog.
Pet dryers use force to remove water from the hair. They come with different settings, so you can dial up or down the speed of the air depending on how comfortable your dog is.
For dogs that are a bit anxious or scared of the noise of the dryer, I like to cover their ears with a Happy Hoodie. This fabric band applies gentle compression which calms dogs during stressful situations and protects them from loud noises. If you have an anxious dog you can also pop one on during stressful situations like thunderstorms, fireworks and vacuuming to help calm your pooch.
Pro tip: As you blow dry your pup, hold the dryer in one hand and a slicker brush in the other hand and brush the fur as you dry. Just like you would brush your hair as you dry it, this technique separates the fur allowing more airflow to each stand allowing it to dryer quicker.
How does a dog groomer dry their dogs?
This is what I do. Once I finish washing my girls or the dogs I groom, I like to run my hands down their backs to squeeze off excess water. I squeeze their tails, ears, beards and legs to get rid of as much water as possible. I then pat them dry with a microfibre pet towel which is super absorbent and soaks up the excess water, then I blow dry their fur with a pet dryer. Once they’re dry, I use fragrant free ear wipes to clean their ears and I spray a couple of spritz of dog cologne on their coat to keep them smelling fresh. My go to is Melanie Newman Refresh Cologne which has a fresh citrus scent.
I’m a qualified dog groomer and fur-mum to two cavoodles; Soda and Poppy. I’m passionate about the health and wellbeing of dogs, as well as helping dog parents groom their dogs at home. I’ll teach you the basics, however if you don’t feel comfortable or confident at any time that’s completely fine, book your dog in for a regular groom and pamper session at the salon. Please never leave your dog unattended on a grooming table.
Disclosure: Healthy Happy Paws is a reader supported website. If you purchase products through links on this website we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.