How to Properly Bathe Your Dog

The microbiome on your dog’s skin is very important to her health, but it’s also very sensitive. Improperly bathing your dog disrupts the flora on the skin, which can lead to chronic skin issues such as a dull coat, flaky-ness, irritation, and vulnerability to hot spots.

🛁  Refrain from over bathing! You don’t want to be frequently bathing your dog, especially while she is young and still developing her microbiomes. It is appropriate to bathe your dog if she is especially smelly or dirty, so save it for these circumstances.

đŸš« Don’t use shampoo or conditioner! Most shampoos, even those formulated for dogs, are often way too harsh and contain artificial scents that are bothersome to pups. A dog’s sense of smell is far greater than ours. Can you imagine living in a cloud of overpowering artificial scents? Save shampoo for spot cleaning, and use a very simple formula that is not scented.

💩  Use warm water that is cooler than it is hot. Water that is too warm also contributes to the destruction of the skin barrier, so keep the water on the cooler side of warm.

You’ll be surprised how healthy your dog’s coat can become if you limit bathing. If you need to give your dog a bath, try a warm/cool water rinse before using shampoo. In most cases, a good rinse through the coat cleans the dog very well. If you’re finding your dog still smells “doggy” after a water rinse, there may be another issue (poor diet, anal glands, etc). Dogs should generally be odorless.