How to bathe your dog

By Anjie Coates, AnimalForum.com staff

To bathe a dog, the first thing you need to do is gather all of your tools. You will need:

• A dish to pour your diluted shampoo into.
• A square cup to scoop your conditioner with. No matter if you have a Lab or a Collie, you will need to condition them so their skin doesn't dry out.
• Dog shampoo.
• Conditioner.
• Degreasing dish detergent.
• A bath sponge.
• A few towels, depending upon the size of your dog.
• A spray attachment for your tub. (We won't be filling the tub here. If you fill the tub, you're in for a huge mess.)
• Warm water. (A dog's body temperature is higher than yours. If the water is too cold for you, it's way to cold for your dog.)
• Ear cleaner or baby oil.
• Cotton swabs.

Before you start the bath, brush the dog. If you don't know which brush to use, read the article on choosing the right brush.

Next, clean your dog's ears. You should check your dog's ears often--at least once a week. Look for little wax balls and grime. Put baby oil on a cotton swab, but don't soak it; just a bit will do the job. If you put too much on, use baby powder in the ear to soak up the excess. Do not go any deeper into the ear than you can see. Clean his ears just like you'd clean a child's.

Prepare your tub. First, put shampoo in a bowl, and get a sponge. Dilute shampoo to recommended dilution rate. Get your conditioner, an empty cup and towel. Depending on the breed you have, you may notice that the area around the ears is a bit greasy. Have the degreasing dish detergent ready to help remove this grease. Now you're ready for the tub.

Pop the dog in the tub, and use your sprayer to fully wet him down. Dip your sponge into the shampoo and start scrubbing the backside, working your way forward to the top of the head. Now apply the degreasing detergent to the ear area if it's greasy or you used too much baby oil. Scrub his little body like a dish. Now rinse until there are no more bubbles at all, then rinse more. The dog should at this point SQUEAK, just like a clean dish. If he does not, repeat.

Next, grab your conditioner, plug up your drain, and put a quarter-sized (for pups) or silver-dollar-sized (for adults) glob in where the drain plug is. Hose the conditioner down (you're going for a 8:1 dilution rate for most conditioners) until it's mixed. Now grab an empty cup, scoop some up, and pour the creme rinse over the dog. Rinse the conditioner out, and towel dry.

Let the dog sit in his crate with some dryer-warmed towels for about 10 minutes. This will help to dry him. If it's warm out, take him out into the sun to speed the drying process.

Put a bit of men's cologne in a squirt bottle. Dilute it, then spritz the dog with it, taking care to cover his eyes so you don't get any in them.

You now have a clean dog!