If you know how to bathe a puppy with no mess or stress nothing will hold you back!
Sloppy sand, muddy puddles or fox poop won’t worry you. You’ll enjoy the great outdoors with your new 4-legged friend come rain or shine.
Because it’ll be easy to wash, shampoo (if needed) and dry your pup before they step foot inside the front door.
Wave goodbye to boring street walks and say hello to adventures with your puppy.
In this blog post we’ll share how to bathe a puppy with no mess or stress, including why it’s important, we will answer the question, ‘when can I bathe my puppy’, and provide you with top tips for the first time you bathe your puppy.
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Why is it important to bathe a puppy with no stress?
Bathing involves a bath or a shower, right?
Which is why many pups HATE bath time.
A bath or a shower is something your puppy isn’t familiar with. They’re slippery when wet. An unusual surface. And your puppy can’t escape, so panic sets in.
On top of this, water is added.
Again, it’s likely your puppy isn’t familiar with running water. The sound the water makes as it hits the bath. It’s pretty loud for your pup’s super hearing. It can be scary!
And whilst they’re experiencing these new things, they’re usually forced to withstand a full shampoo.
All of the above teaches your puppy that bath time isn’t safe, it’s dangerous. And they learn you aren’t to be trusted, which I know you want to avoid.
The method I’ve outlined below, gives your puppy choice and you work in an environment where they’re already comfortable.
It’s a no brainer!
Before bathing a puppy
Step 1
Introduce your puppy to The Bucket Game by Chirag Patel.
Click here to watch a great tutorial by Andi D.
Top tip – play this game in different rooms around your house and where you plan to bathe your puppy. You’ll need to be outside.
Step 2
Order your Mud Daddy here if you don’t already have one.
Order shampoo. Click here to view Dermadog products.
Step 3
Fill a small plastic bucket or tub with your puppy’s food or treats.
Fill your Mud Daddy with warm water and pump, so it’s ready to go.
Grab old towels and your puppy’s shampoo and brush (if needed).
How to bathe a puppy with no mess or stress
Step 1
Place your puppy’s food tub down. If they look at the tub, but don’t move towards it, take a piece of food out of the tub and give it to them.
If they move towards the tub, drop back a stage and revisit The Bucket Game.
Spray a small amount of water from the Mud Daddy on the floor, stop and then give your puppy a piece of food from the tub. Rinse and repeat x 5.
Step 2
If your puppy is happy and relaxed, gently spray their tummy or back with some water. Say ‘yes’ whilst the water is being sprayed, stop and then deliver a piece of food from the tub.
It’s a good idea at this point to stop washing your puppy and dry them with a towel using the same exercise.
Young puppies can only concentrate for a short amount of time, and we want a successful first run. Give your puppy a break and come back to this exercise in a couple of days with the view of completing step 3.
Click on the video below to watch step 2 in action.
Step 3
Rinse your puppy’s whole body (not their face) with short bursts of water from the Mud Daddy, marking ‘yes’ as the water touches their body, stop and deliver a piece of food from the tub.
Again, my advice is to end the exercise here and dry your puppy off.
Click on the video below to watch step 3 in action.
Step 4
Rub a small amount of shampoo into your puppy’s wet coat, say ‘yes’ and deliver a piece of food from the tub.
If your puppy is happy and relaxed, you can continue to shampoo their whole body. I used the Dermadog Wash Brush to work the shampoo into Ozzy’s fur.
Use the Mud Daddy to rinse off the shampoo and towel dry your pup.
When can I bathe my puppy?
I am not a groomer, I’m a puppy trainer. So I can’t advise on coat or skin etc, But I can tell you, handling and grooming exercises should be one aspect of your puppy’s socialisation plan.
You can absolutely teach the steps I’ve outlined above to a young pup. They are more than capable.
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Top tips for bathing a puppy
You can absolutely introduce your puppy to a bath or shower in small steps, pairing the experience with tasty food on a lickimat for example. But do you really want dog hair in your plug hole? Wet dog splatters all over your bathroom? To clean the bath afterwards?
This approach is a win, win for everyone. Yes, it takes time to teach, but if you’re anything like me and love a trip to the beach, it’ll be useful every single day!
In this blog post we’ve shared how you can bathe a puppy with no mess or stress. We’ve explained why it’s important, answered the question, ‘when can I bathe my puppy’ and provided you with top tips for the first time you bathe your puppy.
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I’d love to know how this blog post has helped you! Please leave a comment in the section below.
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Happy training!
Lindsay xx
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