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  Frequent
bathing is bad for dogs and possibly fatal for puppies. A young
puppy born during winter months is going to get messy and your
temptation is to bathe it. Don't! Pups get chilled very easily and
puppy chills tend to lead to illness and debilitation. During
inclement weather brush
puppy a lot and maybe do some spot cleaning. But hold off on
bathing until puppy is older and the weather warmer. The more
heavily coated puppy is the longer it's going to take to get them
dry.
Bathing destroys the natural oils on a dogs skin and dries the
coat out. Ensure that you have the correct
shampoo & conditioner for your dogs coat. Sometimes, if a dog
is losing a lot of coat, a bath will speed up the moulting
process, though you will be faced with drifts of dog hair for a
couple of days after the bath.
Teaching your puppy about bath time is important. The water should
be little more than lukewarm and it should be shallow enough that
puppy isn't afraid of drowning. Good footing in the bathtub or
sink is important so puppy isn't afraid of falling. If your
bathtub doesn't have non-skid strips, get some and apply them.
Your manner throughout the process needs to be reassuringly
cheerful; this is a new experience for puppy and one that's
potentially threatening. Be careful not to get soap in the puppy's
eyes and don't deluge it's ears with water.
Hold the Soap and Water! is an excerpt from "Civilizing
Your Puppy" by Barbara Wrede.
More dog care books can be found in the
Love My Pet shopping area.
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