How old does my puppy have to be, for me to shower him?

Question

Hi, I just bought a new puppy home last night and I want to give him a shower. He is 7 and a half weeks old, is he too young to be washed? (I know that I have to be very gentle with him) Any tips for me, when washing and drying him?

Answer 1

You can bathe him now. He may object at first but he will get over this in a short time, just go about his bath no matter what he does. One of my puppies screamed so loud and long I'm sure he disturbed the neighbors. But he got over it by the 3rd bath.

Be sure to do it in the tub. So if he turns out to be a big giggler he wont slip through your soapy hands. Use water just a tad cooler than you would normally use. But not cool at all. Keep the room warm and the door closed.

Use puppy tearless shampoo. You don't want to sting his eyes the first time out. Put cotton balls into his ears as far as you can get it without loosing them.

Do not wet his head until the very end. Wash him from the back to the front. Lather every part really well and rince 3-4 times with fresh warm water. Then finally do his face at the very end.
This will keep him from shaking so much all through the bath.

When you bring him out of the tub set him on a towel and place a towel over him. Hold him there for a few minutes while you gently squeeze him dry with the two towels. Keep two more towels to dry him the second time. After you've dried him well by the squeeze method. Spread all of the towels on the floor and let him rub himself on them. Leave him in the warm bathroom for 5 minutes to rub and shake as much as he will during that time.
Then let him into another confined area like the laundry room to finish drying on his own. Do not let him outside until he is completely dry. Let him have some water, as the bath makes them thirsty. But then you must take him out on a leash for a pp.

Once he's dry let him run around the house. He will always love baths if you make them nice for him and fun for you two.

best of luck,

Answer 2

BATHING A PUPPY

So you just brought that new family member home and you are wondering about bathing it. Maybe it smells a little like... well, like puppy smell ! Yes you can bathe even a very young pup and often a good bath really perks them up and helps to rid them of any dirt, stool or food that has hidden itself in the puppy's coat.

You can purchase puppy shampoo (get the tearless kind, it doesn't sting if it gets in the eyes) and wet the pup down completely. Lather up the shampoo all over. When you rinse the shampoo off, be sure that you get all of it off! Even a little shampoo left on the coat can irritate the skin later on. Rinse twice as long as you think you need to. You do not have to put anything in the eyes prior to the bath... just try not to get any soap in the eyes.

You can put little cotton plugs in the ear canals to help keep the water and shampoo out of the ear canals, but this isn't absolutely necessary. When you rinse be sure the water is warm and comfortable. The surest way to make the pup hate a bath is to use water that is too cold or too hot.

Now that the pup has been rinsed off well, just wrap the little rascal in a big towel and gently rub the puppy dry. You can also use a blow dryer but try not to scare the heck out of the pup if you are going to use one. If it is warm outside a good run after a bath is an absolute delight for a dog. Watch out, though, they usually head straight for the dirt or mud to roll around in! (All dogs have been born with some sort of agreement among themselves to do this!)

HOW OFTEN? You can bathe a dog whenever it really needs to be cleaned up. In general, though, a bath every three weeks is about right. And some breeds like Dobes, Boston Terriers and others with short coats may rarely need a bath. Old English Sheepdogs and Collies are a different story!

WHAT KIND? In general just use a mild dog/puppy shampoo. A professional groomer can tell you if your dog needs a special formula to alleviate dry skin, allergic dermatitis or very sensitive skin. (The first thing to do if your dog does have dry skin is evaluate the diet! See ThePetCenter's articles on Nutrition.)

GROOMING
In short haired dogs just use a soft brush and sweep it over the coat in the direction of hair growth. Long haired dogs and dogs with a double coat (short fuzzy hairs underneath long coarse hairs) can tolerate short wire brushes and steel combs. Always be certain that when using the wire brushes that you are not scratching the dog's skin! Some dogs really need to be brushed out every day. Others may never need a brushing because their coats are so short and tight to the skin.

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www.eurobichons.com
experts ready to help with all your puppy issues.

Answer 3

There is no 'has to be' age, but 5 weeks is too young. If they are grubby, a short wipe over with a damp cloth, and then a good towel dry should be quite sufficient. When I had mine on newspaper, because the white on their legs and tums would tend to get mucky from the print, I'd sometimes bath them just before they went home - but that wasn't until 10 weeks. Puppies kept in nice clean surroundings shouldn't need to be bathed early days.

Answer 4

You can bath (not shower) him anytime but make sure he doesn't get chilled afterwards. Use a puppy shampoo or baby shampoo watered down & not too much of it. He is too young for a flea shampoo ! If he isn't afraid of a hair dryer you can use one on warm/low to dry him.
Dogs should not be bathed very often (once every couple of months) so make sure there's a good reason to do it....smell/filth etc.

Answer 5

Maybe you should get a bowl of warm water. Stand your puppy in it. Wet him then pour a tiny drop of dog shampoo on him. Talking gently to him all the time. Then rinse him off and towel dry him. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

5 to 6 weeks. You can bath him once a week. But more can dry his skin out and he will scratch all the time like hes got mange.

Answer 7

First of all you shouldn't really wash dogs. You take away the protective oils that their skin produces to make their coats shiny and to protect it. Therefore, I would suggest not to wash your dog. If he gets really dirty then you can do it. If you really must must must wash him now, it's ok (it's ok to wash them after they are 2 months old). I would also ask your vet for advice.