Question about bathing a dog.

by Dennis Fisher.

This article is one of a great many articles written by Dennis Fisher about a very wide variety of subjects concerning different  dogs, such as obedience training, breeding, showing, health matters, training problems and other subjects.  All these articles appear on Dennis Fisher's websites.   Visit  http://www.allaboutgermanshepherddogs.com the site that has been set up specifically for German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, or http://www.freedogadvice.com  if you interested in a breed   other than German Shepherd Dogs

  Question:  Is bathing a dog recommended and if so how often should one bath the dog?

Answer:  Occasional bathing to get rid of dirt will do no harm, especially if the dog has been rolling is something unpleasant and you are hesitant to bring him into the house. If you do bath your dog use a special shampoo formulated for dogs not a human shampoo which has a completely different P.H. factor.  The dog's skin is quite different to that of a human.

 It is not a good idea to regularly bathe your dog.  It is far better to groom and brush the dog to remove loose hairs especially at times when he is shedding his coat.  Frequent bathing removes the natural oils in dog's coat and is sometimes the cause of skin irritation.

If your dog has fleas it is far better to use one of the excellent products available that will  kill fleas without the necessity for bathing.  There are small capsules containing a substance that will kills fleas.  They  are very convenient to apply. . All that is required is for the liquid  in the small capsule to be  rubbed into the dog's skin  in the base of  the dog's neck.

Of course to get rid of fleas you must make a point of keeping your dog's bedding clean.  It is pointless  killing the fleas that are on him if he is going to be re-infested by the fleas in his bedding.