There are several steps to successfully bathing your pet at home.  First and foremost, you need to have a comfortable and safe tub or sink for the bath.  It should have hot and cold water.  While it is fun and sometimes wildly exciting to bath outside with a garden hose,  you probably are doing your pet a disservice by bathing this way.  In addition to not being able to completely rinse the shampoo out with the ice cold water, generally when you finish the bath, your best friend is off and running through the yard, picking up dirt, dust, dander, and all sorts of other things that are counterproductive to the bath you just gave. 

The first step in preparing for the bath is the brush out.  If your dog has long hair it is essential that you brush and comb out the hair before the bath.  I can't stress enough that you can't wash out tangles and matts.  If you wash a matted dog, you will make the matts worse and increase the likelihood of sores under the matts.   If your dog is matted and tangled, consult a groomer first to discuss how to get your dog back into a manageable condition.   If your dog has short hair, you will need to brush out the coat thoroughly  to loosen the dead hair from the follicles and decrease the shedding. 

There are hundreds of shampoos on the market for dogs.   In general they are all good.  There are shampoos for black dogs, red dogs, white dogs.  There are shampoos for long hair, short hair, no hair.  There are medicated shampoos for every possible skin problem.  In general though, unless your dog has a documented skin problem diagnosed by a veterinarian, any good quality shampoo will do.  Self diagnosing skin problems can be a tricky game.  If your pet is itching but you don't know why he is itching, throwing a generic anti itch shampoo into the mix can actually make it worse.  If it's dry skin, a moisture treatment will do more to stop the itching.  If it's flea bite dermatitis, solving the flea problem and using a shampoo for hot spots is the answer.  If your pet is has greasy hair and skin, talking with your groomer and determining the cause of the greasiness will help.  Then you can use a degreaser that is appropriate for your pet's coat.  

Wet your pet down with lukewarm water.  Remember that your pet's tolerance for warm water is lower than yours.  Their body temperature is about 5 degrees higher than yours.  Hot water also dries out the skin and the coat.  Dilute the shampoo with water to make it easier to apply.  You can put one cup of shampoo into a quart of water.   The only time you shouldn't dilute shampoo's is if you are using a medicated shampoo from a veterinarian.  It should be applied full strength.  Lather up your pet starting at the back of the neck, working towards the tail.  Save the face for last and you will stay alot drier.....LOL.  On the face, use a good tearless shampoo.  Lather up the face right before rinsing.  To make sure you have completely rinsed off the shampoo you can follow with a vinegar rinse using apple cider vinegar.   The vinegar cuts through any shampoo residue and leaves the hair squeaky clean.  At the end of the process, apply a good spray on leave in conditioner.   

Drying is the part of bathing that is the hardest for most pet owners.  The heat from most human hair dryers is very damaging to pet hair because of the heat settings.  Always use the cool air setting to dry your pet.  Brushing and combing while drying will speed up the process.  Allowing your wet pet to run around the house after the bath may be cute and funny but it allows the wet hair to pick up bacteria, dirt, and dander.  These are what make your dog smell like a dog and  what makes your dog itch and scratch within days of getting  a bath.   It also increases the matting and tangling on long haired dogs. 

A good groomer will help you learn this process.  They will teach you the proper shampoo and conditioner to use on your dog.  They will show you the correct brush and comb to use to make sure your dog's coat is the healthiest it can be.  You are helping them do their job better by keeping your dog in the best condition possible between it's regular grooms. 

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