Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy

The Ultimate Guide to Stress-Free Dog Bathing: Expert Tips from Professional Groomers

• Shannon & Tanya • Episode 3

Share episode

General Bath Care Tips for Dogs

Ever struggled with a squirming, unhappy pup during bath time? Professional groomers Shannon and Tanya reveal game-changing secrets that transform this dreaded chore into a positive experience for both you and your furry friend.

The most surprising revelation? The critical mistake happens before water even touches fur. Shannon explains, "If you wash your dog with mats or tangles already on them, you're compacting that hair more, tightening it around the skin, and potentially causing hot spots." This simple oversight can lead to painful skin conditions requiring complete coat shaving. Their advice: always brush thoroughly before bathing.

But how often should you bathe your dog? While it depends on coat type and lifestyle, Shannon recommends a schedule ranging from bi-weekly to monthly, with "conditioner baths" in between for high-maintenance coats. For quick clean-ups, pet wipes or chamois towels work wonders. And while professional grooming products offer excellent results, household items like Dawn dish soap can effectively cut through grease when needed.

Ready to revolutionize your pet's bathing routine? Implement these expert techniques and watch your dog's coat transform!

To learn more about Hound Therapy visit:
https://www.HoundTherapy.com
Hound Therapy
3509 E Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
469-367-0009

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy, the podcast where we talk all things pet grooming, daycare academy and more. Hosted by Shannon and Tanya of Hound Therapy serving pet owners across North Texas, we're here to share expert tips, hilarious pet stories and the inside scoop on keeping your furry friends happy and healthy. Our motto humanity over vanity. And don't worry, we don't bite. Let's get started. Who let the dogs out? Who let the dogs out?

Speaker 2:

Bathtime can be a splashy disaster or a spa-like experience, depending on how you do it. Shannon and Tanya shared their top tips for making dog baths stress-free for both you and your pup. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host slash producer, back in the studio with Shannon and Tanya. Shannon and Tanya, how's it going? It's good. We're having a great day, great. So, shannon and Tanya, what are some general bath care tips for dogs?

Speaker 3:

Number one would be wet your dog first. We have a hydration system that's in here so it mixes our shampoo with the water. So a lot of people will take some shampoo and you'll put it on your dog and try to scrub it in. Most dogs have an extra layer or a water barrier of some sort and definitely some oil and grease You're not able to get to the skin. The most important thing to remember is getting to the skin is 100% the key. It's kind of like washing your hair. You know you don't want to just wash the ends of your hair, you want to get to the scalp. That's where all of the dirt lies. So then when you're rinsing it, that rinses through the hair and kind of cleans it. So, using the proper shampoos, making sure that your shampoos, if they're a concentrate, make sure that they are diluted, make sure you get to the skin and make sure you rinse them thoroughly.

Speaker 3:

Cleaning out the ears you don't want any water left inside. So, on an alcohol-based or something that the vet has given you, we clean our ears with an alcohol-based ear infection prevention cleaner so it dries up any water that may have gotten down into the ears. Face tail butts obviously you want to make sure you get the private areas really clean. Yeah, the stinky parts Anal glands is something that we do in here. If you're able to do this at home or take them to your vet, sometimes your dog will just smell, so they get an odor in there. We don't want that. We also brush our teeth in here as well Hot pads, but those are the things that we do. Make sure you use proper shampoo, make sure it's diluted properly, make sure that you don't leave any water left in the ears and 100% make sure they're rinsed completely.

Speaker 2:

So how often should dog owners be bathing their pets?

Speaker 3:

For me. I have a Bichla that has short hair Doodles. We offer a two-week maintenance program in here and a monthly maintenance program, so I have dogs that come in every two weeks and have very long hair. Keep in mind, your dogs are oftentimes two or three inches off the ground and they're in your beds or on your couch, so they are doing nothing but collecting the dust off your floor and in your yard and it's all coming inside your house. Me personally, I don't like that. I want a clean dog. But if you do wash your dog too often, you can cause dry coat, dry skin.

Speaker 2:

You can run into skin problems.

Speaker 3:

So I do a conditioner bath in between. So on our two-week program they get a bath and brush conditioner nails. So there are some things you can do, which is either an all-over haircut or bathe regularly. If you have a German Shepherd or a Doodle, you may not want to bathe them as often, but you still need to get that extra hair out and the dirt off. So I use a conditioner bath for that, even with my dog. I also have a Vizsla and we live out in the country. He gets absolutely disgusted and I'll take baby wipes and actually just wipe him off really quick when he comes in just because I don't want all of those gross things that are outside in the country in my house, the towel chamois work as well.

Speaker 2:

What are the best shampoos and conditioners for different skin types?

Speaker 3:

for the dogs? Another trick question If you're looking for a specialty shampoo, your vet will prescribe something. So there are so many different types of skin conditions out there that need specialty shampoos and us as dog groomers. They're very expensive. They're upwards of $75 a gallon. It's kind of like going into the store buying shampoo for humans.

Speaker 2:

There's thousands Do you have curly hair? Do you have straight hair?

Speaker 3:

All in all, shampoos are a disinfectant. You can use regular old, everyday Dawn. If you've got a really greasy ear or an ear infection You've been helping that ear in there you can go ahead and get some Dawn shampoo. It's good for baby ducks. It's good for dogs. It will cut through the grease. It'll help in those areas that maybe for a first bath you just want to make sure it's kind of a lighter. I like Johnson Johnson shampoo. If you need to get something out of their head or face, cure free and use secure cradle caps. Esprit makes some great products Trop out of their head or face, cure-free and use secured cradle caps Esprit makes some great products.

Speaker 3:

Tropiclean is really good. There are some really good products that you can use out there that are really pricey. We use those in here. We're more professionals and we're charging for that. There are some things that we'll use in here. I mean, I have Dawn. I use Dawn as part of my skunk for de-skunking. Dawn skunking it's Dundon, hydrogen peroxide and a little bit of baking soda and anything that smells good. We mix that together, pour it on, let it sit. So there's something to be said for just you know, over the counter. I'll mention too, if you have mats and you're washing your dog. You're washing your dog with mats or tangles that are already on them. What that does is compact that hair more. You're not really bathing the dog's skin, you're bathing the hair and you're tightening it up around the skin, and what that can do in many cases is cause hot spots or to get those mats so tight to the skin that they'll have to be shaved that they can't be brushed out. So that's a fun pro tip to not do fun pro tip to not do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, what is the biggest mistake pet owners make when bathing their dogs at home? Not getting the mats out first or tangles out first.

Speaker 3:

It creates a whole slew of problems Sweaters on long hairs, dogs. It will create matting with the static electricity People that wash their dog every week in the shower with them. If you do not comb through or brush through the first, you are going to create a much bigger problem. A hot spot usually is due to moisture. So imagine you're hair in a ponytail and you get it wet and you leave your hair in a ponytail, you don't take it down and every time your hair gets dirty you're just going to wet it a little bit. If you do that every time and that's sitting there wet, your scalp is going to itch at some point.

Speaker 3:

And if you're a dog, you itch with your feet or you itch with your mouth and your mouth has got more saliva. So now you're adding more moisture to a mat that's underneath. It's already itching and what it's going to do? It's going to cause an infection and you can't get to that. So that's how a hotspot is created. So that is the number one thing I see from people that are bathing their dogs at home, or they come in and we literally will shave off the entire coat of a dog in its whole entirety just because the dog is so matted. It takes what could have been a really loose tangle and when you wet it it it locks it in and it just gets tighter and tighter and tighter. That hair shrinks and expands and if you're not brushing through it before, after a bath, it's going to create major problems for you and your pet for sure wow, my goodness, any final words when it comes to general bath care tips for dogs.

Speaker 3:

Be very careful not to get shampoo in their eyes. I don't like shampoo in my eyes either, but in a dog they can't tell you. So watch for that eye twidge. If you've accidentally gotten some in there, make sure that those ears are clean with the bath and after your dog has gone swimming or in a lake at a dog park you want to hose them down after. Make sure that you've gotten all of the little parts off. Check the insides of the ears, check the nose, check the eyes, eyelids, all those little crevices. Make sure you've got those clean and rinsed off thoroughly. No mats and tangles.

Speaker 2:

Love it. Shannon and Tanya, We'll catch you in the next episode. Have a fantastic rest of your day. We do the same episode.

Speaker 1:

Have a fantastic rest of your day. We do the same. That's a wrap for this episode of Tail Talk with Hound Therapy. Ready to book your pet's next groom daycare stay or grooming academy tour? Call us at 469-367-0009. That's 469-367-0009 to schedule an appointment, or visit us online at wwwhoundtherapycom. Serving North Texas with expert pet care. Until next time, keep those tails wagging.