My Dogs: Ruby, Tinker & Loki
We all have our weaknesses, and mine is liking Terriers. As luck would have it, all three of mine have had the common skin allergy of dogs called atopic dermatitis.
For the past 20 years, my house has been itchy-dog boot camp. It’s on these dogs that I first noticed how just well bathing can work on the itch level. Ruby in fact never needed anything else; every time she got itchy I just bathed it away, sometimes up to twice a week.
Tinker, like Jack, needs baths to stop him getting ear infections, but he had a few before I worked this out. His ears do a neat trick of swelling up so the canal closes, but if you’re quick, a bath makes the swelling go down in hours.
Loki is my most severe case, and a good example of when bathing doesn’t work. When he was younger, I could manage him just with baths. Have a look at the picture. That was Loki’s paws just before a bath and four hours afterwards.
Atopic dermatitis tends to worsen up to 4 years of age, and in his case baths weren’t enough any more. About two years ago he went on Apoquel and last spring when even that wasn’t working I switched to Cytopoint. Funnily enough, these treatments are so effective that I don’t have to bath him much any more.
I’ll finish by answering four common questions I get about bathing dogs.
What happens if you bathe your puppy too much?
If you’re curious about how frequently you should be bathing your dog, know that excessive bathing can actually harm your pet. Bathing your dog too often can strip their natural oils, which they need for a healthy coat and skin, says Reader’s Digest. This could result in a dry, dull coat and itchy skin.
8 Steps To Bathing Your Dog (Infographic)
To summarize, here are the eight steps for bathing a dog in a visual format to easily reference.