Keeping Your Dog Clean

[Bogwoppit]

If you have shampoo ingredient concerns or questions, I can (on a completely unprofessional basis) tap my partner for help. He is a formulation chemist, and whilst he works on human products, can tell you what an ingredient means in terms of reaction with the body, and which should be commonly avoided.

 

If you snap a pic of the ingredient declaration on the bottle, and either message me the pic or type out the words (please don't name the brands).

[Gideon's girl]

He may still be having a reaction to food, so don't hesitate to try something else. My dog reacts to several nonmeat items, so don't limit your thinking to only trying to eliminate particular types of meat. My dog with food sensitivities is also harder to keep clean than my other two, if he is reacting to something. When he is reacting, he produces more body oils and the dirt just attaches to him. The good news is that when you eliminate the offending foods, his coat stays just as clean as the others.

[MossyOak]

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[Bogwoppit]

My dogs are house dogs that get bathed frequently, if they've been working stock and been in wet manure a bath is well needed. I think it's important to use a natural shampoo, or at least one without sls, phthalates, synthetic dye free. The one I am currently using is also mineral oil free and paraben free. I just buy human grade natural shampoo, and with sometimes multiple baths a week my dogs have no ill results, in fact theit coats and skin are in great shape. Finding the right diet for your dog is important as well. If your happy with your current food, you could try adding coconut oil or salmon oil as well.

What are these companies using as the primary surfactant in lieu of SLES? That is one of the most safety tested, widely used ingredients in the industry. It's popular to dislike it, but there is a massive backlog of safety data supporting it in comparison to the lesser tested, unknown quantities of replacement surfactants.

 

My point is that a lot well meaning people will try to scare you off using products by dropping words like these, but they are often based in misunderstanding. You are more at risk from "handmade" or small company "all natural" soaps and washes due to them not having industry scale knowledge or the budget to extensively test their products.

These days "test" does not equate "animal testing" either.

Often "big" company is seen as hand in hand with hidden agenda and cynicism, but the fact is that big companies can afford safety testing, and outside of pharmaceuticals, industry standard exists for a reason - it's most extensively tested, for your safety.

 

At the end of the day, I'm not saying douse your dog in any old shampoo, but try not to be swayed by the recent surge in consumer panics over ingredients. In this age of easily accessible information, a little info can do a great deal of harm.

[Bogwoppit]

I apologise for going overboard there, I just have a weak spot in this area (and other similar "beliefs") due to having friends and family who fly in the face of conventional medicine, cleaning products, etc. and have become over sensitive to the suggestions about such areas. Please don't think I'm trying to make anyone feel bad.

[Sue R]

My dogs can get pretty slopped up working our cattle, especially in the green manure days of summer or the nasty mud days of spring and fall, and we still find a good hosing sufficient for getting it all off so they can live in the house. The best thing is that now, after all these years, I finally have a pair of hot and cold frost-free faucets and a t-bone connection (made by Ed) so that the dogs can have their "showers" with suitably-temperatured water. The warm water also does a much better and quicker job of removing the dirt. (Still doing the happy dance over this paradise of the plumbing art!)

[MossyOak]

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[Sue R]

 

No offense taken, we all have our own experience. I have discovered thru personal use for me and my dogs what has given me desirable results. For me the proof is in the results, your milage may vary.

And this is precisely right! Whatever works best for you, your dogs, and your situation.

[Sue R]

Now, back when we had an Aussie, with a thick and slightly crimped coat, it took more than a hosing and a bath was a major undertaking that we avoided if at all possible! We may have felt we got him clean, one way or the other, but the "halos" of dirt and dust he left on the floor were proof we did not!

[GentleLake]

The best thing is that now, after all these years, I finally have a pair of hot and cold frost-free faucets and a t-bone connection (made by Ed) so that the dogs can have their "showers" with suitably-temperatured water. The warm water also does a much better and quicker job of removing the dirt. (Still doing the happy dance over this paradise of the plumbing art!)

 

Oooohhhh! That's my dream come true! (Especially today when Tilly's had some mild dire rears but refuses to get in the tub for me to hose her off . . . and going to the dog wash is torture for her old bones, so it's clip out the nasty stuff again.)

[Sue R]

It's been like forever but I finally got this. I've enjoyed a similar set-up when visiting a friend in TN and loved it. I could adjust the water from chilly when it's hot to warm when it's cold. We've made do with cold only for years but with Celt and Megan both getting on in years, I felt the shock of the cold on old joints in chilly to freezing weather was just too much.

 

I happily consider this the best Christmas present ever! The dogs would feel the same if they liked hosing at all but they dislike warm as much as cold on the principle of the thing. They do like cold when they are hot, thought, at least Celt certainly does. Megan tolerates it but what princess likes a hosing? Dan feels it's all a plot to discomfort the California boy.

 

It is fun to watch them as they steel themselves for a jet of cold water and then find it's really quite comfy, and they relax just a little. Since they clean up so more quickly with the warm, too, the bonuses are multiple! And it's easier on me!