To wash your dog's face, use a soft, damp washcloth with warm water, avoiding soap near the eyes, or use a tearless dog shampoo for more stubborn dirt, always rinsing thoroughly and gently with a separate damp cloth to protect eyes and ears. Dog-specific grooming wipes or diluted apple cider vinegar (1:5 water) on a cloth are also good options, especially for tear stains or wrinkles, followed by a thorough water rinse and drying.
Comments Section We use Spa brand blueberry facial for the face. Any shampoo marketed for the face should be safe, usually they'll say tearless as well. I currently use tropiclean blueberry facial. There are many fearless facial shampoos out there. Any of them will suffice.
While human shampoo isn't a safe alternative to dog shampoo, dish soap, baking soda, baby shampoo, cornstarch, and gentle wipes can freshen up your dog in a pinch.
Carefully Wash Their Face
Washing your dog's face requires an extra dose of gentleness and care, making sure to avoid dripping water or shampoo into their eyes and ears. “For the face, use a wet washcloth to carefully wet your dog's face,” Askeland instructs.
Baby wipes contain alcohols, preservatives, fragrances that can irritate or harm dogs through skin/ingestion. Breeds with skin folds, allergies, and puppies face highest risk from baby wipe ingredients. Dog-specific wipes are pH-balanced and free from harmful chemicals like parabens and sulfates.
Keep your pup clean and fur-ever fur-tastic so that they remain the cutest dog on the block. Wiping or washing and rinsing your dog's face isn't difficult, so make it part of your regular grooming routine. If you don't have the spare time or energy to groom your dog, let someone else do all the hard work for you.
Here's a simple do-it-yourself recipe for all natural homemade dog wipes. Add one cup of water, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, four tablespoons of melted organic coconut oil and around 20 drops of lavender. Mix well in a plastic Tupperware with a lid. Fold your paper towels and slowly press them in the liquid.
Keeping your dog clean and well-groomed can help prevent issues such as hot spots, ear infections, and dental problems, leading to a happier, healthier pup. 3. Improved Comfort and Hygiene: Just like humans, dogs feel more comfortable and confident when they're clean and well-groomed.
The #1 rule for grooming a dog is to prioritize the dog's safety and comfort, which means being gentle, patient, using appropriate tools, and creating a positive experience to build trust and prevent injuries or fear, as emphasized by professionals like Clipit Grooming, QC Pet Studies, and The Pets Workshop. This involves careful handling of tools like scissors and clippers, taking breaks, and recognizing when a dog has had enough.
Bathing your pup is a necessity to maintain healthy skin and fur. Vets don't recommend using human shampoo on dogs. If you are in a pinch and without pup-specific shampoo, Dawn dish soap or baby shampoos from Burt's Bees and Johnson's may be used.
Check that the ingredients are safe for your pet when you're making your own dog shampoo. Avoid soaps with heavy dyes or fragrances, though some essential oils, like lavender, are ok. To make a basic shampoo: Combine 2 cups of filtered or distilled water with 2 tablespoons of baking soda.
Dog skin allergies can result in a variety of symptoms including:
How Not To Wash Your Dog
Some tips:
Using a medicated dog shampoo such as EquiShield CK Shampoo can help get rid of the smell. Using a medicated spray, shampoo or wipes such as Banixx Ear, Paw and Wound Wipes can help to control bacterial and yeast infections that can often cause that bad smell caused by secondary canine seborrhea.
How to Deodorize a Room (Step-by-Step)
The 3-3-3 rule for dogs is a guideline for the adjustment period after adoption, outlining three phases: 3 Days (decompression, feeling overwhelmed/scared), 3 Weeks (starting to settle in, learning routine, personality emerges), and 3 Months (feeling secure, bonded, and truly at home). It helps new owners manage expectations and be patient as their rescue dog transitions, emphasizing calm energy, routine, and space in the early days to build trust.
Dogs say "sorry" through submissive body language like tucking their tail, lowering their head, making "puppy eyes," licking, and rolling onto their backs to show they're not a threat, which are appeasement signals to diffuse tension after a conflict or misbehavior, often combined with whining or approaching and retreating. They recognize when their human (or another dog) is upset and use these signs to seek forgiveness, though it's more about reducing stress than human-like guilt.
The 3-Minute Rule in cleaning is a technique to overcome procrastination by tackling a specific, small cleaning task for just three minutes, using a timer to create momentum, reduce overwhelm, and build consistent habits, often by quickly clearing surfaces or putting away misplaced items until the timer stops, at which point you can choose to continue or stop. It works by tricking your brain into starting, as action creates motivation, making it easier to maintain a tidy home without massive cleaning sessions.
Most of the time, dog owners don't need to wipe their dog's butt after they poop because dogs handle it themselves. But there are some situations where you might want to: ✅ Long-haired dogs can get poop stuck in their fur, so wiping helps avoid matting or odour. ✅ Health issues like diarrhea!
Here are some tips for keeping your pup as clean as possible without getting them into the routine of bathing as much as we humans do!
The answer is simply: NO. Human wet wipes and baby wipes are not suitable for use on pets. In fact, Human wipes can be up to 200 times too acidic for your pet's skin. This is because the pH balance of your pet's skin is very different to that of a human's.