If you are reading this, you probably have 8 week old puppy or a puppy older than 8 weeks and you want to give him/her their first bath but you are confused and don’t know what to do. Well, I have been in that situation and I would be glad to help you.

In this post, I will be giving you steps on how to give an 8 week old puppy a bath (the puppy could be older ).

Steps

Before you start, you need to get everything you will need so you don’t leave your puppy unattended during the bath.

You will need a mild puppy shampoo, I use this one. You will also need fluffy towels, a soft brush, and some treats.

You can bath your dog in the bath, basin, or sometimes the sink, depending on the size of your puppy.

Make sure your puppy is really happy in the bath because we want to make it a positive experience for them.

You should give them plenty of treats so they are not going to be scared of the experience because it is quite important for hygiene reasons that they are kept clean.

First of all, you need to brush your puppy because if they have any knots in their coats when you bathe them, the coats become knottier, so you need to gently groom them and make sure there are no tangles in their coats before you bathe them.

Test the water first on your wrist, you need to make sure it is not too hot or too cold, it should be at a nice lukewarm temperature.

Wet the puppy all over, you should avoid their head area because if any water gets into their eyes or ears, they won’t appreciate it. So generally I don’t wash the head area unless they are really dirty.

Put shampoo into your hand and gently lather up the puppy, be careful so you don’t use too much shampoo but even if you do, as long as it is all rinsed out after, it won’t be a problem.

Wash your puppy with your palms as if you are giving them a nice little massage and make sure they are washed all over (except the head). Pay particular attention to their back end and feet.

As you wash your puppy, make sure the shampoo is all rubbed in and the coat is well lathered.

So, the whole bathing process should not take longer than 5 minutes from start to finish otherwise, your puppy will start to get bored.

Once the puppy is all shampooed up, switch the water on again and make sure it is at the right temperature, and then start to rinse off all the shampoo.

Rinsing off the shampoo is really important because if you leave any shampoo in your pup’s coat, it can irritate their skin afterward and give them itchy or scruffy skin.  You need to make sure that all of the shampoo is washed out and the water is running clear.

Once your puppy is all rinsed off, you can first squeeze out any excess water in their fur if your puppy has really long hairs otherwise get yourself a fluffy towel and start drying your puppy off.

Make sure they are kept wrapped up and warm, puppies cannot regulate their temperature very well, so we need to keep them covered up and warm and get them dried as soon as possible,

If your puppy has longer hair, you can use a hair dryer on the cool settings and lowest speed. Some puppies may scared of the hair dryer, so gradually get them used to the noise first and give them plenty of treats.

Make sure you don’t hold the hair dryer too close to your puppy otherwise, you might burn the skin.

Your puppy does not have to be completely dry but as long as the majority of the coat is dry they would not get too cold. Make sure you keep them indoors afterward.

You should know that no matter how hard you try to create a comfortable environment for the bath, some puppies would still not be comfortable and it is normal because it is their first time, so you just have to do it with care and show them it is safe.

You may also be interested in this post i made of about everything you should know about ice cream for puppies

if you found this post helpful, you would love my Pinterest page where i post everything about dog health, dog food and nutrition, and dog grooming.

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Important information

I am not a vet, any advice shared in this post is from my personal experience, deep research, and advice from dog parents, and vets in the Reddit and Facebook dog groups and dog forums that I am a member of.

A Lot of dog parents don’t know How to give an 8 week old puppy a bath, so if this post was helpful to you, please share it with people or groups that might need it.