If you live somewhere warm, or during the summer months in cooler climates, giving your dog a bath outside can be a great way to avoid messes in your home! Giving your dog, a bath outside may require some extra equipment, though not necessarily. It can be an excellent choice to bathe your dogs outside instead of in the bathtub!
How to Give Your Dog a Bath Outside
One of the first things you will need to have is a garden hose or water source outside. If you have a hose, it can be extremely easy to give your dog a bath outside. You will need very little besides the hose! You can use other things like a large metal basin to catch some of the water or to use a little bit of warm water from inside as well.
Some places have very cold water that your pet may not like unless it is a hot day. Be mindful of the temperature both outside and the water; you do not want to harm your pet by allowing them to become overly cold! When their fur is wet, it can not do as good of a job of keeping them warm. Consider bathing your dogs indoors when it is cold, or wait for warmer weather to wash them outside.
Another thing you may consider when bathing your dog outside is having an extra person there to help you. Unlike in the bathroom where the bathtub keeps your dog a bit confined and you have the perfect shower head to help you maneuver, outside your dog may be curious and want to run around. If you have someone who can help you, they can hold the hose or the dog while you are washing!
Giving your dog a bath outside gives you more freedom to make it a game. It can be fun to play with your dog in the water; this can help them be more relaxed and easygoing during bath time! Some dogs love to try and catch water that is being sprayed out of the hose. Let them have some fun and enjoy spending time outside with your furry friend!
If you prefer to have a contained area to give your dog a bath outside a small baby pool can be an excellent way to keep your pet contained while they are getting a bath. You can also reuse the pool for them to splash around in during hot days of summer! If you use this method of containing the water and the mess while bathing your dog outdoors, you can conserve a bit of water, and it also makes it easier to do on your own. You can use a large cup or a small pitcher to dump water over your pet when rinsing and washing!
Same goes for outdoors as indoors when it comes to rinsing all the shampoo out of your dog’s coat! Be sure to rinse them very well with clean water when you are finished washing them. Leaving shampoo in their coat can make them itchy and uncomfortable.
Giving your dog a bath outside can be fun when it’s warm enough can actually be a fun experience, as long as you take the steps to make it enjoyable for your dog AND safe for you. We want your dog to be comfortable, but we also want to make sure you don’t trip over the hose, slip on wet grass or go tumbling down a hill as you take off after a runaway Rover!
