Grooming, particularly bathing is one of the essential aspects of caring for your beagle friend. Luckily, beagles have short, thick coats that make them much more resistant to dirt than other breeds.
Yet, bathing your beagle from time to time is important for its health and yours as you do not want your dog to develop an odour.
Note that even if your beagle looks clean for an extensive period, there could be debris, dead hair and body oil caught up in his coat, giving your dog a bad odour as well as being prone to skin diseases.
Bathing your dog on more than usual occasions can cause skin problems for your dog, especially when a product like scented dog shampoo is overused on your dog’s skin.
Scented dog shampoos contain chemicals working as irritants and using them more than often rips your dog’s essential natural oils off. This leaves your beagle’s skin dry and susceptible to other skin allergies.
Thus, you have to find the right balance regarding how often you should bath your dog to avoid such health risks and at the same time, keep your dog clean. Let’s delve in to know all about bathing your beagle.
How Often Should I Bathe My Beagle
To maintain the right balance between your beagle’s skin health and hygiene, you should bath your beagle every 4 to 6 weeks. Nonetheless, depending on your environment, you may have to bath your dog on some irregular occasions.
For instance, if there is lots of mud where you live and where your dog plays, you may be caught up giving your dog irregular baths because it got too dirty playing.
There are certain things beagle owners should know about their dogs’ skin conditions to ensure effective and healthy grooming and bathing.
Vital Factors To Consider On Bathing Your Beagle
Before you go ahead to decide how often you’d want to bath your beagle, take note of these factors:
First, you’d have to be in the know on whether or not your dog has underlying allergies or skin rashes as beagles are naturally predisposed to skin allergies.
Thus, if your dog is suffering from any skin allergy or rushes, it is likely you are going to have to alter its bathing schedule. This is because you’d now have to give it medicated baths more often than usual for a number of months as most vets recommend.
Second, if you live in an environment that means that your dog plays in mud or dirt more often, you will have to be bathing it more often as well. However, if the situation is the opposite for you and your dog barely gets dirty, you will have to be bathing it less often.
Third, some beagles’ coats are more prone to dry skin and irritation than others, if you perhaps bath your dog every 4 to 6 weeks, and you notice that it is causing it frequent irritation, you should bath it less often. Once every 3 to 6 months is recommended.
Lastly, your vet may ask you to alter the bathing schedule of your beagle due to some other health risks.
Do beagles like showers?
You should only bathe a Beagle every 4 to 6 weeks in order to maintain a balance between their skin health and hygiene. However, the reality is this probably isn’t practical, as Beagles love to run in mud, so will need more regular baths and showers.
Can I bathe my dog every 10 days?
Your vet or groomer can recommend the type that’s right for your pooch. Never bathe your beagle more than once a week unless it’s recommended by your vet.
While you’re bathing your beagle, take special care to note any lumps, bumps or skin changes that could indicate a health problem.
Items Needed To Bathe Your Beagle
Here is a list of items you’d need to give your beagle friend a good, refreshing bath.
Specialized Dog Shampoo: This is a very vital item without which you cannot guarantee a good bath for your dog. AVOID using human shampoo for your dog as it will cause skin irritation. Get a canine shampoo and the best too.
Bathing Brush: If your beagle is an adult, we recommend that you use a bath brush as they’ve got thicker coats than puppies. For puppies, you can rub your hands through their coat with the shampoo or use much softer brushes.
A Conditioner: This may not be an essential item but using a conditioner ensures a softer and shinier fur for your dog.
Other items you’d need include a clean towel and some washcloths
Recommended Areas To Bath Your Beagle
One of the areas you can bathe your dog is your backyard. This is especially recommended for owners whose dogs like to leap out of the bathtub. Thus, giving it a bath on the lawn will require less effort.
You should however check the weather conditions and the temperature of the water you’re going to use – should be mild.
Another choice is to use an indoor bathtub or sink. This is especially recommended for small to medium size canines. However, you should watch out for a bit of resistance, with your beagle wanting to leap out.
This could mean it prefers being bathed outside perhaps. In case you’re utilizing a tub, allow the excess water to run down the drain, so it doesn’t come to the rim of the tub. This is to ensure your puppy does not suffocate.
You can use a non-slip pad or mat on the top of the tub to prevent any slippery when applying the shampoo. This also gives your beagle friend a sense of security. Again, ensure the temperature of the water is mild.
The last option you can explore, especially if you are a busy person or simply do not trust yourself t give your dog a good bath, is the professional dog washing service. They work hand in hand with vets to ensure a good, healthy bath for your dog.
Steps In Bathing Your Beagle
Here are the steps you can follow to give your dog a refreshing bath:
1. Wet Your Beagle’s Coat Gently
Using a shower or a sink sprayer, gently wet the coat of your dog, while paying attention to the temperature and intensity of the water. Water should be mild and only turn your shower halfway so that it gently washes your dog’s coat.
Avoid the jets. What is so important about the temperature and intensity of the water is that hot while hot water can cause burns on your dog’s coat, the possibly horrendous experience may stick with your dog, who will now associate baths with bad sensations, placing the possibility of successful future baths at risk.
2. Use a Specialized Dog Shampoo
Using your fingers, lather and work the shampoo into your dog’s coat. Due to beagles’ sensitive skin, a soap-free shampoo is recommended.
Wahl’s 4-in-1doggy shampoo and conditioner come in highly recommended as you wouldn’t need a separate conditioner and has a great smell. It helps to moisturize your dog’s skin.
3. Rinse the Shampoo Away
After applying the shampoo, you should rinse it away. If there is more dirt in the coat, you can repeat the shampooing and rinsing process until everything is out.
4. Use a Specialized Dog Conditioner
We recommend that you use conditioners specially formulated for dogs (scent-free again to avoid skin issues and allergic reactions for your beagle).
Apply the conditioner even through the coat and brush it thoroughly with a wide-tooth comb. Leave it for 2 minutes and rinse again, thoroughly.
5. Dry Your Dog’s Coat
Use clean towels to dry your dog’s coat after the last rinse. It will be easier if you let your dog shake off some of the water before you start cleaning with the towel. Make sure to dry your dog completely to avoid a nasty wet dog smell.
Gently run the towel through his body and if it’s a puppy you’re bathing outside, you can use a hairdryer. Set the hairdryer at its lowest setting and keep it at a reasonable distance to prevent skin burns.
Additional Bathing Tips
Let’s get into some detailed ways of cleaning some parts of your dog.
1. The Face
It’s crucial to take precautions to prevent getting shampoo or water in your beagle’s eyes while giving them a bath. Although the dog-friendly shampoos are made to not sting, I don’t think they are really comfortable.
Applying protective ophthalmic ointment to your dog’s face prior to wash time is one approach to achieve this.
To clean your beagle’s face, use a flannel soaked with lukewarm water (no soap!) and gently wipe every nook and cranny of the face.
To get rid of any lingering tear stains, this also applies to the outer ear flaps and the corners of the eyes. Since not many dogs enjoy this, I would do this instead of splashing water in their face.
2. The Ears
A Beagle’s hanging ears receive little airflow, which unluckily renders them more vulnerable to infections. A Beagle’s ears should be cleaned once a week to prevent this.
In addition to components that break down and remove wax, specialized dog ear cleaning solutions also contain anti-bacterial compounds that reduce irritation and shield against infection.
To check for any injuries, infections, inflammation, or scrapes, add this solution to a wet cotton ball and gently wipe the inside of the ear (use a different cotton ball for each ear to prevent infection from spreading).
Apply antibiotic ointment and visit your veterinarian for more guidance if you detect anything out of the ordinary.
3. The Toenails
This is a good time to get your beagle’s nails clipped if they are a hindrance to movement.
If you don’t feel secure doing them yourself, you can take your pet to a veterinarian or groomer.
When trimming your beagle’s nails, take special care since each nail contains a very delicate pink area known as the “quick,” which houses the blood vessels and nerves that enter the nail. Your dog will suffer severe pain and bleeding if you cut into the quick.
Additionally, it will be quite challenging for them to clip their nails in the future. Use sterile scissors to clip your beagle’s nails so as to prevent infection.
This may take longer, but it is preferable to trim the nails just enough to avoid infection than too much.
Give your Beagle a treat after you’ve finished trimming their nails to help them associate the experience favourably.
4. The Coat
Beagles have two layers of fur, which is referred to as having a “double coat.” The bottom layer is softer, more sensitive, and dense because it serves as insulation, while the top layer is thick, waterproof, and typically brown in colour.
It typically sheds over the winter and is usually white. Fortunately, because Beagles are short-haired breeds, maintaining their complex coat is not too difficult.
Brushing your Beagle at least once per week using a bristle brush, a hound grooming glove, or a finer brush will remove dirt, minimize shedding, and distribute natural oils throughout the dog.
During the shedding season, brush your Beagle up to three times a week.
Beagles don’t actually need to be clipped, but if you do, it’s best to only do a light trim with electric clippers. Additionally, keep an eye out for any fur that needs to be trimmed for neatness around the feet or on the pads of the feet.
Doggy dry shampoo is quick and simple to use to keep your Beagle clean in between showers; all you have to do is sprinkle it on your dog and then brush it in place. To keep the coat appearing shiny, you can also apply a dog conditioner spray.
Final Thoughts
Bathing your beagle can be an exciting adventure between you and your dog. you must however keep in mind that beagles are prone to skin allergies and look out for your dog to know how often to bath it.
Some other factors that can determine how often you bath your dog include, your environment and if your dog has any medical condition that requires that you either bath it more often or less than usual.
Use dog-specialized shampoo and conditioner and avoid human shampoo. You can either bath your dog yourself or you can hire the services of professional dog washing services if you do not think you are up for the task. Talk to your vet if you need assistance with grooming your dog.
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