When you have a dog that needs to be cleaned up, the best way to do so is to shampoo them. Shampooing a dog is hilarious as they tend to love the feeling and sit there all regal and happy as you work the shampoo into their fur. They will look cleaner, smell better, and generally be happier with a good shampoo. However, shampoo from the store for dogs can be very expensive, and thus you might want to throw together some DIY shampoo recipes for your dog.
If that is the case, consider the following as an easy way to get your dog nice and clean-looking without having to spend boatloads on expensive canine shampoo products.
The basic dog shampoo DIY trick
To get started, you need three very simple ingredients:
- Warm water, probably around 2 cups of the stuff for a full dog shampoo
- One ¼ cup of non-toxic dish soap that can be used as the main base
- One ½ cup of white vinegar which can deodorize their skin properly
These three ingredients are literally all that you need to make sure your dog can enjoy some better fur and health overall. Start by mixing these three together into a single spray bottle. Make sure the water is warm, but not too warm. Now, you will need to wet your dog’s coat and then spray this onto everything and everywhere. Avoid spraying around their face and eyes, though.
Start rubbing this into their coat so that it creates that typically thick lather that all shampoo products should. Then, once you have given it a good lather and worked it into the fur, you should rinse it all off and keep rinsing for as long as you need. Dry your lovely friend off, and then let them walk around looking and smelling positively fantastic.
What about dogs with dry skin?
If your dog is one of the unlucky ones with dried-out skin, then you can mix together something similar to the above. To make this concoction, you need to combine:
- Some water – around one quart should be enough to do this
- One full cup of baby shampoo or nontoxic dish soap
- One full cup of apple cider vinegar (or white)
- One 1/3 cup of glycerin
- Two tablespoons of aloe vera gel
This concoction simply has to be mixed into a spray bottle as the previous DIY shampoo recipe for your dog suggested. You mix this together and then apply it the same way as we did above. Work it into the coat, avoid their eyes, and then make sure you give the coat a fine rinse and dry. If you do this for long enough, you should find that their dry and irritated skin starts to become a problem of the past.
Your dog will feel better for it, and as its owner, you will also feel better for going that extra mile to help your beloved dog look and feel fantastic. Happy grooming!