Grooming question

[angel894]

I am picking up our little guy Thursday. They are neutering him that morning and they said no bath for 2 weeks. He is a thickish wire coat and that poor baby is rather filthy and tangled. I do not intend to risk his health by prematurely bathing him, but is there something I can do until I can get him to a groomer?

[Leigha]

They might actually bathe him before they do the operation. If they're not going to do it on their own, you might be able to ask them to do it before hand and pay extra for it.

[angel894]

It's a shelter. I wish I could, but the shelter is over an hour away and I can't get there until Thursday afternoon. I am really hoping they would bathe a dog before doing any kind of surgery on him. I'm just trying to prepare. I've seen dry shampoos before for in between baths. Would that work?

[Leigha]

Call and ask them if they're going to wash him, if they hadn't planned on it, ask if they CAN and you just pay for it. If they won't then honestly, I'd probably leave him alone until he's a bit more healed. If he's really dirty and matted it's going to be painful trying to brush him out and I wouldn't want to add more pain to the discomfort of the surgery. Or you could always ask them to shave him down before they do the surgery (they'll probably shave his belly anyway, so it's something they more than likely could do) and just let it grow back.

To clean up his face area you can do a warm damp wash cloth--same with his feet.

I don't have long-haired dogs, so these are all things I don't have to deal with, but I'm sure some of the others who are more experienced in this arena will chime in.

[Fundog]

I would just give him an all-over buzz cut (shave). It's getting warm enough now, it won't hurt him much, and it really would be much kinder than trying to comb out all those mats. Not only that, but it will help to minimize risk of infection, by dirt getting in the sensitive places. Nice thing is, it will all grow back mat-free.

[angel894]

I'll call on Monday to ask. They don't answer phones one Saturdays. Thanks for the suggestions. I just want him as comfortable as possible.

[shybird]

Micro fiber cloths, and do a sponge bath. They work well even without soap of any kind. The little fingers of the cloth when wet reach and scrub grimey dogs well. It holds the dirt until you rinse the cloth out. You can get them the cheapest at Walmart in the automotive section. My dogs love it when they get their special sponge baths because they don't know they are getting clean, only that they are getting RUBBED and attention.