As far as getting a bath at home goes, it is up to you. Often, a lot of dogs just don't cooperate, and what should be a 20, or 25-minute experience turns into an hour circus. Nobody wins in that situation. Your dog's traumatized, and you're traumatized. No, don't do it. It's just easier to try to take them someplace else to be bathed. We often find that sometimes just getting your dog out of the environment helps. Maybe take them to a local farm supply or feed store, someplace where they do have do-it-yourself bathing. We have a couple of locations where that is available, and a lot of people love to take advantage of that because they don't have to destroy their own bathrooms and get them all wet, and dogs are shaking all over the place. Let them do it someplace else, not in your house. During the summertime, do it outside if you need to. But as far as the mechanics of actually doing it goes, it really boils down to if your dog cooperates or not. If they do great, try it yourself. If not, by all means, take them to a groomer. Especially if you are going to get a haircut, they will also be bathing them.

No. Contrary to the mythology that you hear or read on the internet or hear from a lot of veterinarians, there isn't a "too often" to bathe your pet. Think about it. You get the Labrador that goes into the water every day. Is that too much? No, not at all. What does matter if you're going to be bathing your pet is the shampoo. There are different shampoos for different purposes. We would have some shampoos for dogs with excessively oily skin, for example, if we had a Cocker spaniel with an oily texture to the coat. We want to dry those dogs out somehow. We want to degrease and get some of the oils out. But in general, the vast majority of the shampoos and the ones you would typically buy off the shelf, no, you could bath those dogs on a regular basis. There are a couple of considerations. We carry about three or four different shampoos for specific purposes. I have one that we use for general purposes. It's an aloe and oatmeal shampoo. You've got aloe in there, which is a skin moisturizer. The other component, oatmeal, has a little bit of an anti-itch benefit to it. You can bathe your dog every single day, and you're not going to dry their skin out if you use that combination.

I realize a lot of clients are not able to bathe their dogs with any regularity, and that's fine. Worst case scenario, you can at least take a wet cloth, not a pet wipe or not a baby wipe, a wet cloth, and just get your dog damp with a towel or a towelette. If you can do that regularly, at least that's something you can do to try to help with your dog's skin coat. You cannot bathe your dog too often if you're using an appropriate shampoo. Then it becomes a matter of how cooperative your dog is and how much time you have. If your dog isn't really cooperative with getting a bath, if it turns into a rodeo, I don't recommend it because everybody's exhausted from the experience. But if your dog likes to get in the shower with you, go for it. That's fine. Do it as often as you want to. I like an aloe oatmeal shampoo. It is the general shampoo that we do have other shampoos, uh, for specific, uh, health purposes for skin purposes.

I would call your veterinarian immediately if they do eat that and let them know what they ate, when they ate it, and how much they ate. Depending on what it is, we can go from there.

I would avoid most fruits, meats, and simple carbs. Stay away from human foods aside from certain veggies and rare foods.