Never use human shampoo on newborn puppies as most products contain chemicals that could be harmful for your tiny pup.
For example, if you are bathing the puppy in the kitchen sink, make sure you clean up any food remnants or germs that the puppy could be exposed to.
Regularly brushing your puppy’s coat will also help decrease the required frequency of baths because it helps keep your puppy clean.
Test the water with your hand before getting the puppy wet so that you can make sure it is not too hot or too cold. If you can’t keep your hand comfortably in the water, then it is too hot for a newborn puppy.
You can also hold the puppy against your skin while it is wrapped in the towel to use your own body heat to help the puppy stay warm.
You also don’t want your puppy to go roll around in something that could get it dirty again after you’ve just gone to the trouble of bathing it. Your puppy will probably want to sleep after its bath, so make sure its bed is warm and cozy for it to nap in.
Do not place the puppy in a tub, as this is dangerous at this age. It’s also frightening to the puppy. You should also avoid using a dish-spray hose, as it will spray too hard for use on a puppy. Be careful not to get the water in the puppy’s eyes, as this will cause discomfort for the puppy and make it struggle against the bath even more.
Be sure to keep one hand on the puppy, keeping it stable, while you use the other hand to rub the washcloth around on the puppy’s body. It’s a good idea to place the stabilizing hand under the puppy to keep it supported. Remember to get the dog’s ears, butt, stomach, legs, paws, back, belly, and neck while washing.
Alternatively, you could use a cup that you fill with warm water over and over to rinse out the shampoo.
If you feel comfortable doing so, you can use a hairdryer on the puppy after you have towel-dried it. Make sure you put the hairdryer on a low setting so that it doesn’t get too hot for the puppy and so the sound will be a bit quieter.
