# Advise needed from beach/lake lovers



## Shnga (Jan 25, 2019)

Hi there! We live close to the beach and we love taking our 11 month old to play in the sand and the water. We would take her more often but it takes a couple hours to wash and groom her afterwards. I'm wondering what other people do when they go to the beach? Do you bathe every time? Do you have any tips or suggestions for how to get them cleaned up without doing a full grooming? 

Thank you for your ideas!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Depends on the lake

Depends on the dog's coat

I do not always bathe my dogs after they go swimming, however I typically do not let them swim in funky water + they have correct coats that dry fast. 

If I do decide to bathe afterwards - it's usually a 5 minute bath and then up on the table for a 30 minute blow dry (force dryer, not people dryer). Should not take hours to get a 11 month old dry - they don't have that much coat yet.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I'm assuming you mean salt water when you say beach. I wouldn't leave salt on my dog, makes for dry itchy skin. Really, a clean water rinse with a hose should be fine. You can also get a lot more water off the dog with a chamois cloth or those shamWow cloths. They work really well. If your dog has an oily coat, you might want to shampoo more often but it's not necessary. 

My Golden doesn't have a lot of coat, so I don't blow dry and I don't do a big shampoo very often. When she swims, it's just shake and go. If she's full of sand or silt, then I do a hose rinse.


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## Shnga (Jan 25, 2019)

You're right, she is in salt water. Thank you for your suggestions! I think a rinse at minimum is definitely necessary because of all the sand. I will definitely try the chamois idea! I don't think she has an oily coat. In fact it used to be quite dry feeling, but seems to be pretty normal now. Thanks again for your tips!


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## ChrisFromOC (Sep 19, 2018)

Shnga said:


> Hi there! We live close to the beach and we love taking our 11 month old to play in the sand and the water. We would take her more often but it takes a couple hours to wash and groom her afterwards. I'm wondering what other people do when they go to the beach? Do you bathe every time? Do you have any tips or suggestions for how to get them cleaned up without doing a full grooming?
> 
> Thank you for your ideas!


I take Ziggy to the beach a lot (4-6 times a month), and seem to have a system to get him mostly cleaned up in about 60-90 minutes. I do give him a bath each time and dry him a little, but then I either have him hang out in the yard or take him for a walk to air dry. If it is cold I will use the dryer/blower to help out. This gets his fur clean and most of the sand out of him, but we do notice the wood floors are a bit gritty after beach trips for a few days as sand continues to drop. Makes me feel like we have a beach house


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

Denver swims A LOT, in both the ocean and at our family's lake house. After we were at the beach this summer on vacation his legs and stomach got pretty dry and itchy from all of the salt water, so when we went back to the beach later in the summer we just made sure to rinse him with the hose really really well after playing in the ocean/sand.

The lake is clean fresh water, and we just towel dry him when he is done swimming and he air dries quickly. I brush through his coat at the end of each day to get any thing else off. 

I also always check his ears to make sure they're clean/dry.


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