Dogs are fond of playing. They love to run, jump and get dirty. If you don’t bathe your dog regularly after coming home from outside, you’ll get sick because dogs may contain bacteria that might be harmful to people. Also, there is enough chance that your dog will be sick too.
To keep these worries away, you should wash your dog regularly.
When you bathe your dog regularly, it is very common that sometimes you find the dog soap is finished. In most cases, you use human soap that you use for yourself. This is not right.
In fact, a calm body wash like Dove can be harmful to your dog. Here’s why.
Reasons Why Dove Body Wash is Harmful to Your Dog
Well, here I’m using Dove as a reference. Most people think that Dove is one of the calmest soaps so it doesn’t harm the dog’s skin. That’s why I’m talking about Dove. But all the other soaps out there that are made for human use are included in this article.
The reason for which a Dove or human soap is not suitable for your dog is pH balance. The pH balance is the balance of acidity or basicity in any particular solution.
On the pH scale, the typical pH of the human body is less than 6. It is somewhere between 4.8 and 5.8. However, the pH varies depending on race, age, sex, skin condition, and hormones.
On the other hand, the typical pH of a dog’s body is 6 to 8, depending on the breed. So, dog shampoos come with a pH of 7.0 and around.
Human soaps are made for human skin that has lower pH, which means higher acid. That’s why human soaps contain a higher amount of acid.
Dogs have a high pH number means the amount of base is higher in them. If you apply human soaps that have higher acid, the amount of base will be decreased in your dog and the balance will be interrupted. It leads to some serious issues.
Dog soaps are made with more bases to ensure similar pH to a dog’s body. That’s why those don’t create any issue on their skin.
What Occurs When You Wash Your Dog with a Human Soap?
Doing this leads to a lot of issues. Some of those are discussed below.
pH Imbalance
I’ve already described how a human soap causes pH imbalance on the skin of a dog. Because of the imbalance, the skin may become dry. Also, the protective layer of your dog’s skin might be destroyed. As a result, your dog will be affected by bacteria easily.
Besides, many other skin and health-related issues may occur.
Damages Caused by the Elements
Even the mildest human soap can contain several chemicals that are harmful to dogs. These elements are used to make the soap appealing to the customers. In most cases, these extra elements don’t go with the skin of your dog.
Starting from minor discomfort, these elements can cause a serious problem with your dog’s skin. So, you should be aware of it.
Too much Moisture
Dove or other human soaps are made for moisturizing the skin. So, if you use those on your dog’s skin, there is a chance that the skin will be too much moisturized.
Having moisture is a good thing, but having too much moisture is not good at all. The extra moisture leaves residue on the skin. This is not good for your dog. It damages the natural process of its skin.
Soap Poisoning
If you don’t wash properly after using a human soap, it leaves residue on the skin of your dog. While licking different parts of its body, the residue may enter the mouth and cause soap poisoning.
Dog soaps are made keeping this in mind. So, those are not this much damaging for your dogs. Those are made avoiding elements that may cause such problems. However, you should wash the soap properly from your dog’s skin even if you use dog soap.
Final Verdict
If you use Dove or any other human soap on your dog’s skin, it won’t kill your dog instantly. But doing this creates some issues that may cause bigger problems in the long run. So, you shouldn’t do this.
You should be a bit careful. When the dog soap is almost finished, you should pick another one as soon as possible. Also, you can keep a backup always for sudden situations.