Puppy's first bath

Hi,
I took my westie puppy, Pollack, a couple of weeks ago for her first shots and the vet told me I should wait at least two months before I can give her a bath. He told me in the interim that I may want to use a dry powder bath on her, which I tried. Smells horrible. In plain english, she stinks right now. I am so tempted to bathe her. She's 11 weeks old. Is it safe to bathe her and what type of shampoo should I use?

I think if you used some diluted baby shampoo she'll be ok. Try to keep the suds away from her mouth, eyes and reproductive bits. (This is advice I got long ago).

She's bound to be better off with that awful stuff even rinsed off of her. Just be sure the room is good and warm and you keep her warm until she's dried - you'll have to suffer without air conditioning for a few hours. While she's a baby, it might be a good time to get her used to the blow dryer - as long as it's on the very lowest setting and you keep it 6 - 8 inches away from her skin. Don't try to blow dry her completely dry, just get the worst of the damp off of her; you don't want to dry her tender puppy skin out.

Well, following all the advice I got, Pollack's first puppy bath was a success and she was great. I couldn't take the smell anymore and she was itching like crazy. I did dilute the baby shampoo and washed her off with a towel and she smells great. I had a concern because she did pee in her crate and was lying in the urine. I would think that it would make her to continue going in the crate since the smell is around her. That's why her bath was justified. I was shocked by her reaction, because she was calm and subdued. I expected biting and growls, but she was great.

Thank you all for responding to this email and giving me great advice.

By making her first bath a pleasant (and necessary - she's got to feel better) experience, you've probably made life easier on both of you. Maybe she won't regard baths as traumatic episodes later on.

I'm glad it went so well.