How to clean a dog's skin folds

Make a map first. VCA lists the face, lips and tail as common fold sites, along with the groin and armpits, and names breeds for each: spaniels for lip folds; Pekingese, pugs, boxers and bulldogs for facial folds; the Shar-Pei and other loose-skinned dogs almost everywhere. A screw tail can hide a deep pocket of skin underneath it, and VCA notes that fold trouble can also follow weight gain, when extra weight creates folds that were not there before.

The kit is plain. Soft cloths or cotton pads, a bowl of warm water or unscented wipes made for dogs, and something to dry with: a fresh cloth, a soft towel or cotton balls, which the AKC suggests for drying the small pockets of skin around the tail and head. Good light matters, because you are looking for early redness. Ask your vet before putting any cream, powder or medicated wipe into a fold.

Face folds on pugs, bulldogs and French bulldogs collect tears, food and dust all day, so they get a daily clean, and a second one in humid weather. VCA's page on the pug says facial folds should be cleaned and dried often to reduce the risk of infection, and that the eye area should be watched for redness or squinting. The ASPCA makes the same point more broadly: dogs with loose facial skin or wrinkles need special attention at bath time.

Lip folds, the pockets in the lower lip of many spaniels, catch drool and food, so the time to clean them is after meals, before the smell starts. The tail pocket on a bulldog or a screw-tailed French bulldog is out of sight and easy to forget. Lift the tail gently, wipe the pocket and dry it with a cotton ball, especially after a bath or a rainy walk, since water runs down and sits there. Cape Ann summers are humid, and August is hard on folds of every kind.

See your vet if a fold is red, hot, crusted or weeping, smells sour or musty, or if your dog keeps rubbing its face on the carpet or scooting to reach its tail. VCA describes the outlook for an uncomplicated fold infection as good to excellent with treatment, while folds that keep flaring up may need tests for an underlying cause, and surgery to reduce the fold in severe cases. The City of Gloucester posts a list of nearby and after-hours veterinary offices online.

At Dogtown, a bath for a flat-faced dog is priced by weight, $55 up to 25 pounds and $65 from 26 to 50, and our French bulldog and pug grooming pages explain how the groomer manages heat and the folds. If your vet prescribes a medicated wash, bring the instructions and ask whether the $8 antiseptic or fungal shampoo fits the plan. Grooming needs no evaluation, and the Pup Van runs for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea.