chlorhexidine - diluted or not?

[marshall351]

sorry, sort of posting this again - I bought 2% chlorhexidine solution. Do I need to dilute it with water before washing my bully's face/paws or no?

I am reading different things online even though the container does say to dilute it. I just want to see what others are doing. I wash my dog everyday.

 

[benny]

Saw this after I replied to your PM so I figured I’d paste that here as well:

It depends on how I’m going to use it.

The gallon you can buy from Amazon is a 2% solution.

If I am going to spot treat an area, I use it at full strength (2%). Clean the area well with gauze soaked in it and then dry with a clean washcloth or gauze depending on the area. If it’s in a pocket I then use cornstarch. If it’s an open sore I use a tiny bit of neopredef (if old enough)

If I want to soak her whole body in it, I’m very careful not to get it near her face (because it’s bad for their eyes): I put about an ounce into a gallon of water, mix that up and carefully soak her in it. Their fur is initially hydrophobic so you have to go slow. Once she’s soaking I wait five minutes and then towel dry and then cold blow dry until she’s fully dry.