Après le bain, son pelage sent le savon et reste très doux.

Après le bain literally means after the bath.

French often uses the definite article where English might use a or no article at all, especially when the situation is understood from context. Here, le bain refers to the bath the animal has just had.

• après le bain = after the bath / after bathing
• après un bain = after a bath, which sounds a bit less specific

So in this sentence, le bain feels natural because it points to the particular bath being discussed.

Because pelage is a masculine noun in French.

French possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

So:

• son pelage = his/her/its coat
• sa fourrure = his/her/its fur

Even if the animal is female, you still say son pelage, because pelage is masculine.

Pelage means an animal’s coat, fur, or hair covering.

It is used for the overall covering of an animal, not just one hair.

Related words:

• poil = a hair, or animal hair in general
• fourrure = fur, often thicker or more luxurious-sounding
• pelage = the animal’s coat as a whole

So son pelage is a very natural way to talk about an animal’s coat after a bath.

In French, sentir can take a direct object to mean to smell like or to smell of.

So:

• son pelage sent le savon = its coat smells like soap

This structure is very common in French:

• Ça sent le brûlé. = It smells burnt.
• La pièce sent la fumée. = The room smells of smoke.
• Il sent le parfum. = He smells of perfume.

English often uses of or like, but French usually just uses the verb plus a direct object.

Here le savon is used in a general sense: the coat smells like soap, or has the smell of soap.

French often uses the definite article in this kind of statement:

• ça sent le café = it smells like coffee
• ça sent la rose = it smells like roses
• ça sent le savon = it smells like soap

If you said du savon, it would sound more like you are referring to some soap as a quantity or substance, which is not the usual way to express this idea.

So sent le savon is the idiomatic choice.

No. In this sentence, sent comes from sentir meaning to smell.

Because it is followed by a direct object — le savon — it clearly means:

• sent le savon = smells like soap

If you want to feel in the sense of physical sensation, French usually uses other structures depending on the meaning. For example:

• se sentir = to feel (emotionally or physically)
• au toucher expressions = for tactile descriptions

So here the meaning is definitely about smell, not touch.

Reste comes from rester, meaning to remain or to stay.

So:

• reste très doux = remains very soft / stays very soft

This suggests that after the bath, the coat not only smells like soap, but continues to be soft.

Compare:

• est très doux = is very soft
• reste très doux = stays/remains very soft

Using reste adds the idea of a lasting result after the bath.

Because both verbs have the same subject: son pelage.

French, like English, often avoids repeating the subject when two verbs are linked by et:

• son pelage sent le savon et reste très doux

This is just like English:

• its coat smells like soap and remains very soft

You could repeat the subject, but it would sound heavier and less natural.

Because doux agrees with pelage, and pelage is masculine singular.

So the adjective must also be masculine singular:

• un pelage doux
• son pelage reste très doux

If the noun were feminine, you would use douce:

• une fourrure douce

If it were plural, you would use:

• doux for masculine plural
• douces for feminine plural

Yes. The verbs sent and reste are in the present indicative:

• sent = smells
• reste = remains/stays

French present tense often matches English present tense in simple descriptive sentences like this one.

So this sentence is describing what happens or what is true after the bath:

• the coat smells like soap
• the coat remains very soft

No, the final -t in sent is normally not pronounced.

So:

• sent sounds roughly like san in English, but with a French nasal vowel
• reste sounds like rest
• doux sounds like doo; the final x is silent

Also, in très doux, there is no strong extra consonant sound from the x of très. French pronunciation stays fairly smooth there.

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence is:

ah-pray luh ban, son puh-lazh san luh sa-von ay rest tray doo

That is only approximate, but it can help you get started.