How often should dogs be bathed..?

Paradigm

I've never bathed my two, they're now 7.

To be fair they have been hosed off a couple of times but never any shampoo.

jackomdj

We had a Harrier (a hound, similar to a tall Beagle) and he only ever got bathed twice in the 13 years we had him. Once he had run through tar on the beach and the other time he had run through the mud flats (tidal river near our house). Any other time he was dirty he had a quick hose down and a rub with the towel (or just a rub depending on what the dirt was). Our house never smelt of dog, unless we had just come back from a wet walk.

lostinrates

Depends on the dog and other things.

Ours get washed different numbers of times, at different times of year.

Number one dog, used to sleep in our bed and was a smelly girl, loves to be bathed, dries quickly, so we used to bath her often. Now she no longer sleeps in our bed but in a dog bed, and because our domestic situation changed it made sense to wash her less frequently. She is now bathed only when the sort is something that a soft brush or a damp cloth cannot handle. But she loves it when she is!

Dog two, with age discovered not dandruff but dermatitis ( and I would raise the flakey skin with the vet). She is spot bathed twice weekly with appropriate shampoo from the vet and properly bathed about six weekly. She gets muddy in the winter and is hosed down on the legs.

Dog three: is regularly clipped or scissored . Is bathed each time before clipping /scissor ing for the sake of the blades. Also gets knotty and hates having tangles brushed out, the tangles come out better when covered in conditioner, so if cannot be teased out easily when dry then is washed. Does he like it? Nope, but his skin is perfect and his coat shiny if prone to tangling.

If the shampoo is stripping the coat so badly she certainly needs to consider what she is using. Dogs who are exhibited in the show ring tend to be bathed sometimes in close succession and something that stripped their coats wouldn't go down well. That said, I know show dogs that are NEVER bathed too! Depends on breed

GwylimT

Ours gets a bath every week otherwise his smell over powers the whole flat.

joansgirl

Bailie stinks so gets bathed often. She is also a champion roller and wallows in muddy puddles :eek:

thewildthings

Whenever he is really mucky after a walk with just water and once a month with baby shampoo. Did him last night and he smells divine.

pawsies

harveybobbles wrote: »

..or just stop bathing them.

harveybobbles wrote: »

But she insists on bathing them. She says they smell.

Some people won't be persuaded any other way. Adding salmon oil is at least damage control.

MrsAtobe

The dogs wouldn't happen to be westies, would they? Mother in law to be has a lovely one, but sadly she (the dog) has a hereditary skin condition which causes her to smell, scratch and flake. She has to be bathed once a fortnight or so with malaseb shampoo, otherwise she does smell.

Our spaniel, on the other hand has a bath when he's groomed four times a year, he's only bathed in between if really necessary.

Katiehound

Sounds to me like she is actually causing the problems! Some dogs do smell- they are dogs after all! she knew that when she got them....My girl has always smelt more than my boy... who knows why?!
My dogs some times get a bath after they have been to kennels and they come home smelling strongly- other than that with their very short coats they are just brushed with a zoom groom.
Yes she is stripping the coat of natural oils.
The other question is, what kind of shampoo is she using?