How often do you bathe your dog?

[BlueSlice]

I have a short haired dachshund so understand it’s much easier to pop him in the bath after a muddy walk than it is for a larger dog or a dog with a double/wool/long coat.

But;
I was walking on the beach with a friend who has a spaniel mix puppy (9 months) and both dogs were going mad for rolling on a rotting washed up fish, plus running in and out of the sea and digging up the sand. By the end of the walk they were filthy. (And had had a lovely time.)

I said I’d bathe mine when we got back but my friend said she had never ever bathed him yet and would just rub him down with a towel.

Aside from the fact they stank, I can’t imagine never washing your dog! I feel like my home would be filthy if I had a dirty dog living in it and I imagine the dog would feel a bit better for being clean (sand makes him itchy). I pretty much always bathe him after a dirty walk, especially if he’s rolled in something.

What do you do?

[Hopefulhen]

Every 2-3 weeks. I believe fortnightly is the recommended maximum for a retrievers skin. Dirt tends to fall off her long coat and she wouldn’t roll in dead fish!

[BiteyShark]

He gets hoses off with just water if it's mud.

I use a bit of puppy shampoo if it's stagnant mud or if he has rolled in something smelly.

He does get professionally groomed every 4-6 weeks though.

[Floralnomad]

Mine goes to the groomers every 4 weeks and i rarely bath in between unless he’s rolled in fox poo . I do wipe him down with a water wipe after every walk though so he’s clean and doesn’t smell as he goes on the beds / furniture .

[CaptainMyCaptain]

A was with dog shampoo whenever she rolls in fox poo or other disgusting thing. A quick hose down if just muddy. As required.

[CMOTDibbler]

Fox poo, I'd just wash the offending bit. Unless they are totally vile, mine get bathed only every six months if not more infrequently

[ThatLibraryMiss]

Small Dog is a poodle mix so doesn't have a double coat. He gets washed when he gets muddy, but sometimes that's just standing in a few inches of water in the kitchen sink while I wash his legs and undercarriage. If he rolls in fox poo or dead rat of course he gets the full treatment.

Big Dog was a german shedder shepherd and mud used to brush out once it was dried. I used to comb her well with a shedding comb to get her undercoat out and take her to the groomer in late spring to tidy up her floofy britches and get rid of her winter coat with the blaster. She didn't smell particularly doggy and she was too much of a lady to roll in anything nasty.

[ThaGugaBlasta]

Maybe three or four times a year? We've got a long-haired hound with a waterproof coat (ie, the one growing on her, not a Barbour jacket) so more frequent washing strips out the oils and would irritate her skin. If she rolls in something grim, then she goes in the shower, and in the winter when it's muddy, her paws get rinsed before she comes in the house, partly to stop mud drying in lumps on the feathery bits between her pads.

[BlueSlice]

she was too much of a lady to roll in anything nasty
Love this

[tabulahrasa]

With shortcoated dogs... like once a year?...

[CaptainMyCaptain]

too much of a lady my Jack Russell is an absolute tramp in this respect.

[RunningFromInsanity]

Only if he gets really really dirty and smelly, maybe once a year?
He does a lot of swimming so I reckon that washes him anyway.

[LightDrizzle]

My bulldog got showered about every two months, she was quite a smelly dog though.
I can’t remember washing my Dalmatian but must have done, very rarely though. The Old English Mastiff got hosed down if he rolled in something, he wasn’t impressed, we had to tie him up to the tow bar of the Range Rover to do it after he ripped the cast iron down pipe off the wall
All dogs were shorthaired and all were brushed really thoroughly at least weekly.
I don’t have dogs on beds or sofas though. I sit on the floor to cuddle them.

[ohffs66]

just when really needed if she gets horribly muddy, so maybe a few times a year. she's short / smooth haired and isn't one for rolling in manky stuff thank god. if she gets muddy we usually just try and wash her paws or give her a wipe over, but if its too much to just wipe off then it's in the shower with doggy shampoo she goes. she doesn't mind it too much, but I hate it when she loses her lovely doggy smell and it takes a while for it to come back!

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Whenever they stink:
After a joyful close encounter with some fox shit
Hot weather: it must release oils in their coats
After dangling their ears in the tinned mackerel on their food
If they come back immensely muddy from a long run

Mostly its the garden hose and whatever shampoo I got in Poundland.

TBH I prefer them to have some natural oils on their coats, as it makes them a bit more weather-proof.

[AuntyPasta]

I brush her every other day. I hose off mud and grit after walks - legs and tummy and lady bits but on a good day just paws. Washing (full body) with dog shampoo would ideally be 3/4 times a year but in reality is every time she rolls in something (shit or something dead) so maybe 8+ times a year? I’ve never managed to get her to the ‘you could do with a wash’ stage before it’s become a ‘you need the fox poo sluiced off you’ situation.

[fourquenelles]

Never for my short haired dogs but I do have big doggie wipes for when they pee on each other's heads.

A good hose down in the garden for my late much missed collie who liked nothing better than rolling in fox poo and cooling off in the muddiest puddle she could find.

[pigsDOfly]

Very, very rarely.

Her paws will be dunked in a bucket of warm water sometimes in the winter when her paws are particularly muddy after a muddy walk, but that's only paws, legs and any tummy hair that might be muddy - she's low to the ground.

The only time I use shampoo is if she's rolled in anything grim like fox poo, but that's only happened a couple of times over her nine years

She's long haired and double coated so I brush her a couple of times a week to remove any dead fur but she isn't a smelly dog anyway.

She's recently had her regular health check with the vet and he made a point of telling me how healthy her coat and skin are.

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Never - just a wipe down with a wet towel, a dunk in the river, or at worst a warm bottle of water.

[Feralkidsatthecampsite]

My older 3 last bathed on 1st Jan!! Dpuppy the day before we got her so last Nov 3rd!!

[gonewiththerain]

The well behaved one that doesn’t roll in shit a few times a year. The other one whenever he stinks. I use wash and go as it good at getting rid of Fox poo.

[Snoopdogowner]

A couple of times a week at the moment as he keeps rolling in stinky stuff! Normally it'll just be the paws and a wipe down with a wet cloth.

[MrsSSG]

I have a stinky hairy dog so at least one a fortnight and the groomers one every 8 weeks. He proper stinks otherwise. I don't know why, he doesn't roll in anything, he's just a stinker! Plus the kids cuddle up to him... He needs to be clean.

[OnlyToWin]

Usually once a week - feel like I bath him too much now, but he has long hair and does not shed so gets really muddy and matted if his coat is not conditioned and wet combed!

[Springersrock]

Depends what she’s been up to

It it’s mud or sand I just let it dry and brush it out of her coat

Stinky river mud or rolled in something vile she gets a bath.

She goes Ron the groomer every 6 weeks and has a bath there

I remember my old boy rolling on a rotting seal he found on the beach. I remember almost seeing the stench roll up the beach towards me when it burst as he threw himself on it. He just wallowed like a pig in shit. He stunk, my car stunk, my house stunk 🤢

[40somethingJBJ]

Mine goes to the groomers every 8 weeks and very rarely gets bathed in between this, unless she’s rolled in something.