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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Do you wash your dog?

25 replies

Carrotsandcelery · 26/05/2011 21:10

We have had our rescue dog a year now. When we got him he smelt awful and his coat was like straw. We didn't wash him though as he was seriously underweight and very distressed and we thought it would be too much for him.

He is now a healthy weight, confident, glossy, shiny and beautiful and he doesn't smell particularly - only what I would consider a normal dog smell.

We have not bathed him yet.

I have just been reading a book about dog care with my ds though and it said we should wash him regularly. Should I?

He cleans himself regularly, we brush him regularly and towel him down if he is wet or muddy.

If he seems clean, is not smelly and is shiny and glossy do we need to wash him?

OP posts:
tobytoes · 26/05/2011 21:15

We wash our two doggies,they're WHITE Bichion Frise' dogs and they get absolutely filthy and it shows up because of their colour.If your dog isnt white then you wont be able to see the dirt.I'd wash him,especially now that he's in a loving home and a secure environment.xxx

bumpybecky · 26/05/2011 21:18

we used to bath our dog (lab x collie) when she was younger, she didn't like it much but loved racing about the house afterwards rolling about like a total loony!

when we moved to this house she was about 4 and we then didn't bath her for the last 10 years of her life! she never really smelt much but then she didn't roll in poo or go swimming very often

WhatsWrongWithYou · 26/05/2011 21:20

We only tend to bath ours if she's got totally soaked in mud. She hates it.

Geepers · 26/05/2011 21:22

I always bathed my dog once a week when he was still with us.

We now have a cat who is bathed once a week.

mynameisplonker · 26/05/2011 21:35

I wash our Golden Retriever once month or so, more when she's particularly muddy/smelly.

Unlike most dogs, my softarse mutt loves to have a bath and legs it up the [normally out of bound] stairs and leaps into the bath. Strange girl.

mynameisplonker · 26/05/2011 21:37

Geepers, how on earth do you manage to bathe a cat?

MissingMySleep · 26/05/2011 21:39

my grandma bred trained and showed goldies for years - she swore by letting them swim in grotty pondwater for bringing up their coats nicely - honest!!

and my friend who is a dog breeder insists that you ought not to wash dogs, hers are never washed and smell gorgeous

my dog stinks Shock so we wash him often....which might be why he stinks... but he loves baths and tries to get in when anyone else has one, so its not a trauma

dont bath the dog if it smells nice already Grin

Bast · 27/05/2011 00:14

The first thing I did with one of mine was remove a bin bag of spare fur and knots from her coat. The heap of fluff was about four times her size! (Border Collie x JRT = mini (JRT size!) collie).

She was quaking to start with but relaxed on my lap for hours of teasing and general pruning and it became a lovely exercise in trust. It was probably more gentle and loving touch than she'd received in the year of her life so far. Poor thing.

We bathe them both monthly. Sprocker chases bubbles and tries to drink from the shower head. Toy collie resigns herself to it with the pitiful JRT shiver Smile their coats and skin look good now.

Original poster
Carrotsandcelery · 27/05/2011 10:25

Bast was the collie x JRT a rescue? That sounds awful. Poor wee thing Sad I am so glad she is in a loving home now Grin

Ours is a collie x too but we don't know what with. He has a short flat coat, not the fluffy coat of a true border collie.

OP posts:
PersonalClown · 27/05/2011 10:28

Only wash the walking bag of mess Doodle as and when he needs it. Get's brushed regularly though. Fuzzy bastard.
Staffy doesn't need to be bathed. Let the mud dry, then a stiff brush over which he loves.

midlandsmumof4 · 27/05/2011 23:49

No..try washing two Rottweillers when they don't want to. You can get 'dry' shampoos if necessary. Just makes em smell nice..

madhattershouse · 27/05/2011 23:54

The breeder that gave us our pup said to wash him every 3 weeks...I can't see that as right..isn't it too often?

Elibean · 28/05/2011 08:45

I only ever washed my dog when he rolled in fox or deer poo (whenever he had half the chance Hmm) or got super muddy. He always smelled gorgeous to me...

...he was a water-wuss (clearly not lab dominant gene there, must have been the Basenji bit!) and hated getting wet, but took it all in good humour, then would get hysterical with joy when it was over, and get his revenge with the shaking water and fur all over the bathroom bit.

If it ain't dirty, why wash it? Grin

Virgowoo · 30/05/2011 14:23

Surely it's as and when...

Short-haired Virgodog gets a shower every month or so, but thats because he is 1/2 white and shows the muck and loves a jump in a pond now and again.

Another one not usually allowed upstairs - will leg it up to bathroom and leap in the tub. Not that keen on the showering, will stand and tolerate it but loves the towelling afterwards. Grin

ikilledBosco · 30/05/2011 14:49

Our dog truly has the smell factor , we bath him once a month but even after his bath he stinks two days later .

nooka · 31/05/2011 06:37

I like the smell of dog. We only wash our pup when he has got into something nasty (he is pretty much water proof in any case). My parents had the most beautiful collie who was also only washed when he'd been bad (dead animals and fox poo mostly) so I see if as something to be done as a last resort.

Apparently people shouldn't wash their hair either (removes all the natural oils)

Buda · 31/05/2011 06:45

I hose mine down outside if they have rolled in mud. Which the yellow lab does whenever she gets a chance. Never bath them.

The stairs in this house are very open and they are scared of them so don't venture up.

emptyshell · 31/05/2011 10:08

Ours stank when we got him - didn't want to put him through the dog bath experience on top of everything else so got some of the no rinse shampoo to tone the niff down. His coat's improved dramatically since then - it now shines in a way usually only seen in shampoo adverts (but he's better looking than Cheryl Cole) and he just smells of dog.

If he rolled in something disgusting he'd get a bath but so far we've not had the fox poo experience (and I don't plan on it).

diddl · 31/05/2011 17:23

Our rescue dog had been living outside & was smelly & dirty so we washed him.

He didn´t like it though, so we just keep brushing him & we´ll probably leave it until he gets a bit pongy or rolls in something.

I´ve read that every 6months is fine.

kid · 31/05/2011 21:12

my dog just doesn't seem to stink. He has been swimming in some very muddy water a few times so he needed a bath then, but other than that, he just looks clean. Loads of people have commented on how immaculate he looks which is quite strange.

He is a springer spaniel and is mainly white. Well I say white but when it snowed, he actually looked yellow!

When I do bath him, he is as good as gold. He just stands in the bath while I wash and rinse him. But as soon as I heave lift him out of the bath, he does a mental run round and round and round!

Bast · 01/06/2011 12:41

Carrots, yes, both are adopted. Mini collie bounced into foster (just a couple of days) before coming to us. She's so painfully timid from abuse that they spent the time she was with them trying to get her up from crawling everywhere, all the time Sad. I only prioritised her coat because it appeared to be causing her discomfort and pain. Poor love!

Sprocker's having a great effect on her zest for life Grin

Bast · 01/06/2011 12:41

Mind you, sprocker's having a great effect on my zest for life too!

BeerTricksPotter · 01/06/2011 12:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

girlscout · 01/06/2011 12:59

We have never been able to wash our hyper lab murcher mix of a mutt.
Even gently wiping her over with a damp cloth upsets her.
Last week she rolled in a dead thing and wore it like a fashion accessory until we could get her down to a stream for her to diy. The stream was about 10 miles away.

mdoodledoo · 01/06/2011 22:25

Mine get groomed about once a week and hosed off when they're muddy - just to save the car & house really - but they've only had a shampoo wash twice in over a year - and then not really because they 'needed' it, more because there was a tepid bath full of water after the kids had finished and it was fun to flump them in and give them a scrub!

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