Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The doghouse

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

Original poster

How often do you wash your dog?

67 replies

UpWithPup · 03/04/2015 19:50

DPup has his hair cut every 8weeks or so at the groomers, but he does just adore a big muddy puddle. I don't want to wash him too often, I've read that it can be bad for their skin, but I don't want muddy paws everywhere! After a particularly dirty walk today, he was unceremoniously dumped in the bath and hosed down. What do you do?

OP posts:
Gymbob · 03/04/2015 20:41

my boy hasn't had a full body bath since last summer, but he gets 3 walks a day and is often muddy, so he gets his undercarriage and legs and paws washed 3 times a day too. its recommended in the winter months anyway to wash the salt off their paws.

I usually add a tiny squirt of doggy shampoo, and make sure to dry him thoroughly in between his toes. he tolerates it as he gets a reward when I've finished annoying him Smile

Original poster
UpWithPup · 03/04/2015 20:43

How do you manage to wash his legs without soaking the rest of him? Mine is too much of a squirmer, its in for a penny in for a pound.

OP posts:
Gymbob · 03/04/2015 20:43

meant to say, I bought an old baby bath from a car boot sale which is an ideal size as he's a terrier.

lavendersun · 03/04/2015 20:46

Rarely, maybe four times a year. Lab , walks for at least an hour a day. I use a wet towel to get the worst of the mud off, then brush when dry.

Baths summer only if smelly.

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 03/04/2015 20:46

I barely ever wash our girl. She's learned to offer her paws to be washed in a bowl of warm water to get rid of the salt but other than that I think we've had to bath her once in her life (she's 10 months). She lays on an old towel until she's dried off if she comes in with a muddy belly.

Gymbob · 03/04/2015 20:49

I don't know, he just stands there and let's me do it. my friend has a squirmer, she has to tip him onto his back and try and do it on her lap. she gets wetter than the dog Grin

try and train him to stand still by rewarding him, or say a firm no when pup moves?

ThroughThickandThin · 03/04/2015 20:51

I've never washed ours (ages 7 & 5). Just towel them down when they come back from the walk.

RaspberrySnowCone · 03/04/2015 20:51

Ours gets washed every few months when he rolls in something grim although he gets filthy in the mud too. We pass a lake on the way home and he usually belly flops himself into that before he goes back on the lead so I just towel dry him when we get home and it's fine. Water won't hurt if you just wash him off, I think it's the shampoo that drys their skin out

DramaAlpaca · 03/04/2015 20:53

Only when they are either a) very muddy from a walk, or b) when they have rolled in fox poo.

Gibble1 · 03/04/2015 20:55

My 2 got filthy today. The spaniel got left to dry after we towelled him off and then I have brushed him now. The lab got towelled off and I then gave her a wipe down with a wet microfiber cloth after (purely because I had it in my hand and she was there).

Shockers · 03/04/2015 20:57

I would only wash mine with a product if she'd rolled in something smelly.

She gets a hose down if she's particularly muddy and a furminate to get rid of excess hair every few days when she's moulting.

Lilcamper · 03/04/2015 20:58

Never, I have a lab and it would wreck his coat! He gets towelled off and brushed out.

WeeMadArthur · 03/04/2015 21:00

Only if he rolls in something dreadful, or goes in the local pond (because for some reason it makes him itchy!)

Madamacadamia · 03/04/2015 21:01

Warm damp J-cloth all over twice a day, just a drop of baby shampoo. Towel dry, he seems to enjoy it.

auntilin · 03/04/2015 21:07

never, hosed down if rolled in anything pongy..

Gymbob · 03/04/2015 21:23

It sounds like hardly anyone washes paws before entering the house?

OttiliaVonBCup · 03/04/2015 21:25

Whenever it rains he gets wet and then I towel him off.
That's that.

cashewnutty · 03/04/2015 21:27

At the moment my lab is being shampooed almost daily. A combination of her rolling in fox poo regularly and having a skin problem which requires twice weekly medicated shampoo. Her coat still looks beautiful.

OttiliaVonBCup · 03/04/2015 21:28

I used to wash paws for a while.

Can't be arsed now.

cashewnutty · 03/04/2015 21:30

Very little paw washing here. She is in and out so often that i just don't bother anymore.

tabulahrasa · 03/04/2015 22:20

I think I washed him last summer...

No, I don't wash paws either, he stands on the doormat while I take my jacket and shoes off and take his stuff off and his paws are always dry by the time he comes into the living room.

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 03/04/2015 22:23

I always wash her paws if the roads have been gritted.

serin · 03/04/2015 22:58

We have a Lhasa Apso, I bathe him about once a month. His coat is so woolly and dense it is like dragging a mop across the muddy fields so I have to towel him off after every walk as well.

He loves it, loves being dried off with the hair dryer too. He is a bit of a ponce truth be told.

Floralnomad · 03/04/2015 23:24

My dog goes to the groomers every 4 weeks ,on alternate visits he also has a hair cut ,I only wash inbetween if he rolls in something really grim when he is just wet / muddy he goes in his dri bag and gets brushed when he comes out .

Gymbob · 03/04/2015 23:32

dri bag??