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?

@YorkshireTeaIsTheBest

Never. I have labradors and you would never see more shiny coated dogs in your life. The swim, they roll in poo,they roll in mud and go in swamps. In they roll in poo - I hose them down when home but no shampoo and I sometimes towel dry but that's it. Highly damaging to their coats. They do get at least one or two good "hard" brushes a week. Everyone comments on their coats. And no they don't stink but I like a dog smell and have air freshners.

This is me! My vet complimented me on how well groomed he was. Plus he has the whitest teeth ever (kardashian white). I do shit. They are self cleaning.

@PerveenMistry

Have to say I'm shocked at those who hose down their pets. Seems cruel outside of very hot weather.

I bathe my 12-pound chihuahua with a natural olive oil dog shampoo about once a month, or more if he rolls in something. He really loves being clean and fresh; happily stands in sink and enjoys the rubdown with clean towels.

Kind of feel sorry for dogs who don't get to experience cleanliness.

You know dogs clean themselves right

Mine gets a bath (hose and shampoo) maybe once a year. Very short coated (sighthound so hair not fur, and a lot of skin!) ex working dog who hates any kind of self care. Doesnt roll in poo or go near water. Gets muddy paws towelled and a brush once a week, which he also hates. Some dogs don't want the spa life

Once a week sometimes once in two weeks as he has itchy skin. Normally he starts getting faint ''wet dog smell'' in two weeks. I'm using anti-itch shampoo. French Bulldog :)

Washing dogs is a very modern, human concept and shampoos destroy the natural waterproof quality of their coats. Personally mine has never had a bath and she rolls constantly, no one has ever complained about her smell (she doesn't smell) and her coat is in great condition, also get compliments. I clean inside her ears as she has long ears, but that's it. She is a short coated scent hound and she is capable of cleaning herself.

I think it depends on the breed of dog. My JRT will roll in shit until she is literally coated. No way is she coming into my house like that. It may be natural to stay filthy until it wears off but she's not living an entirely natural life being an indoor dog. I don't think labradors roll in crap and there are probably plenty of other breeds that don't. Terriers often do.

Have to say I am shocked by those who hose down their pets. Seems cruel outside of very hot weather
We're hosers. We have dogs who will retrieve out of water at any time of year, including one who loves nothing more than a good roll on frosty grass or in snow. They come indoors, have their drying coats put on, and go to sleep next to a toasty radiator.

They seem pretty happy with their lot in life.

3/4 weeks unless something bad happens 🙄😳

We have a portable shower, bit like a mud daddy, and it gets filled with warm water to rinse off mud, sand, whatever they bring home. Shampoo only comes out if they’ve been rolling, which is not particularly frequent.
2 glossy black labs here. They smell like warm biscuits.

@Dreamersandwishers We have a 6 month old lab and we always say he smells like biscuits. I wasn't sure if I was just delusional and he actually smells of wet dog but it's nice to hear other people smell biscuits too!

I have a huge wolf dog breed. I run with her. If she gets absolutely minging I bathe her. It is a fucking nightmare isn't easy! If I can at all get away with it I'll let her dry off then brush it out outside but this isn't an option in wet weather

Small double coated terrier

Shampoo the absolute minimum, as we don’t want to strip the oils from her coat

Exception is when she’s in season, and we clean her nether regions frequently

(Feel need to add disclaimer that she’s vulnerable native breed and we are considering a single litter at some point, and that is why she is not spayed)

Usually we’d just brush down and check for foreign bodies. I think that may be an advantage of a small breed - there’s always less crap to deal with (literal and metaphorical)

We have a spaniel who LOVES mud and water and will always seem to find it on any walk so we bath him I'd say once every week/two weeks? We use a mild shampoo.

It's impossible to keep him clean once he's off lead we've found and I'd rather he be happy and play in the water/mud.

He swims in the river sometimes, does that count? Bucket of warm water and a sponge on the patio is the closest he gets to a bath, he isn't keen and he weighs too much to drag into the bathroom anyway

I have a mixer tap thing outside, so when I hose the dog down she gets a water temperature adjusted to suit the weather. Which I check on my arm before it touches her .

When I had my first dog (I was 11), the general advice was not to bother bathing your dog except if it was smelly/filthy. In the event, I think that my dog was only bathed bout 3 times in his entire life (died at 14 and a bit) and mostly if he had acquired fleas. I can't think what happened about mud - maybe he managed to keep out of it! The dog before the one I have now, large and mostly white, turned out to be self-cleaning. If I was a little tardy in getting the towel to wipe off her muddy legs, she would set to and lick herself clean. Current one does have to be washed occasionally if the mud is really bad.

@PerveenMistry

Have to say I'm shocked at those who hose down their pets. Seems cruel outside of very hot weather.

I bathe my 12-pound chihuahua with a natural olive oil dog shampoo about once a month, or more if he rolls in something. He really loves being clean and fresh; happily stands in sink and enjoys the rubdown with clean towels.

Kind of feel sorry for dogs who don't get to experience cleanliness.

When I say hosed off, I don't stand him in the garden and spray him with cold water from the garden hose

He gets in the bath and gets a warm rinse down with the shower attachment and then a nice dry down.

Washing a dog too often is actually damaging to their skin and fur and can cause more problems than it solves. Using too many products on dogs isn't a good thing. They're not people or children - they're animals and don't really give two farts if you use shampoo on them or not!

@LaughingDonkey

Once a week sometimes once in two weeks as he has itchy skin. Normally he starts getting faint ''wet dog smell'' in two weeks. I'm using anti-itch shampoo. French Bulldog :)

Have you tried washing him less? Over-washing will strip the coat of it's natural oils and cause more dryness. Honestly, he doesn't need to be washed weekly!

Kind of feel sorry for dogs who don't get to experience cleanliness.

Kind of feel sorry for dogs whose owners anthropomorphise them and can’t be arsed to do basic research on their care before getting one.

Dogs don’t need late 20th century cleaning regimes favoured by humans to be dog clean. Shampoos strip their coat of oils and only need to be used on the advice of a vet.
Your 12 lb Chihuahua enjoys being rubbed and fussed and possibly the sensation of warm water, it doesn’t share your interest in natural olive oil products and isn’t eagerly anticipating being squeaky clean. Dogs rely on smell far more than humans for information and communication, their smell is a huge part of their identity.

Kind of feel sorry for dogs who don't get to experience cleanliness.

Are you serious?

I imagine dog's like to smell like dogs. It's what they do. Their smell, their natural smell that is, sends out messages to other dogs and likewise they receive messages from other dogs smells.

Maybe that's why my dog will usually ignore most other dogs, they probably smell all wrong if they're giving off odours of dog shampoo and conditioners.

I take my dog to the groomer sometimes to get her dew claws cut and unless I remember to tell them not to, they brush her with something that actually makes me cough when she gets in the car afterwards.

I don't want my dog to smell like that, and I'm pretty certain she has no desire to.

The local grooming place that I don’t take her to offers a ‘signature scent spritz’ and will paint their nails

My dogs gets washed weekly with Episoothe as they get filthy and sleep in my bed with me

Mine looks like a cockapoo but isn’t. Groomers every 8 weeks, only washed if rolled in something. She doesn’t have an oily coat so doesn’t have that sort of smell as her hair is longish.

Also, my cream haired dog stays amazingly clean. We walk over fields and she’ll get muddy paws which I towel dry at home and she does a great job cleaning them up within the hour! She also avoids puddles and ponds.

My dog usually does to the groomers every 5 - 6 weeks and I will bath her in between visits if she needs it which normally she doesn't.
I do often spray her with dog deodorant as I can't stand the smell of dirty dogs

Unless it's something stinky (which has only happened once in five years - he's not a roller) then twice a year at most. A properly groomed dog is not a dirty dog. The oils in their coat are designed to assist with repelling dirt as well as water. I cannot imagine even attempting to bath the dog every few weeks. And if I did he would be phoning the RSPCA to complain about the cruelty of it. The only water he detest is clean, warm and has shampoo in it.