How often do you bathe your dog?

Never!

 

He's happy to bathe in stagnant ponds and so on, though he never goes out of his depths and can't swim (there's a story there for another day...). But he doesn't like any form of 'manhandling' and is very sensitive, so his first thought would probably be that we're trying to stick him in an acid bath!

He doesn't need to be bathed though - he's got no undercoat to speak of and he doesn't get smelly. He also doesn't roll in fox poo which I'm very glad about!

 

We bathe Jimmy when he gets a bit wiffy, which so far turns out to be a couple of times a year. We gave him a bath and gentle shower after soon having him and the water that came out his fur looked like tea for ages (the rescue centre said they'd bathe him before he got to us, but didn't get round to it). We use dog shampoo massively diluted to help the cleaning process, shower him off, then in the warmer months taken him for a long walk to dry off, or in the cooler months, have put the hairdryer to use. He's not a big fan of the bath/shower/ hairdryer, but will tolerate it. We had him professionally groomed once, but that was very stressful for him, and hence me, so we don't go down that route anymore.

 

Our lot all live in the house with us as part of the family.
At the end of a days beating when they are often wet, cold, covered with mud and very tired they all take it in turn to have a nice warm shower, (no shampoos! just loads or warming and relaxing water).
This can be as much as 3 times a week for some of them. The dogs love their showers , there is a rush to see who gets upstairs first and into the bath!!
This Is essential in our little house, because the dried mud would end up all over the house, the dogs relax and sleep well afterwards, they are refreshed ready for the next day if they are needed.
No shampoos are ever used, so the natural oils remain in their coats.

 

Their all very good at shower times and no mess.
It saves me a load of housework!!

 

Thankfully Jasper's quite a Teflon dog, and his long legs keep his undercarriage out of the mud. Spaniels like to bring their whole day home with them!

Mind you, I'm not very houseproud so the odd muddy patch can be left to dry and it'll disappear up the vacuum... eventually.

 

With a smooth haired Whippet that hates getting wet, (she either jumps over puddles or tip toes round them), I do not need to bath her. I did have a Shih Tzu that had a bath and a trim professionally every six or so weeks and the odd shower between due to him paddling through muddy puddles. The Whippet I always say is Teflon coated, at racing she does sometimes get muddy. But by the time we get home its dried and fallen off so she's clean, just needs her blanket shaking and its all good.

 

Our spaniel boy is like Jasper, has a coat that the mud falls off or can be brushed off so we never bathe him. BUT when he arrived he had a yeast infection and had to be done four times to get rid of it. He thinks that should last him a lifetime. Poor Ricky has a warm shower in the garden when needed- would die if we tried to dunk him, I think.

 

Typically once a month! My boys do a lot outside and get into trouble, haha, so they often need a freshen up!

 

Your not supposed to bathe a dog with shampoo every month every other month is ok because shampoo strips the coat of natural oils!

 

My boy's are lucky to get washed once a year! If they don't get filthy then no need and they both don't like having showers or getting wet

 

I'm a dog groomer and as far as I'm concerned you can bathe your dog as much as is needed as long as you're using a good, gentle dog shampoo

My dog has a bath every two weeks or so (and maybe one in between if she rolls in poo, plus if she has muddy belly/feet/legs after walks she has a rinse off with plain water)..... because she has allergies, this regular bathing helps because it removes any allergens that may be trapped on the coat/skin. It really calms her skin and reduces scratching/biting at herself.
Here is a picture of her before one of her baths, after a walk where she decided to root around in the mud with her nose! (something must have been smelling interesting).

 

Oh sorry, that picture is massive!

 

Your dog has an amazing face! Lovely eyes!

 

Thank you
The picture isn't great, I think her eyes look crazy!