How often to bathe

How often should I give my Cavalier a bath? He starts having that dog smell after about 2 weeks.

Thanks,
Seanboy

How often is his bedding being washed? I wash my dogs' bedding every week, and I find they don't need to be bathed very often. I bathe them every 2-3 months, unless they roll in something dirty or get muddy.

Some people bathe their dogs more often without a problem, so it seems to be a personal choice. :flwr:

DON"T QOUTE ME but.........

It takes at least two weeks for the natural oils to build up in your dogs skin/coat, for this reason normal dogs (without allergy) should not be bathed any more than once a fortnight. The longer you can leave it the better as you want their skin and coat to be as natural as possible, if you bath more than this the skin will dry out and cause problems.

I agree with Cathy on changing the bedding, I would also suggest regular brushing (everyday or second day) as this helps to clean the coat also.

You can always spot clean sections eg, mouth, if they are getting dirty too quick or just soak the paws once a week if these are a problem ? but make sure you dry them properly.

All in all make sure you use a very good quality doggy or puppy shampoo and you can always buy a leave in conditioner if need be.

Yes, forgot to mention that daily brushing really does keep them clean!! And I wipe their faces with a wet paper towel at least once a day, and brush their teeth, etc. :flwr:

Leave in conditioner is good for helping preventing matts- I must do Holly again- and conditioning sprays give the coat softness and shine, as well as deodorising between baths.

I've been giving Wesley a bath once a week, but I think that may be too much because he seems to scratch a bit. I think it may be drying him out. But I use the Pet Silk Shampoo and Conditioner.

Are pet perfumes ok instead?

Our kids get baths every 6 weeks. We also brush them daily...those crazy coats :lol: But if they start to get a little stinky we have doggie wipes that help a bunch. They sleep in bed with us so their bedding isn't an issue.

I dont mean to make my old lab sound, well dirty... but she only had a professional groomer bath once a yr and I bathed her an average of 2 maybe 3 times from may to late sept when she was out and it was hot. She didnt smell, but also she was brushed about 3x a wk.

So is it that the cavalier longer coat attracts more dirt that makes them smell more or are you all talking about the fact their coats just look messed up because of all their fuzz?

We were told a lab didnt need a bath that often, that is was better to brush more and stimulate natural oils. Those of you that use conditioners (leave in) inbetween baths, do you find they leave an oily coating which maybe attracting more dirt? I guess you can guess, I'm not familar yet with a long haired breed yet.

zack doesn't smell at all, he doesn't have any odor (except when he got into the catbox FOR THE FIRST--and hopefully last--TIME the other day)

:yikes

other than that, Zack has no dog odor. After i first got him, he got a dog odor, especially a breath odor, which lasted for a while, weeks, and then went away and never came back. I learned on cavaliertalk that it was from teething.

He also had that dog odor, which i don't think of as a bad odor, but it's a distinctive dog odor. He just had that for a short time and then it went away, and now, he has pretty much no odor at all, or very mild not unpleasant odors.

Back when he used to have the dog odor, i was giving him a bath about once a month and found that the bath took the odor away. As time went on, i've given him a bath less and less, pretty much like Cathy, every several months. When he has gotten dirty, the dirt just went away on its own, partly from brushing and partly, somehow it just magically goes away.

I asked Jean Dodds about this when i consulted with her about general health things. She said mainly brush him with a soft bristle brush. She said they have a feral cat at home that they have never bathed.

i use oatmeal shampoo when i bathe Zack.

Lisa T (and anyone?)--i'm very interested in the leave in conditioner--does it really prevent mats as long as you brush? LauraD had posted a while back about Riley getting matts despite her best efforts and at the time, zack never got matts, even if i didn't brush him. but recently he has suddenly started getting bad matts in his ear hair and i was remembering Laura and Riley. Like, i will use the de-matting comb and the ears will seem matt free but then the next day, a huge matt will be there that wasn't there the day before. this is a new one for me. does the leave in conditioner come in an unscented version? I'd rather not put perfume on zack, i like his natural smell, or non-smell.

I think it's best to use the least amount of products/chemicals on our pups, especially when they are young. I don't want to irritate Coco's skin or dry it out, cause allergies, etc.

I don't use a conditioner on Coco yet, and her coat is still so shiny and soft- she always gets compliments and I'm always being asked what I use on her.

I'd also avoid pet perfumes, especially while they are so young...who knows whats in those products? Just like people, pups can develop allergies to products. And puppies smell so good! They don't need them! Just my opinion.

The leave in conditioner I use is resisoothe, it is oatmeal based and designed for allergy prone dogs to soothe the skin but I'm sure normal dogs can use it. It does not leave an oily residue, sometimes when you first put it on it will seem to stick in one spot (only shows up on Harry's black hair) but it soon soaks in. It also smells wonderful and the dogs want to eat it. :lol:
It says on the bottle it can be used in between baths to clean the skin and coat and soothe the skin. I have never used it for this purpose however as my boys get bathed at least weekly due to allergy.

Unfortunately Judy I have had no success with it eliminating matts or making them easier to remove, but overall brushing is easier with this as the hair is softer.

Offering my opinion on the pet perfumes I think they are mean, dogs like to smell like dogs and have their own scent. I think if you are feeding good food and grooming daily they should not really smell anyway. But each to their own

Any recommendations for a shampoo and leave in conditioner in the UK?

Andrea and Diva gets bath once in a month and I allways use petsilk shampoo and conditioner. I also brush there coats and teeth every day They never smell.

I do also use the liqued silk from petsilk every week and sometimes the Silk Sheen from petsilk to.

I bath as little as possible, but in hot weather may bath to cool. Only essential baths are given in cold weather. Monty , who doesn't get mucky , only has three or four baths a year. The others have slightly more, but never more than one a month. Yhe exception is Teddy, who had to have twice then once weekly baths for his skin problem.

Tucker is bathed by the groomer every 4 to 6 weeks, unless he's had something stick to his bum, and I do that as needed. His face is washed daily with a warm wet facecloth, his eyes cleaned at least that often. Because Tucker's coat is very fine and also very thick I should brush and comb it daily. In actuality it's more like 4 to 5 times per week for a good through brushing and combing. I pay very careful attention to his ears, I use a drying, Epi-Otic ear cleanser, I got from the vet (1x to 2x/week). I brush and comb his ears at least 6 times per week. I'm always removing debris of some sort, branches, twigs, leaves, and of course any food his long ears have dipped in. Sometimes I wrap a scarf around his neck and hold his ears down if he's eating something I know is really going to clump in his ears, i.e., rice. He was groomed 2 days ago and I had his ears trimmed a bit, along with his paws and around his bum. I've only recently purchased PetSilk. Question for you PetSilk users: Do you dilute the shampoo?

I bathe Riley about once a month or so I guess. He gets brushed daily or every other day and i do try to brush his teeth a few times a week (gotta get better on that one icon_blshing ). I use Petsilk Conditioning shampoo and conditioner and I do dilute them about 6:1 (so 1 part shampoo or conditioner to 6 parts water). I also use the Petsilk Rainforest leave-in conditioner spray for detangling. I use this anytime I brush him, sometimes I lightly spritz him first then groom or spray the brush/comb itself first and then groom him.
As Judy noted earlier I had a terrible time with matting on Riley especially behind the ears and on the back leg feathers. The Petsilk leave-in conditioner really helps with that and it does not leave an oily residue. Plus it smells wonderful! So in between baths Riley still smells really good. I am quite pleased with these products.
I do wash his bedding more often and that does help to keep the dirt or smell away. Mainly because of the mud/dirt/debris that gets on his paws and then on the bedding.

i have only bathed lady once and we have had her for 3 weeks i do have to do a mini bath to wash her face,bum and paws she has a tendency to sit in her own poo sorry to be gross and not very lady like. I have found that brushing everyother day seems to make her look cleaner and get rid of smells also i wipe her with a baby wipe and that also makes her smell beautiful. Anyway this seems to work for us i only plan on bathing her every 8 weeks unless she rolls on something gross.