How often can I bath her?

I have been bathing Sally once a month through the summer but I have walked her this morning and her paws and belly are grubby again! This is inevitable during winter so I was wondering if it would dry her skin if I bathed her more regularly with a very mild puppy shampoo? What do others do when your dog gets dirty on a walk?! I like to see her having fun and a bit of dirt doesn't hurt but then I don't want it on my sofa!

hi! bonnie is an expert at getting destroyed in mud and what not when she's out-she loves rolling on her back! but with her hypersensitive skin (she suffers with atopy) i don't like bathing her 2 often. i just find that when her fur and the mud drys out it's easy enough to brush out the dirt.

I shower Dylan once a week which some would say is a lot but it suits us. If he gets muddy or pees on his front legs (as boys do!), I pop him in the shower and just rinse legs and belly.

I bath Daisy every two weeks and if she gets dirty in between I get cleansing wipes from petshop for her paws. I clean her ears with ear wipes every two or three days as she's had an ear infection and some mite problems.
If the dog has healthy skin frequent washing should be ok.Usually straightforward mud should brush out easily enough without the need for wetting.
Sins

Bathing

I understand the problem, as of course I come up against it too when Maxie gets a bit grubby, but I have to say that all Vets have advised me against too much bathing as apparently it takes the oil from their coat. I bath once every six months and in between I rub him intensively with his towels and when he dries out I groom him thoroughly. He is then clean and not in the least smelly. If there is real dirt in evidence of course then a quick wash of the offending areas with the shower head suffices, rather than washing whole body uneccessarily.

I bath mine between a week and 10 days. her skin seems to be fine. I beth her as often as she either smells or has gotten too dirty from play. (I guess if it got dry I would try to use conditioner.) she has stated to sleep with us so I want her as clean as possible plus she is always on the sofa. gosh I hope she doesn't get dry skin!

Most vets will recommend bathing at most every 4-6 weeks with n approproiate pH shampoo for dogs, and preferably much less -- not more than every 3-4 months. It does strip oil from both their coat and their skin and can cause dermatitis (itchy, flaky skin is a common sign).

Needless to say groomers will say it is fine to bathe far more frequently but then that is how they make money... but remember even groomers tend to recommend every 6 weeks for a grooming.

It is far better to just wash dirt off with plain water -- really, shampoo and that whole rigamarole etc is rarely needed and if the dogs aren't left out they shouldn't smell... (well, they ARE dogs, and will smell like dogs :lol. I only fully bathe my three when they roll in something unpleasant, which might be every 3-4 months or so, or for something really special (I will get Jaspar nice and clean and fluffy for the agility demo at Pet Expo next week! ). They stay really clean simply from going regularly to walk along the little stream in the Phoenix Park here -- if they get wet, even if they look realy dirty, it lifts the dirt and everything brushes out once they are dry. If I want them really clean, I take them to the beach as the damp and the coarse sand really gets their coats clean. They will look really grubby coming home --sandy and 'dirty' -- but they dry out (or you can rinse them in plain water) and they look fantastic when dry; the whites are really white from the abrading action of the sand.

Wipes are good for spot cleaning if you have a dog that tends to wee on feathering. Or just give the legs a rinse.

I think a lot of the people who see coat changes after neutering are actually in part seeing the result of too much bathing combined with shaving down or otherwise cutting their cavalier's coat (or the dog being overweight or genetically disposed as well, but once you neuter and oils drop a bit anyway, and if you are washing the dog every 2-4 weeks, you are really stripping out whatever natural oils remain. Conditiioner is NOT a subsitute for coat and skin oils, either!).

A dry coat isn't necessarily a problem for a dog, it just doesn't look as nice as a coat in great condition with its natural oils. Dry skin though can be very uncomfortable.

Mine are bathed on average once a month with the boys (as they can get VERY smelly) and about every 6 weeks or so with the girls, and always after they have finished a season.
With the show dogs they are done just before a show which can be as frequently as every week which I find excessive so often I will do a "Top and Tail" where I only wash legs, belly, shirt front (chest) and tail, mostly just to get those whites nice and clean again!

In the winter, I have a bucket of warm water to hand when the dogs are in and out and just quickly dunk their legs in that to get the worst off and squeeze the excess water out with a microfibre towel.

Always remember that when you bath your dog you are stripping oils out of the coat as Karlin has pointed out, slather their legs and undercarriage with a good quality conditioner and let it soak in, this will help discourage a build up of dirt within the hair follicles.
I also recommend the leave in conditioner "Ice-on-Ice" as this has silicone in it and will help the dirt to be brushed out when the coat is dry without it sinking into the follicle and staining the coat!

Obviously if your dog has rolled in something unmentionable, I believe one of karlin's adores doing this? Then yes bath them, but over bathing can be almost as bad as underbathing!

When I was on another board one of the members on there once admitted to having NEVER bathed her dog at all! :grnyuk: claiming that a good brushing would get all the mud out etc once he was dry, whilst this is true, I cannot see how alll the fine particles would have come away with brushing alone We all need a little hot water and shampoo now and again!

At the moment Sally has a gorgeous soft shiny coat so definitely don't want to strip the oils out by over bathing her. I'll stick to about 6 weeks as I don't want her to be smelly. The main problem will be through the winter when she's in and out the garden to do her business as her lovely white paws getting muddy off the grass. I have tried wipes but they don't get them clean. I'll have to find an old bowl and fill it with warm water and bit of puppy shampoo to wash her feet and legs each time. The brushing is a good idea to get out any dirt but Sally goes nuts when I try to brush her. She hates it! I do it about once a week because it's such an ordeal. She tries to bite the brush. Has anyone any ideas on how I can get Sally used to being brushed? Also I don't like to bath too often as she moults a lot after being bathed and puts fur everywhere. I will try some of the leave in conditioner and will do a search for it now on the web thanks

Most Cavaliers dislike having their feet brushed, it's all about persistance really, get the softest brush you can find, I use an old baby one, and just persist in brushing her feet gently. You can try waiting until she's asleep, but she will soon learn that you mean business and "allow" you to brush them, whilst giving you "THAT" look! :lol: You know the one I mean? "What ARE you doing?" :lol: :badgrin:

I bathe Sasha every week and a half. I'd like to stretch her out longer but she really begins to smell around her face, paws, etc.

In between baths, I'll use the paw-wipes. If she gets especially muddy outside, we'll give her a "paw bath". She loves that! she stands in the sink & she gives us each paw to wash. It's the cutest thing!

Sins, how do you clean your cav's ears? I know I should be doing this but I'm not sure how.

Every day, I clean around Sasha's eyes w/ a damp cotton ball, then I brush her ears. I've been trying to brush her paws and the rest of her too, but she squirms away. I've noticed a slight improvement though, as I've been persistent about it. I have made it into a routine so she knows what's coming next.

Once a month, the groomer comes & clips her nails, cleans her ears, etc, and bathes her of course.

I normally bath Toby 8-10 weeks at the moment. When his skin allergy is the worst I can bath him every two days in his solution as it really helps the itching and calms the skin down.

My Cavalier men get bathed about every 8 weeks as they start to get a bit boy stinkey then. Sam (the Boxer) only gets bathed about every 6 months as he always smells like a sweet little cookie.

If the boys get dirty between washes I just rinse off that area with warm water & no shampoo.

Not quite on topic, I know, but I picked up a couple of references to rolling into something unpleasant. Yesterday, Mungo managed to roll into something dark, sticky, but not particularly bad-smelling. What was it? :-?

Rotting plums that had fallen from one of our trees! Quick dunk in the shower, followed by vigorous brushing did the trick.

Result, one happy, clean cavie, two damp and tired humans!

Nick

I get ear and eye wipes in the pet shop and they're a type of moist wipe like baby wet wipes.I just gently clean where it's easy to reach, the visible parts of the outer ear and remove debris.If there's a rapid build up of brown wax,then consider an ear infection.Dasiy has already had one,and her ears have been spotless since she had her antibiotic eardrops.
I prefer to use warm water for eye cleaning though.
In order to protect against ear mites, I now use stronghold between her shoulders,which I get from the vet's shop and this should see off earmites (and worms/fleas)which can cause the waxy infection.My parents labrador had had two ear surgeries when his ear was badly infected by mites so I learned to look after a dog's ears the hard way!
Sinead.

We just gave Lucky his first bath because he was quite smelly after his long journey to us.

Can I ask what is recommended for a pup?

He was a bit shivery after it so we have all snuggled up in front of the fire.

My mum mentioned using a hair dryer but wondered would that be a bit harsh?

Count us as "once-a-weekers." I just cannot stand a doggy smell and I just adore her sweet smell and soft hair after a bath. Daisy has a beautiful coat. The vet actually told us we could wash her as often as every 2-3 days if we want, without damaging her skin/coat (as long as you use a gentle dog shampoo, of course). While I wouldn't go that far, I am pretty adamant about the house not smelling like dog, hence the once-a-week schedule. I also think I may be a little vain about her... icon_whistling:snap:

We brush her in between baths, of course, but as another poster said, her face, ears, etc. start to make her smell doggy even though she still looks pretty clean.

I generally use the Ice-on-Ice after a bath. Whenever we go on a walk, her little slippers get so gray from the road dirt (unfortunately, we don't have sidewalks in our neighborhood. The roads are extra-wide and it's only the neighborhood traffic on them, but I still wish we had sidewalks.) I usually have to put her in the laundry sink and wash off her feet after walks. I don't want the dirt on the carpet or the couch.

Boy, do I sound fussy! I'm really not, but I grew up in a house with indoor dogs and my mother was adamant about their cleanliness, too, so I guess I inherited it! I haven't noticed any skin or coat problems with our frequent bathing. Hopefully, I won't.