[Dog_Obsessed]

Hey everyone! I know there is a huge controversy over how often to bathe dogs, some people say no more than every month and others say every week or more. I have recently been diagnosed with possible asthma, and even though I do not seem to be allergic to Lily, I want to do everything possible to prevent myself from becoming allergic. I already don’t allow her to sleep with me, but I was wondering what else I could do. I have heard that frequently bathing pets can be helpful, and according to this article, while it is not scientifically proven, some people have found frequent bathing helpful. The shampoos I use, Vet’s Best and Earthbath, are both very mild and good for sensitive skin. Would it be okay to bathe her weekly with these? Or should I only use shampoo sometimes, or do it less often? Thanks!

Edit: Yes! My Html code worked!

• This topic was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

DO,
I bathe Pepper & now Millie every 10 days or so,now that it’s cooler here I have gone 2 weeks but in the summer every 10 days.
I think they feel better
What breed is Lily?
Make sure she is good & wet then a small amount of shampoo.
I use various kinds of Virbac on Pepper, on Millie since she is a puppy a very mild organic shampoo.
I bought a shower spray at Petco that attaches to shower nozzle, best money I have spent.It takes no time to do Pepper, Millie is another story.

IMHO, I don’t think there is anything wrong with bathing weekly, just keep an eye on her skin,that its not drying out.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks Cheryl! Lily is a Bichon Frise. I’m not too worried about her getting cold, since it’s fairly warm all year here. I was more worried about her skin drying out, but I think that’s more likely with human shampoo.

[Dori]

Hi Dog Obsessed. I’ve mentioned before that I bath my dogs every 7 – 9 days. I have always done this. Mind you Hannah is now 15 1/2 years old and there has never been an issue. I’ve done this with every single dog I have ever known. This is a perfectly acceptable thing to do and does not cause your dog any harm. Actually it will remove any allergens that they have picked up outside. The only exception to this is if a person has a dog that is solely an outside dog. Then you would be bathing them infrequently because outside dogs need to keep the build of of oils in and on their skins do to the weather. These are typically dogs that are always outside and used as guard dogs, etc. Otherwise, again, I use Vet’s Best Hypoallergenic dog shampoo. Since I bath them every 7 – 8 days I really only need to do is wet the dog down completely, shampoo and rinse thoroughly and then I dilute a little dog conditioner (one part to 8 parts water), I pour if over the dog then I rinse rinse rinse till the water comes out clear with no residue of shampoo or conditioner. With Katie I normal omit the conditioner part because of all her allergies. This has never caused dry, itchy skin to any dog I have ever had. The mistake, I find, is that most people don’t rinse with water their dogs for a long enough period of time. That is actually the most important part of bathing a dog. Leftover shampoo or conditioner or “a rinse type product” left on their bodies will cause them to be a bit itchy or appear to have dandruff. It’s not dandruff, it’s leftover product that as they are scratching that’s what they are flaking off. Every vet that I have ever had for my dogs in every state that I’ve lived in has approved this method including Katie’s canine dermatologist. By the way, my husband has asthma. I treat my dogs (and always have) as family members. I wouldn’t let a family member live in my house without bathing. YUK!!! But it’s also very healthy for everyone in the household. It also keeps allergens off your furniture and beds and everywhere else your dogs are allowed on. I’m thinking you’re like me. They’re allowed to be where ever they happen to be most comfortable at any given moment. Bathing your dogs only a couple of times a year or so is very outdated thinking. It comes from back in the day when very few people let their dogs live in their homes. It just wasn’t done and was actually frowned upon. They believed that dogs would bring in all sorts of unhealthy things on their bodies and paws and that dogs were meant to guard and get rid of any vermin that may be on your property. We don’t live that way anymore and haven’t for a very very long time. It’s another one of those outdated notions that still continues like kibble being good for their teeth. As I said, the only exception I know of is for dogs that strictly live outside, they are not inside dogs. Those people, in the Spring, will get all the under coat out, bath their dogs, and then that’s it until next Spring. Anyway, like I said I bath each of the dogs (mine are little as you know) in the laundry room sink (I changed the faucet myself to a pull out adjustable from stream to spray) every 7 – 9 days. Just do it and you’ll see that Lily will have no issues and you’ll feel better. Don’t forget that you also have to launder her bedding. 🙂

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks Dori! I would never have an outdoor dog or bathe an indoor dog several times a year, that would be disgusting! I had heard recently, not sure from where, that dogs shouldn’t be bathed more than once a month, but then again people are still saying that kibble keeps teeth clean. Thanks for setting me strait! One question though, how do I tell when the shampoo is all off? The Earthbath shampoo is clear, and the Vet’s Best is white, and I usually rinse her by pouring water on her with a cup. This makes it hard to see when the shampoo is no longer coming off. Any ideas?

Edit: UGH! What is the deal with the subscribe button lately? It keeps unsubscribing me!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[Dori]

It’s a real pain getting unsubscribed but it’s been happening to me on and off for quite a while. I guess I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve been emailing with Aleks this morning because she’s having issues for the last couple of days. I gave her the only suggestion that I could so just now I’ve sent our “back and forth” issues to Mike and he’ll walk her through what to do.

Is there anyway that you can attach one of those spray hose attachments that they well for bathing animals if you don’t want to change out the faucet? Where you do bathe Lily? If your rinsing her with a cup then you just have to do it a lot until the water coming off her is completely clear and just feel her hair/fur so that it doesn’t feel slick. Like when you shampoo your hair you keep rinsing until everything is out. Rinsing with a cup will take a while.

[Dog_Obsessed]

I usually just do it in the bathtub that no one uses. We do have a laundry room sink, but it hasn’t been used in years for anything but putting dirty clothes in and is probably full of dirt and chemicals. There is also a self-bathe station at the pet store, but Lily is SUPER dog reactive and so that would probably do too high-stress for her. Where does the spray hose attach to? Would it work in a bathtub?

[Karen S]

Both of my dogs shower with me every couple of weeks. One of them now refuses to leave the bathroom until she’s had her hair dried with the hair dryer – hilarious as I’ve never had a dog that liked hair dryers. For me, the shower is the easiest way to bathe my dogs, no bending over the edge of a tub, no mess in the kitchen sink area, and they stay calm throughout as “the pack” is doing the activity “together”. I can actually turn the shower on, open the door, and my dogs walk in on their own. Easy stuff.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Lol, I don’t think I would be able to convince Lily to do that. Thanks though! Also, I have heard that your supposed to put cotton balls in dogs’ ears to keep them from getting wet. I’ve always just tried to hold them closed, but would that be better?

[Dori]

D. O. You can buy one of those spray attachments on line, I’m sure Petco, Petsmart, those type of stores all carry them. You just attach it to the faucet itself in bathtub. They also have ones that you can attach to the shower head. That one involves taking off the old shower head (they just screw off) and replacing it with the spray type that is connected to a hose also and then it just get’s left on that way. You leave it hooked up for family use and then you remove it off the holder to bathe your dog. Typically those are found at Lowes, Home Depot, those type of stores. Both types have thorough instructions. I’ve done that when I had Tracy, a Tibetan Terrier, that was too big for a laundry room sink.

I always put cotton balls in the dogs ears. After bath I remove them and then take another cotton ball and dry them. It’s much easier then trying to keep their ear flaps down (especially if you have floppy eared dogs) and try to bathe them at the same time.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by Dori.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks! I think I found a spray nozzle on Chewy, is this what you’re talking about? http://www.chewy.com/dog/conairpro-dog-deluxe-pet-washer/dp/43181

I will go with the cotton balls in the ears next time. Thanks!

[Peggy]

I bought our spray attachment at our local walmart. It attaches to the shower arm, and has 3 settings – Spray, spray/pulsate, and pulsate.
I use the spray/pulsate setting. I lile the spray of course for getting the shampoo off, and my dogs like the mild pulsate. It’s a win/win.

I bathe my pooches every 2 weeks.

[Hater and Molly’s Mom]

I bathe both girls every 10 days. They are both allowed on the furniture and do sleep with us. In other words they can lay anywhere they want to, lol. Thanks for the tip on the spray nozzles. I’m going to check at Petco and Petsmat.

[Dori]

D. O. Yep! That one and there are others that are similar but that’s what I was talking about. It would take me forever to get shampoo and conditioner out of my dogs hair. Glad you posted this thread today.

Hater and Molly’s Mom. Exactly what I’m saying!! If you’re dogs are allowed on all the furniture then they need to be bathed just like we need to bathe. : )

• This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by Dori.

[theBCnut]

If Lily should be one of the very few dogs whose coat dries out too much from frequent bathing, then just rub some coconut oil into your hands and give her a good rub down, or use a moisturizer/conditioner. I bathed my dogs weekly for many years and never had an issue. I don’t bathe them weekly now, my Border Collies just don’t seem to need it, but I wouldn’t hesitate to if they did.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

DO
I noticed if you check out petco.com they have 2 kinds of hoses 1 for bath 1 for shower. I use the shower kind, i don’t have to remove my shower head it clips on to the attachment which i leave on my shower head.
Since Pepper & Millie sleep with me well you understand,they must be clean.
I clean them (not as good as a shower) each time they come in from their walks feet face, booty.
I am embarrassed to say I used to use a watering can to get the shampoo off Pepper, that wasn’t fun. When i found this at petco, it made bath time so easy.
The 1 you posted from chewy looks nice.
let me know how it goes when you do it.
I couldn’t tell by your photo but I kinda thought she was a bichon-white fluff-so so pretty

[Susan]

It depends on your dogs skin, if they have skin problems, Patch has to be bathed weekly or he starts scratching & rolling on the rug, as soon as he has his Malaseb bath, he’s back to normal calm & not itchy….also it depends if you like a stinky dog or a clean odourless dog, Patch starts to smell after 5-7 days in the Summer months, in winter he’s better & needs a bath every 2-3 weeks..

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I’ll definitely start frequent bathing and look into getting that shower head!

[Dori]

D. O. Sounds like a plan. Take care of your asthma.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks! It’s not actually totally clear if I have asthma or not, but I am allergic to outdoor dust and perfume, so I want to make sure I don’t become allergic to Lily.

[Ante S]

Hey there!

Please check this post How Often Should You Wash a Labrador Retriever. I hope it helps bro!

[Ante S]

Many people ask me, how often should I wash my lab? Since this blog post I am referring to is aiming on the average Labrador Retriever owner then the answer is: Not very much. In fact, read that “As little as possible”. You must be wondering why? Main reason is because of the oil in their coat. Please click on the link and read more about it. Leave a comment if you like the post! Cheers!

[anonymous]

“NOTE: Unless recommended by your vet, do NOT bathe your dog more then once a week”.

I agree (unless recommended by a treating veterinarian). If your dog has a skin condition and you have not experienced positive results by treatment from the regular vet within a reasonable amount of time.
Then, I would consult a veterinary dermatologist.

[Author]

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