How Often Do You Bathe Your Dog?

Ceasar Milan recommends to bathe dogs once a month but he bathes his dogs once a week. He says it is okay to bathe dogs more often than once a month for as long as the dog's skin is not dry. Since my dog always stays indoors I don't think much of bathing him. When I have plenty of free time, I bathe my dog weekly but there are times when I am always busy and rushing so I forget about bathing my dog altogether. My dog never stinks but that's not the only point of taking a bath is it. Does your dog have a bathing schedule? How often do you bathe your dog.

Our vet recommended us to bathe our Boston Terrier about once a month but they said we can twice a month if his skin isn't dry. They also recommended for use to use only dog shampoo of a pretty good quality with moisturizers in it. We just purchased some Seargents and it works fine for him and was about 3 dollars for the bottle. We have had it since we got him and that was back in January. His skin dried out the very first time we bathed him but that was probably because he was such a little puppy and the shampoo probably irritated his skin a bit. He didn't scratch or anything though. I do only bathe him once a month though because he really doesn't roll in mud or anything like that (yet!) lol. Speaking of that..I have to bathe him today. He loves getting baths but he likes to bite on the towel when I dry him afterward..haha!

What is the point of bathing them if they don't stink? I'm pretty sure I read that dogs don't need baths at all generally unless there is a reason. And generally, try to keep it to once a month or less. The shampoos can dry their skin out like apickett80 said, plus I prefer not to have shampoo chemicals on my dog unless necessary. I only bathe mine on an as-needed basis. I think I've only given mine two baths this summer, both times were because she rolled around in something in the yard that smelled weird. I really don't see any reason to give your dog a bath on a set schedule, especially weekly seems pretty excessive to me, and even more so since your dog is mostly indoors. Is there some particular reason you feel you need to? Maybe some breeds' fur gets matted if you don't? I'd be curious to know.

I bathe my dog about once a month. Sometimes more if she gets really dirty or stinky. But she tends to get dry skin so I try not to bathe her more than once a month. And there is also the fact that she HATES getting a bath so much! I don't know why. You can tell she feels a million times better afterwards because she gets hyper and wants to play and run around all over the place but she hates the actual "getting a bath" part. lol

We bathe our dogs twice a month. Often times, just once. Chooey and Buchi gets bathed twice a month because they have very thick fur and brushing can't fully eliminate the dirt that sticks to it. Also, we have to wait for warm weather because the owner of the house only allows bathing outside, where the hose is.

Our dogs are on multivitamin with calcium and omega 3 supplement. I'm not sure if it helps lessen the dryness of their skin.

(09-16-2013 08:49 AM)kristyleann Wrote:  You can tell she feels a million times better afterwards because she gets hyper and wants to play and run around all over the place but she hates the actual "getting a bath" part. lol

Haha, mine does the same thing! She hates baths as well, I try to give them to her only when needed, which is less than monthly usually. Afterwards, she gets all hyper and runs around the living room just like you said your dog does! I've always wondered why it made her do that. Do you think it's just because they feel good? I really hope that is the case, but maybe she's just so happy the bath is over with! Who knows.

Another kind of similar thing she does, if I put a sweater on her indoors, she immediately starts kind of digging around on blankets, I think trying to get down in them. I really can't understand her reaction at all. She hates having sweaters on though, I know that much. She hates collars too even, she shakes her head a lot when I put one on her.

(09-26-2013 04:28 AM)cliverederson Wrote:  Haha, mine does the same thing! She hates baths as well, I try to give them to her only when needed, which is less than monthly usually. Afterwards, she gets all hyper and runs around the living room just like you said your dog does! I've always wondered why it made her do that. Do you think it's just because they feel good? I really hope that is the case, but maybe she's just so happy the bath is over with! Who knows.

I really do think it makes them feel better. But they hate the actual bath part. And I swear I don't know how but Peaches always knows when it's bath time. We even avoid saying the word "bath" but she knows anyway and then she'll run and try to hide from us and get under the furniture and stuff lol...I don't know how she knows it's coming. Maybe it's something in our body language or something?

I don't bathe mine at all. I used to send them to the groomers once ayear but earlier this year Carling came home with his coat looking worse then usual. They are Alaskan Malamutes so they 'self clean' anyway and dont tend to stink. Every now and a again I will spray their coats with stink bomb spray to keep it nice and soft. I also grrom them myself as they tend to blow their coats.
I have been told not to bath Alaskan Malamutes as too much can damage their water proof coat.

Due to her allergies and itching issues, we bathe her with a special dermatitis shampoo twice a month. I think it helps to an extent to do this, but I'm always trying to figure out how to eliminate that itching for good.

Although this shampoo is for medical issues, it doesn't have that fume-like odor . It actually smells very similar to a pina colada, which is very pleasant.

We also take her to the groomer's once about every six weeks, and sometimes, I worry that their shampoo aggravates her allergies. Her ears are one of her most sensitive areas, and they seem to become inflamed within days of getting her groomed. I am almost tempted to ask them to use the shampoo we use next time because I want to see if there's a difference.

Hello. I usually do bath my Yorkshire Terrier every two weeks, especially in the winter time. I do walk my dog at least two times per day(morning and evening/night) and my zone has got alot of gardens where I take him to. Due to the rain and other dogs/animals doing their needs in the same grass where my dog walks, he gets dirty alot faster. I honestly hate the smell of wet dog and the way it smells after he dries isn't alot better either. It's an inside dog afterall, and I think it should be clean at all the time. During the summer I bath him every 3-4 weeks since he doesn't get so dirty or wet as fast as he does in the winter. Though I should mention that I asked my vet if there was a problem with bathing him every two weeks and he told me to go for it.

I have a small puppy who gets into everything so ideally I would bathe her once a month (because that is what I have done with all my previous pets) but since she is small and sometimes she pees in the house or get dirty outside I have started to bathe her once a week. But I would not bathe her this often if she were potty trained and if she did get into so much crap when she goes outside.