Baths?

[Gypsy]

How often do you guys bathe your doxies? Does anyone have a doxie that doesn't mind it? My childhood girl hated it, my dad's two hate it, and even little Gypsy seems to hate it already. She's pretty easy-going, so hasn't protested too much, but she's definitely nervous about it -- starts shaking when she hears the water running. :dizzy:

[doxunzX3]

Yup mine would rather I just left them alone. But seeing as how they sleep with me they have a loosing battle to get out of it. I bathe them when they start to get that hound dog smell. Or should I say when I can't stand it anymore. :faint:
About once every other month. Unless they roll in something that is ripe. Like dead fish or.....

[Schatz's Mom]

When I first got Schatz I was bathing him about once a month. I soon found out that was way too often. I use baby wipes to keep him smelling fresh. I think I will put him on a quarterly bath schedule. He doesn't much like the bathtub but he will stay in there as long as I am sitting on the edge of the tub.

[Gypsy]

So how did you tell it was too often? Dry skin?

[Schatz's Mom]

Well it started with Schatz having flaky skin. I thought if I bathed him they would go away. It seemed that after his baths his flakes were always worse. I changed his food and started giving him salmon oil with his dinner and the flakes disappeared. Many fellow dbb'ers also said that I was bathing him too often and it was contributing to his dry skin.

[Fridaysmom]

I bathe Friday between 3-5 weeks, depending mostly on the weather (lots of rain=more baths). It ends up usually being after his galnds are done, though, and you all know why.

Baby wipes are a frequent in between, especiialy because he sleeps in our bed.

But he does seem to like the bathes. When I use the shower head to hose him down, all he wants to do is drink the water.

[Heide]

on a as needed basis here lol
Rain= mudd = bath
Rolling in some rather stinky matter = bath
Longhairs = gets dirty no matter how hard I try to keep him clean = bath
Other than that no baths unless we are going somewhere for Doxie events. It just dries out their skin. I like to use a conditioning shampoo.

[Sausage Mom]

I think we bathe ours the least on the DBB, they only get a bath 2 X per year unless something stinky was involved. They get wiped down with baby wipes in between and I noticed it really helped with their flaky skin, but good food and salmon oil helped them too.

[ljclo]

Jack normally hates his bath (which he gets usually only after super stinky events), and it's usually a two person job. A couple of weeks ago I came home to stinky Jack and had to give him a bath alone. I was dreading it because I'm pregnant and starting to get big and was thinking how hard it would be to be bending over the tub and struggling with a resistant mutt. He was an absolute angel... he just sat there and let me wash him and didn't struggle at all. I think he knew that mommy couldn't handle the struggle.

[Heidismom]

I always gave mine baths once a month - when I had 2 or 3 or 4. Now that I only have Brekke, I have her take a shower with me - see second shot in Brag Book - "the beauteous Brekke". It works so well! I don't have to worry about water flying everywhere when she shakes off - it stops at the shower door! Then after drying off, we sit in the floor of my bathroom and I blow dry her with an ion hair dryer - about 35 minutes. (Regular dryer - over an hour!) I use Buddy Bath by Cloud Star, and I leave the conditioner on her while I shower - so it's on about 5 minutes. When I have her towel-dried, I use Unicoat (I get it at PetsMart), and comb her out, then blow dry. She gets Solid Gold Sea Meal every night with kibble, and I see no flaky skin or scratching, so once a month still works for me. ;)

[Joyce]

I give Dexter a bath about every 6 weeks. He doesn't care for it but lets me do it (like it better than nail triming. )

[Doxie_88]

Lately Tia has been getting a bath 2-3 times a month because she thinks she has these great ideas to go outside and roll in all the wet grass and mud lol. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, her skin isn't flakey and her coat is always really soft and shiny. I think you can bath them a little more often with certain shampoos though.

[Sasami]

If Rocky gets muddy or something then he gets a bath...other then that he's bathed about once a month. He enjoys baths :).

[LisaH]

Annie and Molly get bathed about once a month. Neither of them likes it, and they hide when they hear the water running, but it doesn't have a bad effect on their coats at all. I use my own shampoo and conditioner on them, and their coats are always shiny and healthy. The vet once told me she finds the dogs who use human shampoo and conditioner always look the best and feel the softest!

If you find that your dog's skin is flaky after bathing, then maybe you should bathe less often. If not, I wouldn't worry.

LisaH, Annie, and Molly

[SirOliversMom]

Oliver's only been bathed once since last July! He gets the paws under the kitchen faucet when they're muddy but that's about it. He's not a "roller" so I don't bath him except to run a damp facecloth on him once in awhile.

[DeanneD3]

I keep thinking I need to give Isabella a bath one of these days. She's about 8 months old and hasn't had one yet! I got her in the fall and didn't want to bathe her during the cold winter months. She still doesn't seem to smell and she doesn't look dirty. My yorkie mix gets a bath once a month or so -- he does start to smell!

[Gypsy]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm glad to hear some of your kiddos actually like the baths -- I was beginning to think bath-hating was a breed standard! :D I appreciate all the tips -- I guess we'll just see how it goes.

[dutchman]

Well Lisa twice a year is more than I do unless someone were to get into something very unusual. I quite honestly think we are coming up on two years since the boys last baths. I do comb them on a regular basic and will from time to time use one of the pump spray doggie cleaners but a full bath is really rare around here. The last time I can remember them getting a bath was two years go this month when Frank and I did a race on some very wet sloppy roads and his underside was coated with oil and road grime that had come up off the road. Tanner also got a bath that day and Dexter who arrived that summer has yet to get a bath.

[Sausage Mom]

YaaaaaY Tom!! I was really happy to read your post....bath time just stresses them both out so much and they don't smell at all (well they do get a little nacho smelling sometimes, but I don't mind that :D ) and it's not worth my arm being clawed up.