Dog Wash Woes

[DeltaSierra]

Re: shaving older longhaired cats - its quite common actually. My best friend has 2 persians that get shaved twice a year and they act like kittens for about a week afterwards. Its so cute.

[KatherineB]

Since the OP loves fluffy puppies so much, just wanted to share my baby:



She has a miraculous coat that honestly never needs washing or brushing. It's fantastic! (Just don't ask what breed she is because I honestly have no idea and neither did the RSPCA when I adopted her. Jack Russell and - something.)

[Seshat]

I honestly never knew that, and I've owned three dogs, one lived 17 years (shepherd/husky I still miss him daily). None ever got a bath unless they rolled in something stinky.

I agree with the OP regarding at least rinsing them off if they've been swimming (even salt-treated pools can leave residues on their skin); and if they're exposed to anything which can cause skin problems or irritations.

That said, I'm not so sure it's crucial to water-bathe dogs (or cats!) who are indoor animals, or indoor/outdoor where 'outdoor' is in a cat cage or a well-fenced and well-tended yard. If you control their environment, then regularly checking their skin health should be enough: IMO. YMMV, of course.

For us, 'regularly' means petting them as often as makes them happy - both our animals accept and enjoy attention several times a day. When petting them, we do visual and tactile inspections of the obviously accessible parts of them.
We do weekly checks of the 'vulnerable spots': eyes, ears, noses, butts, paws. We clean our dog's teeth daily and inspect her mouth; the cat tolerates it less often.

We have a dry shampoo which helps our dog's skin-happiness and skin-health more than any wet shampoo we've found ever has. Our current cat doesn't get bathed; though we have bathed other cats. On extreme-heat days, we wash both pets down with wet towels, but that's more for cooling than for cleaning.

[wolfie]

Just curious, but I'm surprised that dogs need to be bathed every couple weeks. For some of the more "engineered" varieties I could understand, but those that are fairly close to their wild origins (e.g. German Shepherds, Huskies, etc, which tend to be long-haired heavy shedders) it's a bit odd. After all, their pre-domestication ancestors didn't have humans to bathe them on a regular basis, so a "need frequent baths or skin will go bad" trait would have been bred out fairly quickly (i.e. pups with that trait wouldn't survive to breeding age).

[Aethian]

I got my huskies washed and trimmed with a good rake brushing once every three months. After I got one of those rake brushes each one got a good brush down by me every three days. When they learned the rotation and time I normally did said brushing I was given heck if their brush time was late. Only Grandma could brush them out of order....

It always amazed me how much loose fur and dead skin would come off with each brushing too. Once had it on Noel where I was brushing and suddenly a dollar bill side patch of fur and upper layers of skin just kinda peeled away. Got her into the vet a few days later and when they shaved the area around found nothing wrong. It was just a very odd skin/fur change. So my poor puppy had a naked rump for awhile.

[TimmyHate]

We've got two boys (3 year old Chocolate Lab (Purebread) and a 9 month old Bitzer rescue (We suspect he has at least parts of Red Heeler, Italian Greyhound, Border Collie and possibly some lab in there)

We're lucky in that both have quite short coats so dont need too much in the way of brushing (although the get one whenever we can). The lab (Jax) hates it. Opie seems to mostly enjoy it.

[Catwoman2965]

My dog growing up was a Mastiff, so very short hair. We had her for about 11 years, and I htink only gave her an actual bath once. We did brush he regularly, and had a dry shampoo we'd use every now and then, but she never had any skin issues, or smelled, and our house didn't have that "dog odor" some people's have.

[Cecily]

I have an Aussie, so double coat. She gets brushed about twice a week when we're watching TV. Bathing every two months or so (unless there is a stink). I go to a pet store that has a free grooming area. I supply the shampoo (and conditionner), towels and brushes, they supply the nifty stainless steel tub, grooming table and dryer. Nails are clipped by a groomer once a month. From time to time, she has a spa day at the groomer's and comes back looking like a movie star, all fluffy and soft.

With the regular bathing and brushing, I was able to detect a tumor on her rump and that was removed by the vet two days later. Brushing helps to "inspect" the dog or cat and find problems before it gets out of hand.

[amylouky]

We bathe our dog about once a month in the spring/summer. She's shorthaired so matting isn't generally an issue. If she gets obviously dirty from digging in the mud or something, we'll do it more often. We don't bathe her in the winter unless she gets in to something.

I find it amusing that the car wash by my house doubles as a dog wash. There's a little room with a table, ramp, hose, and blow dryer. It's paid by quarters just like the car wash.

[dalesys]

I find it amusing that the car wash by my house doubles as a dog wash. There's a little room with a table, ramp, hose, and blow dryer. It's paid by quarters just like the car wash.

... strapping the dog's feet to roller skates and sending them down the vehicle track just didn't work ...

[morgana]

snip These folks ought to be pilloried drawn and quartered.

Fixed that for you.

When we put Mom in the home, I inherited her cat (named Kitty . . .) Poor puss was so unkempt that we ended up taking her to the groomer and just saying, "Do what you have to do."

Got her back looking like a standard poodle. Boy, was she pissed . . .

[Seshat]

I would MUCH rather have a shaved pet than a matted pet. Even if said shaved pet looked silly.

Looking silly is not a problem, not when the alternative is being sick.

[dalesys]

... inherited her cat ...Got her back looking like a standard poodle. Boy, was she pissed . . .

'Twasn't the haircut, 'twas the lavender dye job.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

I'm in the process of looking for a dog groomer now - the previous one has shut up shop and now works from home, and only takes a few dogs now.

I've got two adult maltese shih tzu crosses, and a third one that housemate owns, who's only 3 months old. Their fur is very fine, almost like wool, with a slight kink to it. They can go from 'just fine, got brushed yesterday' to 'matted to the skin' literally in a day. I tend to keep them with a very short clip.

My older one just recently had surgery, and had her bottom shaved. I was going to book her into the groomers for a clip after she healed, but she matted very quickly. So I did it myself - the darn clippers decided to go on strike that day so I did it with hairdresser's scissors. Poor patient puppy! She let me do everything except her chin (starting to look like one of ZZ Top) and middle of her belly. She looks very odd right now, but she's comfortable.

The other one got clipped a few weeks before - she doesn't mat as badly, but we get some nasty grass seeds here this time of year, that burrow into their skin, and she is a seed magnet. I was pulling them out all night... so she got the short back'n'sides as well. It doesn't stop the seeds but it makes them much easier to find.

They get bathed when they get stinky, exceptionally dirty, or go to the groomers. I get lots of lap time and cuddles with them, so I keep a good eye out for seeds, burrs, rashes etc when I pet them.

The pup is still getting used to being brushed - I can get her to sit still for most of it, but Housemate has all sorts of problems!! I bought her a shedding mitt yesterday, hopefully that'll get the little one used to sitting still and not biting... Fortunately she loves the water so there aren't any bathtime dramas with her, just my two hydrophobes.

[morgana]

'Twasn't the haircut, 'twas the lavender dye job.

Dude! Pink! Not lavender! Pink!