How often do you bathe your dog?

C

cyclonenation10

Active member
I wanted to pose the question to everyone else with bird dogs here.. how often do you bathe your dogs? During hunting season, there is rarely a day where I hunt and can get by without bathing my two golden retrievers. They are both house dogs, and other than the occasional snowy/cold day where they don't get into any water or mud, it's usually inevitable. During the off season, I probably end up bathing them 5x a week. I take them swimming and running over lunch about every day, and once again, there's not much that I can do to keep them from getting beyond the point of just being able to brush/towel them off and let them inside.

My vet said not to worry about it, and the pro's of getting all the grime and dirt off of their skin far outweigh the cons. However, almost everywhere I read people talk about bathing their dogs maybe every couple weeks or once a month. Has anyone ever had any issues directly related to bathing too often? If so, how do you avoid having to bathe them when dirty? I could leash them and just take them on walks more, but it is exponentially more enjoyable for both me and the dogs (along with better exercise) to let them run around the sloughs and ponds by our house.

Curious to see what everyone else's opinions/experiences are!
 
We have a German Wirehair
We bathe Ruger in the off season typically once every 3 weeks when coat looks greasy/dirty, sometimes dailey when he roles is stinky stuff or takes a dip in the pond. Hunting season depends on how muddy it is and what critters he runs into or roles on. A fresh snow hunt gives the best bath! I have heard it's not good to bathe too often but have not had any issues.
 
Once in a while. Usually only when they stink. From now until fall maybe once or twice because they swim in clean water every weekend. Maybe. Golden and Pudelpointer.
 
Interesting question 😀
My lake that I live on is very clean clear water-that they are in almost every day—also my main training ponds area are spring fed very clean water still every week or so I’ll throw a dummy out-shampoo them down-throw more dummies and repeat several times until nice and clean-always carry shampoo in my truck-
Which came in every handy —Yesterday I spent a long time really giving my almost 5 month old pup a very good -many times over -shampoo and throws—
AFTER SHE HAD ROLLED IN SOME OF THE FRESHEST-NASTY COW SH3$ ever😳🤮
 
Maybe once a month. Usually it happens when I start smelling her. We are a very informal house...wet gun dog and pipe smoke. LOL
 
Is there a difference between intact vs. neutered dogs? I had an intact brittany that would get to stinking about every six months. My neutered male never stank and my neutered female has never stank in three years.
 
Old story, still makes me smile.


I'd just gotten Young Bert, the not-right dog, from the breeder who followed me home so I wouldn't change my mind. YB was going to put down for chronic barking and running away (only when the wife was at home alone...odd, eh?). He once walked into an all-night Walgreen's through the electric eye doors, and just meandered around, meetin' folks.

He'd spent most of his life tied to a tree in a yard in a western Chicago suburb. He was not a house dog, except in the most simplistic sense of the term. Dad didn't train him and Mom didn't want him. This was a shame, for he was beautiful, smart, and could have used the socialization. I've always thought that the more stimulation a young dog got, the more intelligent it became. I know this is true of human babies...pathways form in the brain, and with regular stimulation, become permanent. If the stimulation halts, the pathways deteriorate.

He was friendly during the first hours/day that he and I were getting to know each other. A little rambunctious, but he was just over two years old, and congenial, if a little anxious about the new surroundings and lack of familiarity with the human in the house.

I went to take a shower, closing, but not shutting the bathroom door. I was in the shower, cleaning up, when I heard the door open and the click of his toenails on the bathroom floor. YB was coming to check on where I was.

There was a pause, then ever so slowly, first a brown nose, then muzzle, then eyes, then head of a dog pushed aside the shower curtain and looked to see what I was doing. I said "hello" and went about my business. He just stood there.

Then, with pains-taking slowness, a paw appeared, rested on the tub side, and then extended itself into the bathtub. He looked at me. I looked at him. We looked at each other. I was curious. He was anxious.

Then, another front paw appeared, and with the same deliberate movement, extended itself so that the front of the dog was now standing IN the tub, and the body and back half were outside on the bathroom floor.

He looked up. I laughed. "What is THIS," I said. He did not reply. He just stood there, with the spray of the shower ricocheting off the wall and tub up on his legs, chest, and face. He put his head down a bit, then, almost abashedly, awkwardly lifted a rear leg in and then brought the other in.

He stood still, head down. Then he looked up at me. I was hooting as the now-almost drenched dog stood at the end of the tub. Very tentatively, he sort of shuffled over towards me, into the heavier deluge of water. First his head, then shoulders and back came under the main spray.

He just stood there, head down, getting soaked, and then....


sort of leaned into my leg, putting some of his weight against me.






It was one of those moments...you know...where two separate species fully understand each other. He was apprehensive and scared of being abandoned again and I knew it...exactly as if he were articulating his apprehension in words.

I finished the shower and used a "good" towel to dry him off. Got a fresh one for myself, and took him out in the kitchen for some dog-bribe.

Later that week, he did it once more, but never again since.


But he still "ain't right."

BACK TO THE QUESTION:

The dogs, wirehairs and Springer. all have frequent trips down to the crik for a walk along and some retrieving exercise--not really "work", but fun, wet, exercise. As others have said, in specific instances sudsing down and scrubbing and hosing off is necessary in the case of over-enthusiastic primitive dog scent-hiding, or the rare (TY) skunks.

For the GWPs, brushing or combing out loose hair seems fine; the Springer seemed to hold on to odors and needed occasional hose baths.
 
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Short answer? Probably not enough haha I only give my 2 an actual bath a couple times a year but they swim often.
 
I have labradors and have since the early 80's. For my breed, I think it is a bad idea to bathe them. Hosing them off is one thing but when they need washed off it comes in the form of water work. Not a good thing to wash the oils out of their coat. Wolves and coyotes are a beautiful thing with amazing coats, proof our dogs don't need bathed.
 
I guess my question is what other alternatives do I have? This time of year, they are around water almost constantly, but that usually includes them getting muddy/sandy/full of algae. For a house dog, what other option is there other than to bathe them?
 
Like westksbowbunter, I have labs and English pointer, I don’t think I have ever gave em a bath, but my pups are in the water all off-season and well into the season, the pointer not so much. However, they never have been skunked... knock on wood
 
Wow. Lots of dog bathing going on with this bunch. My Vs don't swim. They get bathed 3-4x/year at the most. The one definite bath happens at the end of hunting season.

But, my wife often complains of them smelling "dusty" after a hunt and she'll wipe them down with the wipes that are marketed for dogs.
 
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