How often is it safe to wash my dog?

Question

My dog can get a bath one day and have a smell the same day. He's a little dog and stays inside most of the time. He even travels, with but what can I do? I wash him with a flea wash and he still gets the little buggers. What can I do ?

Answer 1

my vet says no more than once a week or it will dry his skin out. try the little towlette things just to wip ehim off they smell good. you can also buy pet perfume. not to scare you sorry if i do, but if this is persistent you should get him checked out. it could be a serious problem or health condition.

Answer 2

You`ll Have To Give The Dog A Bath After Every Meal....And With Flea Wash And Collar

Answer 3

You should use frontline or frontline plus for the fleas. Flea shampoo and collars are crap. As for the bathing, you should only wash him 2x's a month. Some vet say more but you will dry their skin out if you do it too much especially during winter. Try switching to a better dog food to help with his b.o. The lower quality foods contain low quality ingredients and those ingredients will cause that dog smell. I feed my dogs on the BARF diet which is homemade biologically appropriate human grade food and my dogs don't smell at all. They used to smell bad when I was feeding them Iams but the smell completely went away within 2 weeks after switching them to human food.

Answer 4

How old is your dog? As dogs age, they tend to smell more, it's natural. Your habit of washing your dog daily will only be exacerbating the smell you so despise. The common vein amongst answers to your question is that bathing your dog this much will dry out its skin. This is absolutely true. Bathing your dog like this will dry out his skin, and encourage his skin to produce more and more of that stinky oil that makes him smell in order to combat the dryness!! Dogs should not be bathed more than once a fortnight unless they have a doo doo accident or something and they get really dirty. I like to bathe my dogs every 3 weeks or so to once a month unless they get really dirty. Do not bathe your dog once a day or even once a week. It's too often. Dawn is a very very good degreaser. Have you ever used this to wash your dishes?? It's AMAZING STUFF!! That being said, you see how well it removes oil from dishes right? Now imagine using that on your poor dog!! Talk about skin dishes.

People will say, but hey! Rescue workers use dawn on penguins who have been stuck in oil slicks. Well yeah duh, they've been in an oil slick, they NEED the oil removed from their coats!!

The best shampoos to use on problem skin are puppy oatmeal shampoos. They are gentler and do not harm the ph levels of the dog's skin and coat which is really important so that oil glands are not over stimulated.

Flea wash is crap. Doesn't do squat. You will need to wash out all of your dog's bedding, coats etc, and flea bomb your house - those little eggs can hang out in carper forever. Then go and get a product like frontline or advantage. Little dogs can be sprayed. Sprays are generally a bit more effective because you can be very thorough, but the drops are much more convenient. You put the drops on the back of the dog's neck where they can't lick it off. I've always used the drops on my big dog, and he never gets fleas. You will need to apply the flea medication once every 4 weeks. If you're worried about ticks (not tick season in winter but if you hang out in the woods and fields and parks etc, it always pays to be prudent) then you need to apply it once every 2 weeks.

Check your dog's coat and see how his skin is looking. Sometimes skin problems and smellies are symptoms of other underlying conditions such as cushings disease so if you're not sure, the best course of action would be to take him to the vet.

Answer 5

they say washing a dog to much can really dry out their skin, but my son's dog is the same way, Give him a bath one day by the next day or so he smells again.. i personally think its the shampoo he uses, its always flea shampoo, but we have never really addressed this.. So now that you have asked the question, I'm going to tell him to check at PetMart to see if there is another shampoo . For some reason I think it might be the de-flea ingredient. Or maybe they have a conditioner that will help.. Hey thanks for the question .. good luck

Answer 6

Try a flea collar. Another thing, washing your dog to often can lead to skin issues so I recommend once a month. About the smell some dogs have a peculiar smell to them (like beagles), the more you wash him the faster he'll get the smell back.

Answer 7

Clean any of his bedding with flea killer from the petstore. As for bathing you really shouldn't do it more than once a week because their skin dries out really easy. For the smell try a doggie perfume...they really do sell it. And I use head and shoulders on my animals just because the smell is stronger and it lasts. The fleas can be living in the carpet so you may need to disinfect those as well. Good luck they're VERY hard to get rid of without flea killer. And I would recommend purchasing a flea collar as well as flea treatment from the vet. Happy Holidays!

Answer 8

Sampson is almost 10 years old. He hasn't had a bath since he came into my care 2 years ago. He never even has a swim. You would think if he had an odor problem, somebody at the nursing home he visits every Friday would say something. I even take him to dinner meetings. I frequently brush him with a soft bristled brush and never let him roll in stinky stuff. Food? Pro Plan with plenty of corn, wheat, soy, and maybe a little byproducts. Oh, we usually have a puppy that we are raising for a guide dog school. They don't get baths either, but are checked monthly by somebody responsible to see to it we are giving them good care and training

Answer 9

Dogs should be bathed once a month, or when they're visibly dirty. Flea shampoo isn't great stuff. It can dry their skin, and honestly, the shampoo stinks after a while.

You can wash a dog with dish liquid, like Dawn. It gets them lemony fresh, and lasts a while. :)

ADVANTAGE is the best thing for fleas.

Answer 10

I use this stuff for my dog (for fleas) it is called: ADVANTAGE. You put it on their backs and well it has the directions on the back :o) It is the best stuff and you dont wash them to use it!


Oh and you are not supposed to be giving you dog a bath that much- max is every 3 months- no sooner. It is bad for their skin etc.


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Answer 11

My shi-poo goes to work with me everyday at a horse farm.Just imagine the smell of her.I bath her about once a week or two weeks.As for fleas i use a product from the vet