grooming question...shih tzu?

Question

My shih tzu is 3 months old. And he has medium length hair.
The pet store told me not to wash him more than once every two weeks due to skin irritation and dryness. However, because of the long coat it gets smelly very quick.
I was wondering how often can I wash my puppy? if I can't shampoo him often how can I keep him clean and fresh? (ex. wipes)
Also, I'm thinking about taking my puppy to pet smart to get it groomed...how often should I go? and how much does it cost to get him groomed? (everything included...brushing teeth, hair cut, shampooing, nail cut...etc)

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I work as a groomer and I see a LOT of skin problems in dogs. I truly believe that many of them come from bathing too often. I personally would not wash any of my dogs more than once a month. But I don't have extremely long coated dogs. I will also say that dogs with extreme coats seem to have less skin problems than others (except for Bichons), and I think that may have something to do with the fact that they HAVE to get bathed more often and have thus been bred to handle more baths. If you have your puppy shaved you will not have as much of an issue with keeping him clean. The wipes will help mask the odor, but there probably isn't any way to eliminate it without a bath. You may just have to deal with it for some time. As the pup gets older, he should calm down some and that will help prevent him from getting dirty. Our grooming shop charges around $30 for a complete groom on an adult shih tzu, but I live in the midwest, where prices are reasonable. :)

Answer 2

You can bath once a week but really no more, as long as you use a Everyday dog shampoo there shouldn't be any problem with dryness.
You can also get a leave in conditioner (dog one) that you rub into the coat after a bath and use inbetween baths to freshen up the coat. Not sure what brand to suggest as I am Australia and we have different brands.
Grooming for a shih tzu would probably be 2-3 times a year depending on how often you brush your dog inbetween clips.
Teeth brushing for it to be effective needs to be done everyday so if they want to charge you more to brush teeth don't get it done as it will do absoultely nothing.

Answer 3

i'm a pet groomer and bathing more than once a month can cause a lot of skin issues that will make him smell worse and damage his coat. I work in petsmart salon in ga. all are the same basically. until the puppy is 5 mos ask for 14.99 puppy trim(trims the face feet and sanitary with bath nail trim and ear cleaning) use pet cologne and baby wipes between grooms. toothbrushing is $10 extra. you'll want to do the puppy thing a few times until the baby is used to all the new stuff being done to him

Answer 4

i just asked this very same question 2 months ago. mine however is a spaniel. best answer i got was, with the proper shampoo (containing wheat germ or something like that) he can be washed daily. but once a week with a mild shampoo w/conditioner should be enough. use dogie wipes to clean his face and inside his ears. as for grooming, once every three months and you should brush his teeth daily. cost at petsmart (where the smart pets go), 48 bucks. how ever i recommend finding a real groomer, i've heard horror stories about their cutting up animals in order to pump out as many as possible per hour.

Answer 5

i would very strongly caution against this. you can get the smae look by blowing the coat straight after a bath, and using the appropriate products, like show/groomer quality conditioners and spray oils for that slick straight look. a few pointers, ironing can and will break the coat(heat damage, humand get it too),it can also cause the coat to loose lusture and proper texture. lets not get started on the possibility of burning your dog, which is easier to do than you think. Even the best behaved dogs on the grooming table will fidgit at some point, and its always when you least expect it. secondly, the look you want will be easier to achieve if you don't brush your dog dry. between baths/grooms, even if all you want to do is brush/comb the dog out, spritz the dog down first. And i would suggest you use a comb for most of your work, instead of a brush.

Answer 6

I have the same kind of dog and are right about the hair. I wash her every month. I know that dosent sound good but because of irriation I do it that way. I also use only baby shampoo. I also have taken her to pet smart for grooming for a shampoo and trim it cost me 45.00. I'll tell you a good hair cut makes a big difference. They are much easier to care for. Have you noticed how stubborn they are?

Answer 7

You can bathe your puppy once a week but use diluted dog shampoo. Rinse the coat well and apply diluted conditioner, rinse well again. (be careful not to get water in the nose) Blow dry with a very low heat.
A ShihTzu should be groomed every 4 to 6 weeks to maintain its coat and sanitary trim. You should comb your pup daily to avoid matting. Longer coated dogs must be combed out (dematted) before they are bathed to prevent the mats from tightening which become painful to remove.

PetsMart will have to give you prices on their grooming services.

Answer 8

I used to have a Shih Tzu, and there skin does dry out if you bath them to often. I would give mine a bath once a week and she was fine. I used to get her groomed every three months, depends on how fast her hair grew, usually when it starts to get long on her face, I took her in for a haircut. It costed me $25, but every groomer charges different. There is a dog shampoo that has a conditioner for dry skin that I used on mine. Try to look for that.

Answer 9

If you bath your puppy every 2 weeks you're going to be drying out both his skin and coat horribly. That's way, way too often. Once a month is more than enough, especially in the dry winter weather. To help your puppy out, you should be giving him about 1 teaspoon of veg. oil on his food daily - keep his skin and coat in good condition.

By the way, why on earth would you not brush your own dog's teeth (once he needs it when he has his adult teeth), cut your own dog's nails and brush your own dog? It's a great bonding experience between you and your dog to actually do something for him yourself.

Answer 10

You could try bathing him once per week with a hypo-allergenic shampoo. I prefer HyLyt for my little girl - she has severe allergies and it seems to work well with her skin. Not all dogs have sensitive skin, so it is really dependent upon your dog and how frequently he can handle bathing. I recommend taking him to a professional groomer if you can afford it. Most groomers cost anywhere between $30-50 per groom.