how should i keep my shih tzu clean and well bathed besides a bath every day?

Question

i brush every day and she still smells bad and sitches likes she has fleas the vet says give her more baths but she hates them and acts more like something is bothering her when i give her baths.Dose vet know best

i take her to the vet every month for check ups i pay them 70 dollars a month for two baths for her and she gose out 3 times aday for an hour but that shouldnt make het smell bad

Answer 1

Bathing your dog everyday or even twice a week really isnt good for their coat or thier skin as it will dry out both of them & can cause irritation to the skin hence the itching maybe.....sounds to be like your pooch has either a skin allergy and or dry skin. This is common in those types of dogs & to start with I would reccomend bathing your poochin an oatmeal based dog shampoo(dont use human stuff as its tends to be more drying & if your dog is already having problems this may make it worse) & try to bather like once a week or even every other week. As for the smell try using non alcohol non scented baby wipes to wipe out the outer inner ears, uner the eyes where they tend to have tear stains, & also you may want ot look in to having her anal glands released as this can cause MAJOR stinkiness!!! aIf the oatmeal shampoo doesnt seem to help try a medicated bath, if your dog has skin allergies this WILLcause major stinkiness & irritation. Also Im thinking you may want to try a different vet as it sounds like your vet inst being very thorough, if they suggested something & it doesnt work they should be looking into a different cause of the problem....best of luck to you
oh yeah have you checked your pooches teeth?? bad teeth and or gum disease will cause sererly bad breath &stinkiness

Answer 2

Well, there's nothing wrong with bathing as long as your dog stinks. I recommend an ionic pet brush. For some odd reason, that particular breed seems to get stinky faster. Most dogs take a little longer to stink then they do, for whatever reason. I honestly would recommend bathing your dog whenever she stinks if the ionic pet brush doesn't work. If you do though, you'll need to do something to put the natural oils back in their fur. Most people don't recommend bathing your dog so frequently because they'll lose their natural oils in their fur and their skin may get dry. A simple solution to this would be regular, non-scented lotion or conditioner. I'm sure your vet would even have something. I personally love bathing my pets, and I try to make it as positive of an experience as possible.

Answer 3

A bath every day? I don't know Shih Tzu's specifically but that sounds excessive. I could only bathe my dog once or twice a month, and she got very dirty easily. She was still a pup and had accidents. I would over bathe her with once a month. Once every two months should be good for a dog that keeps themselves clean. Maybe longer!! Dogs' skin is usually are damaged by excessive bathing. I would brush your dog everyday and trim the nails once every one or two weeks. Brushing their teeth once a week is good too. They get plaque same as humans.

Answer 4

I give my little maltese a bath every two weeks with Johnson's Lavender shampoo. It is the most gentle of all shampoos and was recommended by a maltese breeder that breeds show dogs.

Seems like you should have your dog on some kind of flea /heartworm tablet. I'm sure the vet can give you some good flea shampoo (prescription) to get rid of the fleas.... but then you'd have to follow up with some kind of regimen. My dog has never had a flea but she's on year round flea/heartworm medicine.

She smells that bad? What is she getting into.....?

Answer 5

A bath everyday would be extreme, and very bad for your dogs skin and coat.

Daily brushings will keep him clean between baths.

Dogs should only bathed once every six months unless obviously dirty. More frequent bathing strips the dogs skin of its natural oils, causing dry, itchy skin. This also puts the skin into to overload to produce the natural oils and can lead to more doggie odor as well.

It could be her food. Feeding a low quality food can cause more dog odor, and she may also be allergic to ingredients in her food as well.

Try cutting back on the baths, they are definately in excess and adding to the problem. And try switching her to a high quality food as well. Remember with a switch in food in may take 6-8 weeks to notice a difference.

Here is some information on finding a high quality food for your dog.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 6

You said that she smells bad... what is the smell coming from? Does she smell sweaty - much like human body odor or dirt? Does she smell yeasty? It could be that your dog has an allergy or a possible infection - check her ears and see if they are clear. How often you have her professionally groomed and how much time she spends outside can also be factors - as well as what type of food you are feeding. Maybe more info would provide better answers to your question?

Answer 7

They are a very high maintance dog. I have one also. I wouldn't bathe her so often I do mine maybe once every three weeks but keep her brushed every other day. I also use only baby shampoo on her. You know I take to Pet Smart for grooming and they wash and trim her cut her nails and brush her teeth for 43.00 Maybe you shoual check a few other places out.

Answer 8

I use a product called Fido's Bath wipes to give my dog and cat a quick clean in between baths. Fido's Bath Wipes
High quality disposable pre- moistened wipes for your pet.
These are ideal to take with you wherever you take your pet. They are ideal for spot cleaning or removing loose fur. They Contain Aloe Vera and Lanolin.

Answer 9

Try with "wet wipes". You can find them at petsmart, petco ecc ecc. They smell pretty good and you don't need to bath your dog too often...