How often to bathe?
 

Gunner is getting dirty, and with the white coat it looks yucky. I clean his feet each time he comes in and comb him daily. His eye snot gets combed out daily too. But, his face smells and no matter how much I wipe it it still smells. He had a bath right before he came home to me, so its only been shortly over a week.
How often can I safely bath him?
Oh, and how do you wash your little furbabys face? Do you dump water on it, use the spray in the sink? He is so tiny, I wonder.

I bath my Sophia once a week when she comes in I wipe her bottom and feet on a daily basis I wash her up manly with scented wipes

I bath Mocha once a week. As long as you use a good, super moisturizing shampoo and conditioner you should be ok. When Mocha was a puppy he got dry skin for a while and I switched him to good shampoo and added more fish to his food and the problem never came back. Orijen has a All Fish Formula food that I mix with regular good and worked great.

I wash his face with wet cloth twice a day (morning and after dinner). I don't dump water or spray on face. Don't forget to brush his teeth everyday. A friend of mine does not do that and just spent $400 on her 3 year old poodle for blood test and teeth cleaning. Mocha is only 2 months younger and has pearly white teeth. You also need to wipe his face after brushing since the toothpaste often gets on his hair.

Good luck!

From what you're saying about the stinky face, I'm guessing it's same/similar to Zoey's tearing. She'd get eye buggies all the time and I'd comb/wipe her face at least twice a day. But her face was still stinky. I recommend nursery water! Another member suggested it and it works so well! At least Zoey it does.

I use a small cotton ball to soak the nursery water and wipe her eyes/face with it. The eye buggies have reduced and the stinkiness of her face is almost all gone. I gave some to my niece who has a mix (also all white fur) and the tear stains have reduced dramatically on her too.

I bathe Magnus/Zoey about once a month, but I wipe them down with the baby wipes twice a day (morning/night), every day. It's what my vet recommended with the logic of drying out their skin with too much washing (takes away natural body oil). But some members wash weekly b/c it doesn't dry out their skin. You should determine what's best for your pup. :)

My dogs are both adults, but I have found that they both have different grooming needs.

Ricky, my 2 year old has a silky coat that gets tangled and greasy very easy. I have to brush him at least once an day and within 3-4 days, he looks grubby and needs a bath. I can let him go a week, but he definitely doesn't look so good the last few days.

Princeton, my 10 y.o has a cotton coat, and his is actually much less maintenance than Ricky. I can get away with bathing him every other week if I wanted and his hair never tangles or mats up

Now...Ricky's coat grows SOOOO slow!! He still has part of hi puppy coat and his hair is moving at turtle speed. It's taken me 4 months to grow his bangs out an inch, so I can now put a clip in them. Princeton's hair grows fast. I usually have to cut it about two times a month.

I use no tears shampoo and I have a really great facial scrub that I bought from one of the members(Maximo) on here at her online store. I only use it on thier face. It is sooo nice as it pretty much conditions their beard. It also takes the tear stains and food stains off their beard.

I wash the boys in my kitchen sink and I use a cup to gently pour water over their head. I put cotton in their ears first to keep the water out...and I try very hard to keep the water from getting it their eyes.

Hope this helps:)

One more question? Do you blow dry them or let them air dry?

What is nursery water?

It's just steamed distilled purified water with/without fluoride I bought a gallon at walmart. I bought the one with fluoride. If you google "nursery water", you can see what the label looks like to help you find it.

Also, instead of using cotton balls. I might switch to 100% cotton gauze sheets. Like the ones you'd use for a reusable diapers. Just as good and is cheaper. :)

I bathe mine sometimes twice a week depending on how much they play outside! But I definitely do it at least once a week. And yes I do blow dry mine. My older girl loves it but the little baby hates it.

Personally I let a young or scared dog settle in for over a week or so before I try giving them a full bath, longer if the dog is really young or fearful. I just wash the face, peri-anal and genital areas and feet, clean the ears and let them be in peace until they are nicely settled in and comfortable with me and in the house. I would never wash a puppy going through its fear imprint stage, etc., which is usually roughly within 7 - 10 weeks of age.

I just put some of his doggie shampoo on his whiskers and top of his head, add a bit of water and take the wet washcloth and clean around the eyes, clearing out any little bit of crust, use my fingertips to work the soap into the beard, head hair and then use the washcloth to rinse much of it out. Then I apply his ear cleaner and work it into his ears, use cotton balls to remove any built-up wax. In the rinsing of a young or fearful dog, it takes several washcloths and a while to rinse that way with a young/fearful dog but with Tibbe, when I just wash his face, to rinse him I just have him lean over the edge of the sink and cup water in my hand and over his head, immediately wiping my finger upward over his nose to keep any water from running in it or his mouth after each handful of water. I then towel and sun-dry his wet parts until it gets cool outside.

I wash mine when they get stinky or dirty, I brush them out mostly, so it just depends how active they are. I'd say once a month to two months. Although I do tend to give their snouts a wash more frequently depending on dinner.

if it's warm out air dry and if it's cool blow dry, they looooooooooooooooove being blow dried

Billi gets bathed at least once a week, sometime's more if she gets a little stinky. Her daily routine involves wiping her face/paws/booty down, then combing out her little eye boogies, she gets brushed at least twice a day, maybe a spritz of puppy perfume if she needs it. She's been put on wet food for the next couple weeks, until after her spay & dental, so her muzzle & beard get stinky... That needs to get washed more.

She didn't like the hair dryer at first, so I went slowly with it. Instead of just aiming it at her the whole time, I move it back & forth (kinda like when you're drying your own hair) and let her run in front of it. Once she realized it warms her up & makes her dry faster, she runs from it less & less.

Btwm you don't always have to use the conditioner. I use a super-moisturizing puppy shampoo so I can skip the conditioner as much as possible. Billi seems to get greasy fast & need a bath sooner if I condition her. She itches more too. Every puppy is different, you'll learn what your puppy needs after some time. :)

I just gave him a bath, he was terrific and is now back to terrorizing the house. I dried him with a dryer, since it isn't real warm here. I was very careful with his face, but he didn't seem to mind. He really looks great under all that hair! I'm not surprised, but I am impressed. His little body seems perfect. I've never seen a show dog close up and personal, but I think I know enough to know approximately what he should look like. He has nice straight front legs, compact body and just enough angle in the rear to look good. I'm sorry, I'm bragging... Oh, and I have an osmosis filter on the house, so that should be about the same a nursery water.