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.

Waffles get bathed once a week. Infact today is bath day! I blow dry her. And she only drinks gerber pure baby water flouride free. Stops drippy eyes. :)

I bathe Gracie weekly with an all natural sulfate free shampoo. I use an all natural conditioner as well. I also have a spray shampoo that works good for her feet when we come in from outside and she has gotten dirty. It works really well and smells nice. You could use something like that for the face between baths. Just spray it on a cloth or paper towel and then rub it into the fur around the nose.

Bathing frequently is really important when they are young because it gets them used to being handled and the routine of bathing. You will find they come to accept it much better when it is a regular practice.

For problems with eye buggies, you should get to the root of the problem. When Mocha had that problem, my vet told me the food I gave him contains too much junk, to switch him to a premium brand that does not add anything unnatural. Since he eats so little, that's not much at all. Hope this helps.

I usually blow dry both of my boys. My 10 year old weighs twice as much as my 2 year old, and he's a little pudgy so he seems to tolerate the cold and his baths a lot better than my skinny little guy. My little one is always shivering when he comes out of his bath...even in the summer, so I have to dry him.

On top of that, if I don't dry them, they rub around on furniture to try and dry themselves. I don't mind my older dog doing this, but if I let my younger dog do that, he'd be a bigger tangled mess than he already is.

Thanks all. I was looking up cleaning cloths for face, feet and butts. I think some baby wipes will work? Or just baby wash cloths with a bit of soap and water? Our water is osmosis so I think it is about as pure as the stuff at the store? Isn't dog shampoo sulfate free?! Goodness, gotta worry about sulfates and the dog now too.

Don't have osmosis so I don't know but won't hurt to try and see! I recently switched to baby wipes (sensitive) from doggie wipes and works great if not better from my opinion. If you search for shampoo, there's probably few posts on suggestions. I also spritz my two with Kalaya emu oil spray...

I've heard great things about Chris Christensen systems back to white I think its called. Specifically to help brighten whites. Its good product with great reviews. Not harsh at all to where your able to use often. I also wonder if baby powder would help. It absorbs stinky and moisture. For around the face. Can anyone chime in on that.?

Sorry not sure if it posted.

Try Chris Christensen System. They have one called back to white ( I believe ) specifically for brightening coat. Also not harsh so your able to use it multiple times a week if needed.

I wonder if you could use baby power for smelly amd moisture around face. Anyone else know.?

Tip: while Boomer is dozing off. Rub him and slightly tug hair and paws to get him used to grooming and nail trimming. It helps!

I bet I'll be a minority here when I say that I don't bathe my boy as often as I should. He was last bathed a month and a bit ago. He's knotty and in need of a wash and I have all the best of intentions in doing it...then I get busy with something else. He's not complaining... I'll get around to it. Thing is, we all do what is best for our own, and since my boy is perfectly safe, happy and healthy...it'll keep till we get to it. Other times I get to it as often as once or twice a week. This is all dependent upon my life and how busy I am. Do what's good for you...you're baby won't expire lol. :D

Yes, an all natural brand of baby wipe will work for a quick cleaning of the face or feet or whatever needs a quick going over. They make baby wipes that are free of harmful chemicals and that would be best especially if you are using them around the face.

Be careful about allowing tearing to remain on the face. The constant wetness causes a thing called red yeast to start growing there and that also causes the unpleasant odor you smell on the face. If your dog has constant tearing you may notice how it stains the area a reddish color. It may look black on the surface but when you try to remove it you find the red underneath.

If the food you are feeding is full of fillers and/or made with low quality ingredients this can help promote the problem. Changing to better quality food will help but you must also eliminate any external irritants as well.

The breeder gave me Royal Canin for babies, but he doesn't like it much. I'm trying to switch him to raw, he likes some of that. He has wonderful poop, so I'm not going to worry about that right now. I wipe his face often, comb the buggers out at least twice a day. I must say, he is a great guy when it comes to grooming. He will let me comb him all over if he is on the counter, but will NOT let me if he is on my lap. I wish I could get him to let me put a clip in his top-knot, we are working on that now. I also taught him to sit, down and roll over. So he is really a brilliant little dog!

We started out with just tiny latex free bands on Gracie's topknot. If you put them in quickly they hardly notice it is there.
Amazon.com: Latex Free Dog Grooming Bands by... It helps to distract him with a treat and some play after putting the topknot in. After he gets used to the band you can add a clip on bow or whatever kind you like over the area where the band is.
If you go to the bowbiz website they have some good instructions on placing bands and bows, etc.
Gracie refused to eat kibble as a pup. I had to cook for her for a while and then we found a good commercial raw to get her on. She loves it and has done very well on it.

You might be best to stick with a high quality PUPPY food for the first 8-12 months to make sure he gets the nutrients he needs for growth and development. If he doesn't like it much, do a few things to enhance it a little to make it more interesting. You can sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on it, or add a little finely diced chicken over the top, or moisten the kibble with chicken broth.

As far as baths, I do mine once a week, cause they sleep with me and I like them smelling nice. Of course it varies for others, especially depending on how much time they are outside, etc.

I usually bathe weekly in the kitchen sink. I use a spray bottle with a little conditioner in it to freshen him up if needed during the week. After I apply the revolution on him (monthly) I try and go ten days by using spritz conditioner and brushing out. I use a cat flea comb (smallest) to clean around the eyes and get the guggers. If I get him real wet I will use blow dryer on cool to dry coat. If they get diarreahea I usually give them a butt wash with shampoo and blow it dry. :))