Am I a bad dog mom? (kpwlee)

Ah, the rewards of owning one dog with a short coat. :)  

I don't bathe my dogs very often nowdays but when I had Labs doing field work it was a once a week chore.  Swimming in livestock tanks equals very stinky Labs.

I've never given Jamison a bath - I just take him to the groomers.

Deb W.

WOW! I thought my ex needed to wash his dog more often LOL jk....I guess if he doesnt stink or itch, he doesnt need it.

I give Marley a bath every 2 weeks. However, he does play hard at the dog parks and the beach. I can let him slide at the dog parks, but he definitely has to get a bath after playing in the salt water at the beach. I know that they say you shouldnt wash dogs TOO often because it can dry out their skin, but every dog is different and Marley doesnt have that problem.

ETA: I would buy a new bottle of shampoo just because maybe the old bottle expired?

The dog before Max went to the groomers about once every 3 or 4 months.  Max has had maybe two baths in his life, both in the summer and both outside with the hose.  He doesn't itch, he doesn't smell and doesn't get much opportunity to roll in anything stinky ... so if you're a bad dog mom, I must be even worse. 

Joyce

 Karen, I am guilty of the same thing ! 

Baily rarely gets a bath with soap.  More often he gets a really good rinse and scrub with warm water.

 LOL Joyce you are worse!  he he he he

Mindy I do hose him off on occasion but I take a wet paper towel to him sometimes during high pollen times

Jackie I can only imagine the smell of those labs  I think Lab's coats can get very stinky without adding mucky water to them

Jamison on the finest for you

Stephanie he just really doesn't need baths, he isn't one to roll in anything stinky, he has a high-gloss very short coat and doesn't smell, I mean he has a smell but its not that 'doggie' smell some get.

I do his nails several times a week but baths nah I didn't even bath him after our beach trip in May - I just hosed him off after he was in the water and sand before we went back to the room.

I probably go through five bottles of shampoo a year but the GSD can get filthy.  Not just stinky but muddy filthy.  I swear it is due to their conformation.  They gait in such a way that it just kicks up crap all over.  Coke has way more hair and it's longer and I only bathe him maybe 3 times a year and often that is just for fun, not because he really needs it.  In the summer the GSDs are always getting wet at the lake or their pools in the yard and it gets so hot and humid here they get really musty smelling even though they are constantly swimming, but they never dry off.  At the cottage I shampoo them once every other day but then they just jump off the dock and are rinsed.

I only bathe Rocky when he gets into something stinky.  Since he has quit "pond hopping" that is less often.  Hot Shot only gets a bath when absolutely necessary due to the fact that he does not like it.  I usually try to do it in the summer and I have learned to "fake" him out.  He will get wise to me soon and I will have to change the bribe :)

If you're bad, I'm bad, too! I've never been one to bathe my dogs unless they found something really special to roll in. Sinbad is very good--he's had 2 baths in the past year. I do rinse him after every swim in the bay (salt water).               

I dont bath my dogs more then once a month and not really at all durning the winter. I currently Have 6 bottles of shampoo and five of conditioner.

They are each in a diffrent scents,I am the same way with my shampoo,lotion, scents and smelly stuffs. I like veriety.

 To answer your subject question: Yes.  Poor dog, send me Bugsy immediately. LOL I have looooots of different shampoo flavors :)  (It's what happens when you have a Niknak, they roll in dead and/or very stinky things.)

I *might* bathe my dogs twice a year. Might.  The exception to that is a rinse if they get "snowballs" in their furnishings, or if they come back from a particularly sandy beach trip - but I don't generally use shampoo for that.

Unless you have a dog who gets truly *dirty* in mud, dead things, etc (which in that case, bathing is necessary!),  in the rest of cases coat health truly comes down to mostly diet, partly genetics, and other coat health (brushing, combing, furminating, etc).  My dogs are rarely bathed, but they always have shiny, healthy, clean-looking coats, no flaky skin, and never feel greasy or dirty. 

Zipper has a seasonal allergy, which also causes a flare-up of Schnauzer bumps (Schnauzer Comedome Syndrome) from time to time. We do control it mainly through diet, and flare-ups are now rare, but when they happen he does need a week-long round of spot-shampooing down the center of his back (where these clogged follicles occur).  But it's a special soapless shampoo that is designed to be used only in that area - the rest of his body is unshampooed.

 So no, you aren't a bad dog mom.  :-)  And it's well known that in some cases - too much shampooing is very UN-healthy, and will cause greasy, oily, dull coats because you are constantly removing the natural oils from the coat and skin.

I'm on my second bottle of shampoo with Caleb.  However, the first bottle was from Mick.  I have bought more than that, tho- I tried a couple of different ones hoping to help with his ichies.  They ended up at rescue after a couple of uses, tho, and I've stuck with Buddy Wash. Caleb spends so much time in his pool or the resevior in the summer that it takes care of the pollen.  I usually mist him with Listerene & water after the resevior, tho.