Bath or Shower?

[sanford]

My cairn has a great time getting all dusty & drooled on in the dog run. I brush him a lot to try to keep him clean. I know it's not advisable to bathe cairns too often because of their sensitive skin. Will it be OK to give him frequent showers instead? ... Just plain lukewarm water, no soap and towel him off?

[kayharley]

I would assume it's the soap that causes the dryness and skin problems that Cairns are prone to.

I have a small swimming pool just for my dogs and Elliott is in there constantly. He also loves the sprinkler, hose and anything that will emit water.

I'd say if he likes the shower, have fun!

[toomanypaws]

I hope just plain water doesn't dry their skin out. With the heat here, my three are getting wet daily. After a good run, I rinse all three off in the kiddie pool and towl them dry. I must say, they sure look and smell clean.

[Eliz222]

I don't think water dries them out...at least I hope not! I can only bathe in the sink (not very often) because if I gave them a shower, we would ALL be wet!

[abe's dad]

My vote is for the shower THat is how Abe gets it. I just put him in the shower with me. I wouldn't say that he really likes it but he does tollerate it well and gets treats after we are finshed. We tried the bath thing but it always worked out that I and anything within 4 feet us the tub got a shower so I figured we would kill 2 birds with one stone.

[savannahsmom35]

I actually talked to Savannah's (new) vet about this yesterday when I took her to have her stitches taken out from being fixed. He said that it is the alcohol in shampoo that drys out their skin so that I should get a shampoo that does not have a high alcohol content for the times when she HAS to have a bath. He said to try brushing first, then water alone, and if all else fails, a bath with a low alcohol content shampoo. He said that you should be able to go to a pet supply store and tell them what you are looking for and they should be able to recommend a good one.