Baths?

[wheezie23]

I just read Springlady's post in the thread about allergies. Your dog is 8.5 mos and has never had a bath? I've heard from many people that they don't bathe their Cairns often, but I have to bathe Zoe once a week, sometimes rinsing her off inbetween too. With the digging she does outside, she gets very dirty. How do you keep your pups clean? Since Zoe likes to sleep with me, this is a definite concern of mine. I don't want to be bathing her too much and make her coat unhealthy. But I also don't want to ban her from my furniture and bed as she is as much a part of my family as my kids. Any advice?

[bradl]

Here's our count:

Barley (9 years) ~ 5 baths

Haggis (8 years) ~ 4 baths

Echo (3 years) = 0 baths

Most baths to-date have been caused by: rolling in oil slicks at the beach; rolling on dead birds at the beach (are you seeing a trend here?); explosive diarrhea (ick); or crawling/wallowing in places Cairns Should Not Go.

Now, we do sometimes spray their undercarriage (especially The Boy, when girls are in season) with Listerine/water or a non-rinsing shampoo (squirt, squirt, rub-a-dub, dry with towel) but the above are 'running under water in the sink" baths.

[hallswel]

I learned the hard way not to bath Rebel. One vet said to and when I finally got him off steroids for allergies that caused a terrible hair lose and on natural medicine his coat is really nice. I live in Georgia and he loves to dig, this time of year you get to add the rain and I have a messy dog. But I just keep a towel by the door and dry him off so the house doesn't get muddy. When he dries it falls off all I have to do is brush him and he loves that. When spring comes I wipe his underside with baby wipes to get the pollen off.

[Senator Cody Wilson]

We bath Cody every 2 or 3 months, usually in between grooming sessions but we make sure and brush him daily. During the winter months we have been giving him a teaspoon of Linnatone with his food each day. His skin has stayed nice and pink and his hair does not seem to accumulate anywhere in the house (he spends most of the day sleeping on our couch so we would see it if it fell out).

I know that the breed standard is one with a rough coat but his is still relatively soft although not as shiny as it was as a pup. He has lightened considerably since his 1st birthday in January. Not sure if that is a seasonal thing or just his adult coat coming in. When I clean the brush, his hair has a soft, not brittle feel to it.

At times, I feel that it is simply the necessary thing to do depending on what they get in or sit in.

He does not mind the bath at all but really loves running around after being towel dried.

Cody

[wags]

After Wes gets wet, he runs through the house too, 500 miles an hour!

[Toto times 2]

We bathe the boys twice a year unless they find something really unpleasant (dead frogs etc.) More than that dries the natural oils too much and we have some allergiy problems too.

I laughed when I read about Wes and Cody running around after their baths. When the boys get wet they race through the house like drunken sailors on a spree and usually try to dry off in our bed if at all possibble. I try to beat them to get the covers over the bed before they get there. A good argument for making the bed I guess.

To Rebels parent: what natural medicine are you using? I would love to get the boys off prednisone.

[wheezie23]

I had to chuckle reading about your guys running thru the house after baths. Zoe does this too, but she starts out rubbing herself against the rugs and moulding on the floor! I tell my daughter that Zoe's trying to get her old "us" smell back on her!

Thanks for all the great info and advice about bathing. I've got a box of wipes and a couple of old towels handy at all times now to clean her off. We'll see how it goes!

[Mary Jane Henry]

I find that my Emma often needs a bath! We have a park a block away where she can safely run off-leash but it can be messy there, especially this time of year! I think I have a good solution: it's lots of water, little soap! I put a baby bath tub in our big tub and fill it with warm water and several *drops* of baby wash. I use this solution to wash her off and then rinse twice and we haven't had any allergy problems yet! (The author of Smarter Than You Think says always to use people products because they have to be tested while pet products don't.) Anybody else do this?

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! My Riley is so busy getting into stuff all day long - - consequently - - he is in need of a bath frequently. I have found that the "no more tears" formula of baby shampoo is very mild and works well for him. I do think the key to no skin allergies is to rinse thoroughly and dry well!! I also have a mild shampoo used specifically with allergies in mind - - got it from the groomers - - Riley is now 11 months old and has had no skin irritations at all.

[abe's dad]

Our little Abe gets a bath about every 10 days ,he is a little over 8 months old . We have used the baby products and noticed him scratching a lot we tried using the T-Gel from Neutragena and that controls the itch and he still has healthy looking skin. BTW when Bath time comes I just throw him in the shower It works great and Abe loves it , Makes it really easy to get him rinsed clean . We tried the tub thing but I usually ended up just as wet as him and we had a tough time getting all the soap off .

[Senator Cody Wilson]

Around 9:00 last night Cody signaled to us (a few scratches on the back door) that he wanted to go outside. I let him out and went online to check my email. After around 15 minutes, I realized I had not heard from him so I went to take alook. We usually let him out by himself for a few minutes whenever he wants.

So I open the back door, whistled to him and he came running in. As he aproached the door, it looked like he is wearing brown boots that come half way up his legs . As I opened the door and got a better look at him, his legs, face and belly were covered with mud. I was lucky enough to scoop him up and bring him to the sink. My wife then went outside to see what had gone on. He dug a hole bigger than he was which was a first for him as we both couldn't recall seeing him dig holes. At the bottom of the hole was a bone we gave him earlier. As the sink was empty and wanting to keep his baths on schedule, I filled a pot up with luke warm water and proceeded to dunk each one of his paws in the water until the caked mud came off. I then used the sink hose and rinsed his belly off and we then used a damp washcloth to clean his face. Then around a half hour later once he was dry, I brushed him,

The strange thing is that he seemed so proud when he came in, I think he just learned the joy of digging .

[Guest Cheryl]

I guess our kids are pretty spoiled. George and Gracie go to the groomers every 6 or 7 weeks for a "hydrobath". It's like a canine jacuzzi. They absolutely love it. No shampoo is used at all. The jets in the tub get rid of dry skin, loose hair and any dirt. If they get dirty in between, to the point of needing bathed, I take them in the shower with me. They love it. Otherwise I have found that brushing our kids once the mud dries usually does the trick. I also have some spray on stuff that makes them smell good for about 20 minutes. Don't use that very often.

[Mary Jane Henry]

I haven't tried the shower (yet) but I love the jacuzzi idea! In my case, with the baby bathtub - I don't have to put any soap directly on to my Emma's body. I just put a few drops of baby wash in the water and then pour the water over her with one of those big plastic scoops from the detergent box. This way, I can bathe her every week or so without worrying too much about an allergic reaction which might come if I rubbed the soap right on her skin!