baths

[niks514]

How often is to often to bath your dog?

[jimnconnie]

Well I'm not sure, but as for us we've had Bailey for about 3 1/2 of his 4 yrs. and have only bathed him a few times. Once when he somehow got his underside filthy, and also after his run-in with a skunk. Actually, after the skunk he got several baths in a short period of time. Every time we would use the hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, dish detergent solution on him, we would have to bathe him after it had dried. His coat got so stiff and snarled that he absolutely had to have a bath. And all that peroxide changed the color of his coat from red to wheaton for about 3 - 4 months. I know this isn't much of an answer to your question, but I think the recommendation is to bathe sparingly, if at all. Normally frequent combing, and brushing will keep the coat pretty clean. That's one of the advantages of the Cairns' coarse outer-coat. If you run into a problem where the dog gets into something foul smelling, or that doesn't come out with grooming, by all means give a quick bath, but stay away from conditioners or anything that might be for "softening or making the coat shiny". If we are diligent with our grooming, our dogs never have an odor problem.

[Nikki]

I usually give them baths when they stink so bad I can't stand or they got something in their hair I cant comb out

[Scruffys Mom]

Mine sleep with me, and they are bathed weekly and get Listerine wipe downs in between. Mine have beautiful coats and an oil enriched diet so I do not have a dry skin problem. The shampoo I use is organic and oatmeal based and claims to be soap free. I never allow any deodorizers or puppy sprays on them as I think all dogs hate the interference of their own smell. I will take a clean dog over and award winning coat any day. In addition, mine both went in the kitchen sink for a bath the day I brought them home. Neither one of them really mind a bath, ear cleanings or toe nail trims as I am constantly handling them.

[Madwand]

Ours was inside mostly, but once in a while she would spend the day outside with me and she'd come in stinking like a 9 year old kid. She needed bathing about once a week because of that. If she never played outside she'd never have needed a bath except when she pooped her crate (she had a tempermental stomache).

[Cairnmania]

I never bath mine. Only "spot remove" when necessary. Mine sleep with me too, btw. One of Rudi's virtues is that he never rolls in stinky stuff. It is not a virtue shared by Abby - so "spot removal" is a rather frequent occurence with her.

[Hagar]

I use a mobile groomer for Renny. He gets a bath about every eight weeks. The whole treatment consists of the bath and a good combing and brushing. Trimming consists of a clipping around his eyes and butt. Otherwise his coat is left alone.

He does sleep with me and even when he is due for a bath, there is no noticeable odor. This schedule works fine for us.

Hagar

[Scruffys Mom]

Allow me to clarify why I bathe my dogs so much. We go to dog parks, usually daily, and they jump in the pool and proceed to roll in the mulch and what ever is in the mulch, which I am sure is a mixture of bark, pee pee and poop. In addition to dog parks, they go to doggie day care where they play "sniffy butt" all day and there is always an occasional accident they all make a point of prancing through. This is why I bathe them as for as much as they love the elements they have added to there coats, I do not like sleeping with them.

[Maggie15]

We bath maggie with a harsh coat shampoo once a year... other times its maybe rinse the feet to get mud off... generally she smells just fine! ...she does sleep in the bed too...

a

[oscar's mom]

What i learned today is we all sleep with our furkids.

Oscar gets bathed once every three or four months. We brush him regularly and that usually takes the stink out, but for the times it doesn't, in the shower he goes with DH.

[pkcrossley]

i never bathe my dog, i just leave him out in the rain.

[oregoncoast71]

In the 8 months I have had Greta she has only been bathed twice. Once, when she was in her crate in the car and she got sick. The other time was when she was playing bull dozer in the lawn and rolled on some nasty smelly green stuff. It took about 2 shampoos to get that out. If she is really stinky as in the last case, I use a homemade all natural soap that a friend makes. I also have some waterless shampoo I believe it's by Proline. I haven't tried it yet.

[Hagar]

One additional comment. When we first got our previous dog ( not a Cairn), we were having him groomed every two weeks. On a routine vet visit, the vet told us that he shoud be bathed not more than about every six week or so. The frequent bathing was causing his skin to become too dry and made him "itchy".

Hagar

[shergry]

pkcrossley: "i never bathe my dog, i just leave him out in the rain."

I never thought of this....sure would save on H2O. hee, hee! Probably bathe after grooming and when stink or they roll in something. Just have not found that they need a bath. We too sleep with kids, it is so funny that they decide it is time to go to bed and just stare at us till we move towards the bedroom, then they get on the bed settle in and that is that.

[Eliz222]

I don't bathe Scout or Finch unless they roll in something horrid. Scout is usually the one who does this and no matter how much I spot clean, she still stinks....so she gets a shampoo with oatmeal. Knock on wood, this hasn't happened in almost a year!

[sheila and Misty]

Misty doesnt normally get too dirty -I think that their coat is very repellent -like a birds feathers most dirt falls back off .Id say I generally bathe Misty every 2 weeks unless a smelly situation occurs-like rolling in cat ,rabbit,deer,racoon,opposum,skunk,(vomit feces or urine)-She will get a bath even if she just had one I cant let that be snugglin up against my neck and she is a real close snuggler. She will practically inhale your exhale!!We do have alot of paw washings though-especially after a muddy dig. so much that she practically puts one paw at a time under the water almost completely by herself-she knows the routine.

[GirlieJr]

Jack gets a bath with a medicated shampoo about once a month or so. He has skin allergies so the medicated shampoo is supposed to help with that. I don't groom him the way a Cairn should be groomed (stripping) so his coat is softer than most.

I'm amazed that so many of you sleep with your fur kids! Jack slept with me the first night I brought him home and that was it. That first night he curled up by me and slept like a log. The second night (and every night thereafter), he thought bed time was still play time. Even to this day (he's 5 1/2) he walks around the bed and can't get comfortable. He loves his little bed (on the floor right next to my bed) and he loves the weekend mornings when he gets to come lay in bed by momma for a while. He's great to cuddle with as long as you aren't trying to get serious sleep!