How Often Does Your Dog Get a Bath ??

Updated on April 24, 2011
D.C. asks from Plano, TX
15 answers

We have a Redbone Coonhound and he's starting to smell a bit...

How often can I give him a bath ???

And can you give me more advice on caring for him...he's my first dog and I'm still learning =) !!!!!

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C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

Gee....

I am feeling as though I am neglecting doggy hygiene...lol

Here it is only every month or two...(maybe more in summer)...but generally only if there is a smell!

Michele/cat

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S.H.

answers from St. Louis on

We bathe ours as often as they need it....when they begin to smell. If there's no odor, we make sure we do it every couple of weeks. 3 weeks is about the longest we can go!

We do it outside during the summer. For the rest of the year, we have a detachable shower head ....& do it in the tub. (my sis just puts her mini doxie in the shower with one of her kids!) Anyway, it's a big project & my 14yo is fully-responsible for this chore. He enjoys it & so do the dogs! & both of our dogs are +/- 80lbs....so each one fills the tub!

I'd say "enjoy" & "have fun".....but wet dog makes me sneeze & break out in hives! I'm so thankful it's not my job!

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S.S.

answers from Daytona Beach on

i just bathe mine when they start to smell. :( you can bathe them about once a week. also i believe they have powder that you can put on them also. as far as advice for caring for him, i would just take up time with him. make sure he gets potty trained. it is advisable to crate train, just by putting him in the crate when you go to leave the house and saying when you do so something like "kennel up". i would leash train for when you have to take him to the vet. for example take him outside to go to the bathroom on his leash. (you don't say how old he is so i don't know what would need to be done) make sure you don't feed him too much. check to see how much he should be eating. keep his ears cleaned. you can do this with q-tips. hunting dogs are pretty active so i would suggest getting something like tennis balls to throw and have them retrieve for you. my hunting dogs all loved that.

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G.T.

answers from Modesto on

Ours always liked being hosed down. We trained them to sit while we wet them, lathered them and rinsed them OUTSIDE...
In the summer I'd say we bathed the labs probably once a week, winter was less unless it was a sunny day and we could tolerate getting wet during the chore. Just make sure you rinse him well so he doesnt get itchy.

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T.F.

answers from San Francisco on

We have a lab and a lab mix(beagle?). I try to bathe the older one once a month because he's smelly (as Sue H said, when they get smelly). The Lab hates being clean and she will seek out the smelliest thing to roll in after a bath (argh!). Since a coon hound is a hunting dog he may have oiler skin and hounds are sometimes smellier. I think it is up to you......Just watch for sensitivity to shampoos and change as necessary. We have a pet store that has a self serve dog wash. We either do it there or like Grandma T, with the hose on hot days. We also have a little kiddie pool that we use for them on hot days and baths. I could do it inside in the bathtub but don't like the smell and clean up afterwards.

1 mom found this helpful

K.M.

answers from Boston on

mine doesnt get one often enough! once every few months.... but thats just me. I have never looked it up or anything, but our dog is white so i think we do it more often... good luck. just remember to feed him and u will be fine!

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Ours gets bathed once a week, although he gets hosed off more often.

It's important to use dog shampoo on them, since the pH is different. People shampoo can make their skin burn.

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D.K.

answers from State College on

About once a month to every 6 weeks for our lab. More regularly when it is warm outside and I can use a hose, since she does not love the tub, but will get in for treats and stays well. Outside is just easier- no hair to clean up afterwards and no walls to wipe down if she shakes too soon. :) I brush her about every other week to every three weeks and love my furminator brush. I have gotten slack since we have a new baby. She also gets her nails trimmed as needed about every other week and when I am doing really good gets her teeth brushed every other day or so. Right now I'm not doing so good on the teeth. I use a soap free pet shampoo when I wash her. I picked hylyt mainly because I like the smell and it goes on and off easy. I use frontline plus monthly for fleas and ticks, so usually she gets a bath two days before the next dose, so her skin has time to get her normal oils back before apply the product. If you use a flea and tick preventive that is topical make sure to wash about 48 hours before or to wait 48 hours after apply before bathing.

Hope that helps and have fun washing! Let me know if you have any other quesions. Redbones are such pretty dogs.

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C.K.

answers from San Antonio on

We have 2 Black & Tan Coonhounds. They get a bath every 5 or 6 weeks. If they get a little smelly and it's not bath time yet I put 1 cup of baking soda in a sock and rub them with it. I usually leave them looking slightly white from the baking soda (they only look that way for a few hours), but if you want to get rid of that just rub your hands over them. The baking soda gets rid of the most smells. (I would say it gets rid of all smells, but last week my dogs got sprayed by a skunk and it took more than baking soda to get rid of that smell!)

When we got our coonhounds we were told not to give them a bath more than once a month because it isn't good for their skin.

Good luck with your Redbone Coonhound. Coonhounds can be difficult, but I think they are well worth the effort. I've owned several breeds, but nothing compares to coonhounds; they are absolutely wonderful!

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M.L.

answers from Colorado Springs on

You're asking an excellent question!

Call your vet and ask. We bathe our dog about once a month, but we don't want to bathe too often because we don't want her skin to get dry (we live in a dry climate). On the other hand, she's a Canine Companions for Independence pup, so she's out in public quite a bit and has to be clean. It's a balance.

It's good to get your dog used to bathing. Dogs are very practical in their minds, and they learn by experience. Your dog will find bathing quite an experience! He may be fearful at first. Use a shampoo made for dogs. Just as with toddlers, use just a little shampoo and be sure to keep it out of the eyes. We gather the shampoo, towels, and several large cups before we gather the dog. Once we have the dog in the bathroom we close the door, and we try to be as fast and cheerful as we can; a pup solidly scared of baths is a hard pup to manage when he/she gets stinky. Ours gets a little reward when the bath is done.

Prepare for a lot of cleanup. The first thing your dog will do when he gets out of the tub will be to shake his wet self all over! Have lots of towels handy. You may find your pup racing around the house, too.

If you don't think you have the courage to give this a try yourself yet, see if there are dog washing places in Plano. I'll bet there are.

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Well, ours is part husky (the original Scotchguard animal!) so only a few times per year. He's very clean.

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K.U.

answers from Detroit on

You can do a bath every 4 to 6 weeks - more often if you have to (i.e., he jumps in a mud puddle). Moisturizing oatmeal-based shampoos tend to dry out their coat less if you have to bathe more frequently.

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Our border collie mix gets a bath when he's too stinky to get in the bed with us.
Coon hounds have long floppy ears - that could be the source of the smell. Long floppy ears provide a warm, dark, moist environment that yeasts and other fungi just love. When you bathe him, clean his ears with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. DON'T stick q-tips down his ears.

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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

We have a stinky Scotty. He gets a bath probably every 2 weeks or when we can't stand his stink anymore LOL. But he also has allergies so when they flare up we use a prescription shampoo that requires a bath every 3 days for 9 days.
The clean up is the biggest pain, if you guys have a self serve dog wash around you it's worth investing a few extra dollars. They're generally easier to get dogs into and out of than your tub at home and you don't have to worry about cleaning your tub, walls and floors after he's done. You usually have to bring your own towels so check into that.
As far as other things with grooming, get him used to toothbrushing use a soft bristle brush or a fingertip brush and either baking soda or doggy toothpaste. Also give him things to chew on like dog bones, toy ropes and crunchy treats because they help clean his teeth and keep his teeth strong.
His toenails will need to be cut or ground/filed regularly - my dog prefers the grinding to cutting but he goes for regular grooming because he's a double coated dog that grows long fur/hair.
This was also some of the best advice we ever received: let him see it's ok for you to touch his food in his dish, even while he's eating and that it's ok for you to touch him while eating. It keeps him from getting territorial about food when there are kids around that might poke at him etc.

L.C.

answers from Washington DC on

When he rolls in dead things, is filthy, and/or smells bad. I bathe him with Dawn dishwashing liquid. It supposedly helps repel fleas and mosquitoes. He likes it much better than people or dog shampoo.
In the winter, once every couple of months or less... in the summer -- whenever he's a dirty dog. That could be twice a week or once a month depending on what he has found to roll in. Once he rolled in bear poo. He got two - one after the other, that day! It was awful!
YMMV
LBC

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