Personal survey....

How often do you bathe your dogs??? Just wondering.

Ha! What a funny question Jabber! I had a vet tell me YEARS ago that I shouldn't bathe my dog more than twice a year! I had another vet tell me the same thing several years later!? They said that bathing a dog too often messed up the natural oil under their coat, which naturally kept them clean. Both of them said not to bathe my dog unless he was really dirty - so I haven't! I bathe my dogs about twice a year - a little more if they seem "dirty"! How about you?

My little dog was a cairn terrier so her body was near the ground...we had a sponge and basin and washed her "undercarriage" when she came home dirty..otherwise she was groomed with a brush..in summer she had a bath with doggie shampoo when she could dry off .how I miss the little lady

Marsha, Have always thought like you: Too much bathing would mess up their natural oil. Perhaps a year or two back, a vet told me to bathe them once a month. Well that seems extreme. IMHO two or three times a year is good. Just gave both of them a bath yesterday, because the outside tempature was near 70 degrees and now its in the 30s. I'm thinking three times a year is good and that's what I'm doing. Just wanted to get other folks' opinions, to see how on target my own thoughts are. The Goldendoodle is constantly groomed, with a brush and once-a-year at a professional groomers, where she's trimmed as close as possible. The Corgi we brush too, but her hair doesn't grow like the Golden's does. The Corgi, however, sheds like crazy.
Thanks Mountain Ash for weighing in. I know how much you miss your baby; I miss all my dogs that have gone to Heaven.

We don't have a dog at the moment, but when we did, they were always large dogs -- golden retrievers, irish setters, labs.

Often, the places where we lived when we had these dogs didn't have leash laws, so while we'd walk the dogs, we also let them outside when they asked to go -- unless we knew there were gaggles of turkeys walking by, etc. In which case we didn't let the dogs out to chase the turkeys, as much as they would have loved it!

As a result of this habit, the dogs -- which were INDOOR dogs most of the time -- often came home really dirty, or having been sprayed by a skunk, or having rolled in deer "poop" they had delightedly found in the woods.

In those cases, of course, we HAD to wash them. We generally tried to do this outdoors with a large tub, a hose, shampoo and loads of towels. But now and then circumstances called for us to try washing the dog indoors in the tub, which was never very easy.

Other than that, we just brushed them regularly, wiped their paws clean when they came in from outdoors, and buffed them dry with a towel when they came in from being out in the snow. (And we also made sure to get the ice clots out of their paws.)

I never took any of my dogs to a groomer for trims or washes. But I did once have an advertising agency client who manufactured "dog shampoo." Never bought any of that. I think we probably used human shampoo.

Mountain Ash, I had a beloved dachshund for over 17 years and I know all about "undercarriage" cleaning! And, yes, I also know about missing those sweet little dog souls who are no longer with us. Jabber, I hate to be ignorant, but what exactly is a "Goldendoodle"? Is it what it sounds like? A Golden Retriever and Poodle combo? What does she look like? And, Anne, I always love hearing your dog stories. You are such a dog-person, I'm surprised you don't have one now. As you know, we are down to one dog, Smokey McDoggerson by name! And he does answer to Mr. McDoggerson! Wanting to get a puppy as a companion for Smokey (and us!) but it just isn't the right time yet....

Spud, our miniature poodle, goes to the groomer every 5 weeks, and gets a bath at least once in between visits. Peanut, our Queensland Heeler, gets a bath every couple of months or so, depending on the weather. Since poodles have hair not fur, I've learned that it's okay, and probably preferable, to bathe them weekly.

Both dogs are rescues that came to us at almost a year old, so they have limitations on what they will let us do to them. Peanut has to go to the vet every 5 weeks for a nail trim, because no matter how much we have tried to desensitize her, she will not let us near her nails. She tolerates brushing for about 30 seconds, so we have to brush her in 30 second increments throughout the week. Spud is very passive at the groomer but won't let me near him with a brush. Ah, the things we do for our dogs!

Marsha,
A Goldendoodle is exactly what it sounds like. She's a Golden Retriever and Poodle mix, as you stated. They do not shed, have sweet personalities, are smart, and very loving.
Taffy mostly looks like a Standard Poodle. She has touches of gold on her ears, back and nose but not much. She has curly hair; but isn't as tightly curled as a full Poodle. This breed is like the latest "designer mix" in the world of dogs.
WB and I groom the dogs almost daily. And there are grooming wipes on the market that we use in-between the full bathing process.


yonuh, Don't know what a Queensland Heeler is??????

Queensland Heeler is also called Australian Cattle Dog. They were originally bred with the wild dingoes in Australia to make them hardier. Peanut is a purebred; she has the white diamond shape on her head. Some people think she looks like a coyote. She's a red merle so is mostly reddish beige with a mottled coat that includes black and white. There's also a blue merle, which is a grey coat with the mottling. The are called heelers because they are herding dogs and nip at the heels of the cattle to keep them in line. We had cats when we first rescued her and it took her a long time to realize she couldn't herd cats. We were pulling cat claws out of her snout every week! She doesn't shed much except in the Spring when she 'blows her coat'. And that's just what it sounds like; she suddenly sheds her coat all at once.

Thanks yonuh. My last black lab blew her coat. So I know what you mean there. I think I've seen the Australian Cattle Dog in movies and just didn't know they were also called Queensland Heelers. When I was kid growing up on a farm we always had
English Sheperds. They were good cattle dogs, too.

We have an almost 8 year old, 25 pound cockapoo rescue. We found him at a shelter when he was 6 months old. They told us he had been adopted that morning and returned. The people said that their daughter broke out in hives when they gave the dog (Dino) a bath. I think they got freaked out when they gave him a bath because although he is very quiet and still in the bath, he goes crazy when he gets out, with a major case of the "zoomies"---i.e. zooming around like a possessed animal. Now that we know about that, we just prepare for it by having towels laid out in the places he is likely to zoom to and doors closed to places we don't want him to zoom to. We are also of the "bathe him when he gets too smelly and/or dirty". He's mostly white, so that ends up being every 3-4 weeks. He also goes to the groomer for a wash and cut every 2 to 3 months because although he doesn't shed (yay!), his fur/hair grows. This is why I have longer hair than I would like. I spend a major part of my grooming budget on Dino!

Here's a link to Dino's story:

http://www.boomeresque.com/baby-boomer-dog-daze/

I cant imagine bathing a new dog on the first day..I would advise only gentle brushing and a good bonding walk and a feed ..being a dog owner has to be thought through and accepting advice from experienced people..good that you did get Dino ...