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 ...