How Often Should I Bathe My Dog?

There are no firm rules and guidelines for dog bathing. It depends on texture and quality of your dog’s hair (whether it is silky, long, smooth, curly, or wiry), as hair textures determines how much dirt collects and how frequently your dog should be bathed. The activities and lifestyle of your dog will also determine how often he gets dirty and needs a bath. In addition to this, your dog’s skin problem also influences the frequency of bath.

Just like human being, some dogs get stinky faster than other dogs. On the other hand, there are many dog breeds that have never had a bath in entire life and they do not have an unpleasant smell. Main reasons for bathing a dog are:

• To remove accumulated dirt
• To ease the removal of dead hair at the shedding time
• To eliminate dog’s odour with oily coats
• To improve the appearance of coat

The routine dog bathing is not necessary for the health of the dog or his coat. In fact, frequent bathing of your dog can diminish natural sheen of coat and make it dry and harsh. Some general guidelines of dog bathing are:

• Bathing once in a month works good for most of the dogs
• If your dog has an oily coat, like Basset Hounds, it will need bathing as frequently as once a week
• Many smooth coat dog breeds with short-haired, such as Weimaraners and Beagles, do just fine with less frequent baths.
• Short-coated Basenjis are fussy in their hygiene, and they rarely need a bath
• Dog breeds with water-repellent coats, like Great Pyrenees and Golden Retrievers, should be bathed less often in order to preserve their natural oil
• Dog breeds with thick, double coats like Malamutes and Samoyeds do best with fewer baths, but they require a lot of extra brushing (which gets rid of dead, loose hair and it also helps to distribute natural oil that keep their coat and skin healthy)