How often should we shower our dogs? Many of you guys answered “once a month”, “each year” and even “never, just take them to swim”. I’m so confused because I live in Vietnam, which is a tropical and a temperate zone. The climate in our country is pretty hot and humid, makes my puppy so smelly, like almost unbearable stinky. People in my country shower their labrador at least once a week, but I’m worried because others told me that shower Lab too often could hurt their skin and harm their coats. So even though I’ve just got a puppy for 4 weeks, I’ve only been showered him one time. But now I think I need to shower my puppy for twice a week, because he has been so itchy, shedding too much for a puppy, and smells so bad. (even though I kept his bed so cleaned) So, is it bad to shower him that often? Do your dogs smells bad? How often do you really shower your dogs and brush their teeth? Do they left a heavy odor on your house, your room? Does the frequency of showering effect on shedding?
Hi there, showering a dog won't affect the way a dog sheds their coat. However, it may remove some of the loose hair. The main risk of frequent showering is that it strips the coat of its nature oils. But if your puppy doesn't swim in cold water, this isn't such a big deal as it might be in a cooler climate. All gun dog breeds have a distinctive body odor but it should never be unpleasantly strong. And it doesn't tend to develop until the dog is over 6 months old or so. Most Labradors don't shed heavily until they have their adult coat, so if your 12 week old puppy is losing fur you might need to talk to your vet about a possible skin problem, especially if your dog is scratching a lot, and has a strong body odor.
Like Pippa says, if you shower your puppy you will strip away the oils from their coat. This only causes their coat to produce more oil in response, though - and then you again think the pup is smelly and shower him... and so on and on, in a vicious circle. I don't live in Vietnam(!) but I have been through a few humid heatwaves with dogs and I don't find they get smelly. However, bedding and fabric definitely can get smelly. So when you think you're smelling the dog, you're actually smelling the blankets or bedding. Wash them all at as hot a temperature as possible with a good detergent. Don't use fabric dog beds which you can't wash easily - find beds with covers which can be removed and washed. If your pup goes through some stinky or swampy water, then definitely that could smell - so you may need to use a very gentle puppy shampoo when that happens - but you can also try just hosing it out with water by itself and see if that's enough. (Just using water by itself won't strip out the oils - it's the shampoo or soap which does that.) If your puppy is shedding, buy a brush (I like Furminators best, but I'm not sure if you can get them in Vietnam!) and brush out any loose hair. Washing with shampoo won't help with shedding much at all, it doesn't really remove the hair. And if he is itchy, I wouldn't be thinking about bathing him, but about other causes of that - such as fleas (which can be hard to spot sometimes) and perhaps a food intolerance... To answer your questions: I only use shampoo/soap on my dogs if they have rolled in something smelly or gross. When I do, I use a very gentle puppy shampoo/soap. This is very infrequent (a few times a year). But most of the time, if they are just a bit muddy or have saltwater in their coat, I just hose off with plain water by itself. My dogs don't smell (so guests tell me!). I wash blankets/bedding every couple of weeks, so things don't smell. I notice no improvement on shedding by showering with water - only brushing out with a brush like the Furminator which removes the dead hair. I brush teeth weekly.
If you can shower them without soap, it should not cause any problem. Our dog(s) almost never get a bath with soap, but swimming in salt water seems to really clean their coat. We can usually rinse in fresh water.
