How Often Can I Wash My Dog?

Posted on Nov 29 in Small Dog Care, Small Dog Groomingby Jeff K.Print

“Whoo-wee, that dog stinks!” –Owner of a stinky dog, circa 2005

This usually prompts the question, “How often can I wash my dog?” Followed by the comment, “He gets really smelly after a week.” The answer is the same one I have for most questions about dog care: It depends. It depends on the dog’s skin and it depends on the shampoo you use.

If your dog’s skin is normally pretty oily, he or she can probably stand more frequent baths than a dog with naturally dry skin. Many shampoos tend to purge the skin of oil, leaving it dry and susceptible to flaking, itching and cracking. Dogs with naturally oily skin, such as water retrievers—Labrador Retrievers, Chesapeake Retrievers, etc.—will quickly replace skin oil lost to bathing. Dogs with naturally dry skin are more susceptible to problems from bathing too often.

The weather can also work against frequent baths. If you live in a place where it gets cold in the winter, you probably use a heating system in your house. A heating system robs the humidity from your home. Low humidity usually leads to dry skin. The same problem applies to desert environments. Dogs that live in a desert area tend towards drier skin and have less tolerance for frequent baths.

Dawn bathes a small dog at Kelsey's Dog House.

Regardless of your dog’s natural skin condition, if you plan to bathe your dog more often than once every 2 weeks, then you should use a product that replaces the moisture in your dog’s skin. These products include moisturizing shampoos, moisturizing rinses, or skin conditioners/lotions that dry on the dog. In all cases, if you bathe your dog more often than once every 2 weeks, monitor your dog to make sure he/she is not scratching more than usual. If your dog does show signs of itching, stretch the time between baths. If that does not help, the bath products you are using may be irritating your dog’s skin; or your dog may have a skin problem or allergy unrelated to bathing. Try a different bath product. If that does not help, take your dog to a veterinarian for an evaluation.

There are a couple of alternatives to frequent bathing. We use both alternatives on one of our dogs, Royce the Min Pin. He sprays his front leg when he urinates. The problem seems to be related to his physical proportions and his strange posture when he pees. Royce begins to smell of stale urine after only a day or two since his last bath. Our solution is two-fold. First, we use baby wipes to clean the pee from his leg after each occurrence. We sometimes use a damp washcloth to wipe him down. We also bathe Royce once a week using an oatmeal-based shampoo with moisturizers built in. Royce has never had a problem with itching or flaking skin, even though his coat is not naturally oily.

How often to bath your small dog? No more often than every two weeks unless you take special measures to make sure you are not drying out your dog’s skin. If you take your dog to a groomer for frequent baths, he/she will know how to prevent dry skin. At Kelsey’s Dog House, we have many dogs that get bathed once a week and a couple that get bathed twice a week. We use high quality shampoos with moisturizers and have had good success keeping our dogs clean and healthy.

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