How often should I bathe my dog? It’s not the same as how often I want to bathe my dog. If I slipped my dog into the shower or ran him a bath every time I thought he smelled, well, like a dog, he would be the squeakiest, cleanest puppy on the planet. It’s not really his fault. He’s older and tends to have bad breath. He lays with his head tucked into himself, and that raunchy breath smell gets all over him. Within days, I want to give him another bath. So why not?
The Impact of Bathing on Your Dog’s Coat and Skin
Dogs have essential oils on their coats. These oils are vital for their warmth and buoyancy. Some dogs have thicker oils. You can tell because when you wet them, they don’t get very wet. You have to wet their coats, use a little soap, and then wet them again to really get a good lather. These oils help them be the master swimmers that they are.
Some dogs produce these oils faster than others. Most dogs can handle a good scrub down once a month. Even dogs with dry skin can fare well, provided you use an oatmeal-based shampoo and conditioner. I always thought conditioner was pampering a dog in a way that wasn’t necessary, but I was wrong. It actually helps prevent dry, itchy, and irritable skin. Some dogs have skin that is so sensitive that giving them a bath without a specialized conditioner can cause them to scratch mercilessly for days, or until their human is kind enough to fix the problem—which usually requires an additional bath.
Using the once-a-month guideline as a starting point, most dogs smell as though they could use another bath long before that. This is usually intentional. A dog’s own aroma is part of his identity. The fruity-smelling shampoo you slathered on him just isn’t part of who he is, and he will find a way to cover it up. The most glaring example is the dog who launches out of the bathtub and straight to the backyard, where he has no problem finding some horrific smell to roll in. More subtle examples include rubbing against their humans or scratching along the carpet. Even that constant licking, once they’ve come to terms with their bath, is an attempt to rearrange the smells on their fur.
Since dogs prefer their own scent over the more attractive smells humans try to impose, many dogs will need a bath more than once a month. Many dogs will carry the same offensive odor within a week. This can become a frustrating cycle, especially if your dog sleeps in your bed, and you wake up to that stale dog breath odor lingering on yesterday’s clean sheets. If you live in an apartment or small house, it won’t take long before the dog aroma takes over your home, and the first thing you notice is the smell of your pooch as soon as you open the door.
Dogs with very healthy coats can handle a bath about once every two weeks, but this should be on a short-term basis. Over time, frequent baths can dry out their skin and coat. However, if you have a particularly active water-loving dog during the summer months, the question of “How often should I bathe my dog?” may turn into “Why can’t I bathe my dog every day?”
Even when your dog has a healthy coat and seems undisturbed by extra bathing during the warmer months, you can’t expect his skin to hold up indefinitely. After all, bathing is a human activity, not a dog’s natural tendency. In the wild, the most a dog might get is a splash through a stream and the work of his own tongue. His skin isn’t designed to handle the harsher soaps we use without considering their chemical makeup. Expect some drying, and make sure to choose your shampoo carefully.
In the meantime, there are a few things you can do to help control what your dog considers to be his best aroma. First, wash his bedding weekly. This may annoy him, but he will get over it. Freshly washed bedding has a way of imprinting a more pleasant smell on the dog, even if it’s only for a short time. Again, be cautious with the chemicals you use. I can always tell when someone in our household has had enough of the dog’s smell. For about 24 hours, our dogs have a wonderfully fresh, clean, straight-from-the-dryer scent to their heads. Of course, they think we’re out of our minds for sniffing their heads during this time.
There are a handful of dry shampoos on the market designed specifically for “spot” cleaning (forgive the pun) between regular baths. These are different from dry shampoos used to replace traditional bathing. These help absorb odors that would otherwise linger.
Do not spray perfumes, colognes, or household air fresheners on your dog. You can cause serious skin irritations if you choose the wrong products. While your frustration with limited bath time is understandable, you shouldn’t inflict your dog with products that aren’t designed to be safe for him. So, how often should I bathe my dog? Technically, the answer is about once a month, a little more often during the summer months, but certainly not as frequently as the human world thinks is necessary.
