How often should you bathe your dog?
If you search online, you'll quickly find that there are many conflicting opinions on how often dogs should be bathed. Some people feel that dogs can be bathed once or even more times a week with no harmful effects as long as high quality products are used. Other owners feel that when it comes to bathing dogs, less is more. For many owners, finding the right bath schedule for each individual dog means walking a fine line between wanting to keep your dogs skin and fur healthy, but also wanting to keep your dog and home as clean as possible. So how often should dogs be bathed?
How often your dog should be bathed will probably come down to the individual nature of your pet. Some dogs may have dirtier habits than others, thus their owners may want to bathe them more often in order to keep their pets and homes clean and smelling fresh. Some dogs, on the other hand, may have extra sensitive skin and do better on a more limited bath schedule. In general, most groomers and experienced pet owners will agree that, if done correctly, most dogs can be bathed on a regular bases without suffering any ill effects.
Now here's the part where some people will start to argue, saying that frequent baths will strip off a dogs natural oils, causing them not only to potentially suffer from dry skin and coat problems, but also making them smell even stronger than they did before their bath as their body works overtime to replace lost oils. However, the fact of the matter is that these days there is an array of available dog bath products that are designed to be gentle on your dogs fur and skin, even with frequent use. Shampoos and conditioners designed for dogs are often times no longer detergent based, meaning they are much gentler on your dog and do not strip away all of the furs natural oils.
Some things to consider when deciding on how often to bathe your dog include your dogs breed and coat type, how active your dog is, where it lives, and allergies. Did you know that for pets who suffer from allergies, more frequent baths can help to remove allergens from the skin and fur and thus actually help to improve your pets dry, itchy skin? How often is the right frequency to bathe will vary based on individual dogs, and the lifestyles of them and their owners.
Remember, especially if you are going to bathe your dog frequently, that it's important to pick out a detergent free shampoo and conditioner made especially for dogs. Cloud Star's dog grooming products are one example of high quality dog bath products that should not cause dry skin or coat problems even with frequent use. If for some reason you can't or don't want to bathe your dog often, but want to still keep your dog as clean as possible, remember that regular brushing and grooming can be an important step in keeping your dogs coat clean and healthy.
