Our Lab pup Blue, is 9 wks old and is in need of a bath, smelly and dirty. Is he old enough and what tips can you advise?

When you say smelly and dirty what has he been upto ?

Lucy

Hi

I had the same prob with my 10 week old lab pup last week. He had the runs and had decided to run/roll and jump all in his mess. I did bathe him and used a puppy shampoo bought from a pet shop. I bathed him in the kitchen sink and he was fine although not ecstatic. The only problem I had was afterwards. He seemed to get dandruff which I put down to his natural oils being washed out. From what I gather it isnt really necessary to bathe puppies at all just wash them down with a flannel. I think you can also buy dog "wet wipes" but not sure if they are suitable for puppies.

Hope that helps..I'm a bit of a novice! :)

I would never dream of bathing a puppy of that age, but so saying, Anna decided to swim across the fish pond at 8 weeks old. I'd just sponge off the dirty bits.

On a really warm day a play outside with a big bowl of water will help him believe bath time is good fun and will also help reduce any fear of water if you ever want to work him and need to retrieve from water.

Regards, John

I certainly wouldn't be giving your 9 week old puppy a bath yet.Try wiping him all over with babywipes.They are very gentle and will leave him smelling great!

why is it bad to bathe them this young?

i'm worried now, gave archie a bath at around 9/10 weeks and again at around 13 weeks as he was dirty from rolling in dust and mud - no adverse effects at all, he did squeak a little the first time but was fine after and seemed to enjoy it. the only prob we had was a bit of dandruff the first time but that's cos i let my husband rinse him and he didn't get all the pup shampoo out :(
i've never heard it mentioned anywhere that you shouldn't bathe them as pups - i was going to post on here to ask if it was ok then thought i was being neurotic :(
(ps he is a long haired dachs, don't know if having long hair makes a difference)

my lab puppy is only 8 weeks old and today the vet told me to bath her as she has flakey skin - she told me to use baby shampoo

I bathed Darcy when she was little as well. At the vets advice we used vosene shampoo.
She had a skin irritation and its done her no harm whatsoever