Hi everyone and Merry Christmas when it comes!

We had to bath our 6 month old Golden Retriever for the first time yesterday as he got very exited on his walk and ended up rolling in dear knows what - all I can say is it didn't smell very pleasant!

He seemed to like being bathed and had great fun splashing about but one questions is how often should be be bathing him?

Thanks

Lisa

Hi Lisa
Mine is 2 years old, and she had a bath last, about 6 months ago,before that she was being bathed quite often, at one point once a month for 3 months, as she had very bad skin, but its all settling down now, her coat is very silky and soft.The vets recommended i bathe her in malaseb only, but thats because of her allergies and skin. I suppose it depends on the extent of how much they have rolled in, sometimes ive just washed her with a towel if its just around the neck area, but she goes in the sea alot too and in the river. why is it cow, sheep and foxes poop is soo appealing to them all!!

My boy gets a shower approximately every 2 - 3 weeks, he gets so dirty rolling in horrid things on his walks there is no way he could sleep in our bedroom (as he does) if he was smelly.

I use neem shampoo so it is ok for his skin and coat. 

Even though retrievers love getting dirty they certainly enjoy getting clean too don't they :)

I try to keep shampooing to a minimum as it does affect how waterproof their coat is. My dog gets a bath about 3-4 times a year - when he starts smelling like ripe cheese. :) My girl is shown so gets a bath before shows but not any other time. I find just plain water takes most of the disgusting stuff out of their coat without stripping the natural water resistance out. Mine get hosed off with water only almost every day as they roll in everything (Foxy Boy hair gel being a favourite). They also swim in the ocean or a river at least twice a week so they're wet a lot.

If your boy enjoys the bath I'd just let him spalsh about in the bath without the shampoo if he doesn't need it.

> when he starts smelling like ripe cheese.

Ha ha sorry that made me chuckle there, they do like to roll around though and get into the most awful of smelly situations ha ha, ours is washed when he starts to look like he needs one... which isnt that often now as he is quite old now and doesnt roll around quite like he used too! :-)

My GR has one bath a year where I use shampoo and in addition is hosed down with plain water in the shower to remove mud when he has been wallowing. He swims nearly every day in either the sea or a stream.

As long as you use a dog shampoo it's probably fine to do every few weeks - after all, the ones that go to shows surely get bathed before. But if you're not showing, I wouldn't have thought they'd need regular bathing unless they have a habit of rolling in things - 2 or 3 times a year perhaps?