Hi ,

I'm thinking of giving Oscar his first bath tonite, not with shampoo tho, i wondered if just a normal condtioner would freshen him up and not irritate his skin in anyway, he's going to the vets tomorrow for his vaccination and wanted to give him a good clean up.. I brush him everyother day but h'es a bit smelly.. actually i'm dreading it.. any advice?
Thanks Sandy xx :)

When I have puppies I will often freshen them up with a flannel using baby bath liquid. It is designed not to need rinsing for a baby, and never found it caused a reaction in the pups.

I tend to have winter litters (no shows, and less neigbour worries) and when they are all playing on wet concrete,a nd roling around, they can end up that damp dog smell, and their paw pads wiff. It is strange but pups will always plonk a paw on your face. I like my pups to be as fresh and clean as possible, as visitors don't realise how a gand of pups playing can make each other dirty!

Thanks brainless, I can remember talking to someone long before I bought Oscar about bathing dogs and she said that all she did was put talc on them to make them smell nice..I thought it would do Oscar a lot more good to get a clean up and a first introduction to water !!It went swimmingly well, not half as bad as I thought, he was quite still most of the time and only tried to climb out 2 or 3 times :D I think he actually enjoyed it, mind you we were bribing him with a few bits of shmacko's..He was scared to death of the hair dryer so after a few blasts I gave up,, but was worried about leaving him to dry off.. He seemed to be really sort of "Springy" after it all and bouncing round. I found quite a bit of dirt and stuff inside his ears so managed to clean them up too, that took about a half hour.Is there any chance of over "Bathing" a puppy or dog do you think, as like you I'd like to keep him as fresh as possible and as long as he enjoys the water I don't mind the grooming stuff after at all. Anyway off to the vets this morning, can't wait to actually be able to get him out of the house :)

Sandy xx

Sandy
I am so glad you asked this as I too wanted to bath pup.
People say you should only bathe perhaps three or four times in a year so as not to lose the oil from their coats . I was a bit unsure as whether to bath him now or when hes a bit older
If you use a mild shampoo ( say baby shampoo) could you bathe them more frequently ?
Wish me luck tonight when Gus has his first bath
Will have to get my raincoat and wellies out :) :) :)
Lel

I personally try to only bath them in the summer when it's warmer to dry them - they will not tolerate a hairdrier - and then only if they've rolled in something vile! (Vile to me - they think it's Kennel No 5 :))

One dog, now 3 1/2, has never had a bath yet, and I can guarantee he doesn't smell!

Hia Jeangenie,
Well as a novice on these matters I'll have to take my place nearer the bottom end of the "pack" so There Hu go Boss, are you sure it's kennel no 5 or Jean Paw Gaultier or even Poochy (gucci). lol :) :) :)
Sandy xx

Brilliant!! :D :D :D

Hi Lel,
Wishing you and Gus a" Happy and Joyous " Bath time tonite..:) I had everything I thought I would need at the ready. (something for Oscar to chew on, something to eat,huge bath towel etc, etc,) and all within a hands reach in case of "panic stations" I got soaked when I lifted him out into the towel as I couldn't really "wring him out" first..the water came straight thro the towel onto my clothes.lol, Great Fun!! I have read all your posts on your puppy Lel and I've noticed how alike our pups are..Oscar does all the things that yours does, to me..I haven't posted as much as I would have done because you are always asking the questions that I'm thinking of asking , so I just get all your advice and use it..just shows you that this is "puppy behaviour" and not particular to a certain breed.. :D All the best for tonite (ps.are you going to use a conditioner to help keep his fur conditioned?)

Sandy :) :) :)

Sandy
thats a relief :) :)
Sometimes I feel like a big worrier - it's hard work but its worth it !! :)
And this site is brilliant because there's loads of help and ideas about .
Puppy is busy running around the garden chasing a ball thats nearly bigger than him - crazy crazy pup
He will defo need that bath tonight
:)
Lel

Morgan was playing in the garden last night and came in dripping wet and covered from head to foot in mud! He was due to visit the vet at 7.30pm so I gave him a quick rinse with the shower, towelled him dry and brushed him. He came up sparkling and fluffy. When I went to he vet he asked my if Morgan went out a lot I told he did - but on my way home started to wander why he asked the question, as it had nothing to do with the reason he was at the vet. I think the vet saw how immaculate he was and thought - This poor dog doesn't get out of the house!! If only he had seen him two hours earlier :D
Shirley

Sandy,
well we've done it !! Gus has had his first bath .
Wish I had an extra pair of hands to take a photo . :)
:)
He looked totally gobsmacked when i lifted him into the bath and when i began to wet him all over he just stood stock still as if to say " what are you doing to me ?"
He loved the drying off part though and thought it was great fun to try and eat the towel .
Its nice to have a sweet smelling pup again
Lel

Hi Lel,
So glad it went so well for you.. Isn't it great when you're expecting the worst and it goes well for a change! Oscar was the same as Gus, quite taken aback with the whole experience and not biting and panicky as I'd thought. Oscar looked like a new dog (so bootiful!! :)) I would make it a weekly or fortnightly thing if I could. This morning I took him to the vets for his injection, he was sooo good on the table and only looked around to the vet when the needle went in as if to say " Did you do something there!!" didn't even wince. He behaved very well today when someone came to look at the pond, didn't even nip (just had a little go at his shoe laces..(Well its an improvement on drawing blood!!lol) Maybe something I'm doing is getting through to him..Good luck with Gus.

Regards Sandyxx :)

i bath our mini shcnauzer once a week is this too often then?

Ps he enjoys the baths

Hope not.. I don't class myself as a fussy person.. but I 'd much rather have a nice wiff than a not nice wiff..our pup definately has a nicer feel about him after his bath,, I didn't use any shampoo. just conditioner..someone told me a long time ago that you can spend an awful lot of money on fancy stuff when just common sense and normal things you use yourself will do.. I hope that all the well experienced people here will forgive us unexperienced puppy owners for worrying about such trivial things..
Sandy xx :)