Oatmeal Shampoo---Puppy Shampoo??

[Brooke&Ryan]

Hi everyone. Julius (14 wks.) has a slight case of dandruff. Of course this is aggrivated every time I brush him. I was just wondering whether or not we could switch him from puppy shampoo to the milder oatmeal shampoo or if I should just stick with the Tearless Puppy shampoo for him now? Just wondering at what age you stopped using the puppy shampoo. It is cold where we live (PA) so the cold air I know is contributing to his dry coat. Could someone please state for Ryan's benefit that Julius does NOT need to be bathed once a week (not that we're doing this but he's been fighting me about it)?

Thanks everyone!

Brooke

[spidey]

He not only doesn't need to be bathed once a week, he doesn't "need" to be bathed AT ALL unless he gets dirty or you're showing him. At very least he shouldn't be bathed more frequently than once every six to eight weeks or so (I was a groomer, I never recommended anything more frequent than every eight weeks for a Rottie). Here's a message for Ryan: dogs do not need to be bathed on a regular basis, especially short-haired dogs, and ESPECIALLY puppies, they do not sweat through their skin, so their skin and coat can be kept clean with brushing and the OCCASIONAL bath (once a year is just fine for a dog with a coat like a Rottie's). Frequent bathing can harm his skin and make him uncomfortable, please stop it. Forget about switching shampoos (although oatmeal is a good choice), just stop bathing him this much and you'll find his skin improves. By the way, the brushing isn't aggravating the dandruff, it's just getting it up off his skin, which is what you want, assuming he's on a good diet, if you brush him more frequently you'll probably find the dandruff subsides (get a hound mitt, they love that, and it's really good for spreading the oils around)..IF YOU STOP BATHING HIM SO MUCH! ;) The bathing is contributing to his dry skin, not helping it.

[Carina43]

Oh, I agree...I don't think my dogs get bathed more than once a year in spring, to help remove all the winter coat! And they are clean & shiny & smell good too. :) Maybe I'm just a bad dog-mom and a slob.... :p

I do damp-towel them to get rid of dead hair and surface dirt sometimes. Cooper gets a quick towelling every week before his therapy visit. he often comes to work with me when I'm painting, he lies in drywall dust and dirt, but it all seems to fall out of his fur (and he's long haired, so he can really pick up lots of crud!)

I believe good diet has a big influence on coat cleanliness and doggie odor, mine eat raw and honestly have gorgeous coats.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Thank you all for your posts!:)

Brooke

[Brooke&Ryan]

Must look like Brooke and I are having a tiff. Anyways, the reason I would want to give him a bath is because of him getting covered in road grime from his walks. We have snow on the ground here and during the day it melts, which makes the streets and sidewalks very muddy and gross. In this case I would assume that means he is dirty. With that said how often should I give him a bath? About 4 weeks ago I had to give him a bath because the grime that was on him was caked on his entire underside. Just to give you another example of how dirty he gets, Brooke insited that in no way would she sit on the seat in the car that he sat on, yes it is a gray seat that is now black. Once a year, should we stick with the bathing schedule? If not is it ok to just put him in the tub and hose him down? I would think in the wild a dog would to through water every day or so.

Thanks!

Ryan

[spidey]

It's fine to wipe him off or hose him down (with warm water, of course). Just try to avoid putting soap on him unless you absolutely have to, it's the soap that's the real problem here, not the water (although if you must use soap, use an oatmeal shampoo for dogs and dilute it by at least half, if not more - grooming tip: always dilute shampoos (unless they're prescribed medicated shampoos which must be used full-strength) by at least half, they work better, are easier to rinse cleanly and you save money). However, I have always trained my dogs to lie by the back door (on a mat) until the mud dries off, and then you can just brush it off, that way you don't even have to hose them off. A hound mitt will usually get off any amount of dried mud, and a damp towel should get anything the hound mitt misses.

[rottsnroses]

Rottweilers don't have high maintenance coats or foul doggie odors like some breeds do. In 9½ years, Reno only had about 6 real baths. A good brushing is really all he ever needed, and unless he got really stinky dirty, a clear water rinse was all that was necessary.

Max has had 3 baths to get out stinky puppy odors. We like Hylyt, a soapless shampoo we get at the vets office. If you do bathe him, make sure you rinse, rinse and rinse to get out all the residue, and don't use human products on him.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Spidey---

Is THIS what you mean by a hound mitt? Julius & I went to pet co & the local pet store today looking for one and couldn't find one. Is this it?


Thanks!

Brooke

[spidey]

What I call a hound mitt looks more like this.

It's also not a bad idea to get a slicker brush for shedding times (try and find a softer one with shorter bristles, rather than the ones with really long bristles). Shedding blades for horses (which you can get at tack shops) also work well (ones like the one I linked fold in half to give you a loop you can use as a brush).

[mmgy]

Our dogs typically get bathed once a season, and maybe if they're going visiting. Like to my mother's house---she's not a dog person, so if we smell like lavender-mint it gives her one less thing to gripe about! My brittanys, who stay filthy from hard living (play!!), get a bath whenever training starts over. If they don't, all the other over-CLEAN dogs and their owners will look down on us!!! (Snobs!)

M2

[Brooke&Ryan]

Spidey---
Thanks for the links. It looks like Julius & I will be heading back to Pet Co. tomorrow to get one! He'll be happy about that since the cashier gave him a yummy treat today. He's my little vaccuum cleaner. I saw one exactly like that but I just wasn't sure. I actually have a shedding blade from my horse riding days....so I'll have to see if I can dig it up. Thanks again for responding.

:)
Brooke