How often should I give them a bath?

[PrinceCody]

How often should I give my dogs baths? I have a short haired lab and a long haired lab and golden retriever.

[Dax]

Both dogs can go swimming and get hosed off every couple of days or more but only wash with dog shampoo spareingly. I would say once every 6-8 weeks is plenty.

[Moo]

Long coat lab?

[Dog Watcher]

I own a Rottweiler and a Doberman which I have never bathed and I have owned the Rottie for 5 years and the Dobe for 2. I keep up on their grooming with a good slicker and shedding blade. A pumice stone also comes in handy to get rid of excess coat. The worst skin problems I have seen (dandruff, hot spots, dry skin etc.) have been due to over bathing the dog. If you do bath often ensure that you are replenishing the coat with a conditioner as the bathing process (especially if you are drying the dog with a high velocity dryer) can zap the moisture and essential oils out of the coat. Use shampoos that are gentle or mild, I use a nice oatmeal shampoo for my Newfoundland dogs...but, there is one brand of oatmeal shampoo (I'll get the name) that I have seen cause skin problems in dogs. My Newf's get bathed and groomed every 3 months, but, I do keep them brushed out daily they have to be in good shape for the dog shows.

With a Lab I would just keep up on the brushing to get rid of the dead coat. Bath him when necessary only. When you have the Lab sud's up use a slicker brush to remove excess coat. It works wonders when the dog is lathered up to remove dead coat...I do this with my Newf's every time they are sud's up.

[goldensammy]

I would bathe them about every 8-10 weeks... that's how often I bathe Sammy (golden). In addition, during the summer, it may be more like 6-8 weeks since there's many more ways he can get into a mess . For the most part, I would only bathe them when necessary, at every 8-10 weeks. I'm not sure about other dogs, but goldens have oils on their coats that act as auto cleaners kinda... they clean the coat of dust and dirt. If you wash them too often, this can wear away the oils, which is definetely not recommended.

[BabyElephant]

Originally Posted by Moo

Long coat lab?

I was just thinking the same Moo. As for the question, I bath Poppy (a lab) every 6-8 weeks.

[PrinceCody]

My dog is a lab and a golden retriever mix, so he has long thick hair. We usually get him clipped in the summer though.