# How Often Do You Bathe Your GSD



## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

Unless they are peeling the paint off the walls, I usually hold off on bathing the dogs for as long as possible. How often do you bathe your dogs and do you do it yourself or use a groomer?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Some dogs are dirtier, like Hannah who loves to run through mud and has a longer plush coat that she enjoys getting as foul as possible, and others are just clean. 

I used to have the mobile groomer come, and I have taken them all to PetsMart at various times. Usually I have a reason, like a CGC test, or a show to actually do the all out groomer thing. 

If the weather is nice and warm, I will bathe them with shampoo and the water hose if they are dirty. If it is cold, I really avoid bathing for the most part. I have used the tub. I have one of those shower hoses that puts the sprayer down in my hand, but I would then have to crate the girl probably over night before letting her back outside again. So usually, I just brush them out in the winter and do not bathe unless it is really important.


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## Jaxx's mom (Jul 14, 2013)

I always give Jaxx a bath after places like the dog park, even if he didn't get dirty. (We only go like once a month) but other than that I only give him a bath about once a month. I heard that your not supposed to bath dogs very much because it could dry their fur out and cause dandruff. And if he smells so bad that I can't take it anymore I give him a bath. I also brush him every day. 
And no, I don't go to groomers I do it all myself. 


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

once or twice a year. in the summer i lather him up and rinse/spray
him with the hose. in the winter i bathe him in the tub. i cover the
bath tub floor with wet towels. he steps into the tub on command.
i lather him up and rinse him off with the shower hose.


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Mine swim once or twice per week.


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## readaboutdogs (Jul 8, 2001)

Couple times a year when the weather is warm, couldn't get them in the tub!


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## trcy (Mar 1, 2013)

Mine is 9 months old and had had one bath, but he loves to lounge on the baja step if the pool and he swims at least once a day.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

My female(will be 2 in Sept) had one bath given by me when she was a baby and last month she went to the groomers. She only went to the groomers because we were moving and that was a good place to have her so we didn't have to worry about her(or the other dogs) while we moved. My male has not had a bath since I got him and that was in May. I thought he was going to need it, but after a really good brushing his coat cleaned up nicely. I don't foresee giving him one in the very near future either. They don't smell and their coats are great. Ears and nails are done by me.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

I only bathe mine when they are at the dog shows. They just don't get smelly. Occasionally I'll hose one off if they get really muddy, but that's it. I'm a groomer, and have access to bathing anytime I want, but they don't seem to need it!


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## Narny (Sep 8, 2010)

Monthly, I bathe her on the 30th or 31st of every month. 

Lulu gets smelly because she gets in her pond every other day or so.


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## Jaxx's mom (Jul 14, 2013)

dogfaeries said:


> I only bathe mine when they are at the dog shows. They just don't get smelly. Occasionally I'll hose one off if they get really muddy, but that's it. I'm a groomer, and have access to bathing anytime I want, but they don't seem to need it!


Your lucky that they don't get smelly. Jaxx will start smelling after a week but I don't want to dry his coat out so I hold off until the end of each month. 


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

Bath as... bath? Twice a year. Myself on the tub. As a rule of thumb I never pay to do anything I can do myself.

In summer they swim once or twice a week and in winter a good rainy day does the trick. In the outdoor kennels they have alfalfa hay as bedding and it helps a lot not to have wet smelling dogs as with other kind of bedding, but on the contrary, a good smell when the hay is fresh.

I also have a small stream that crosses the yard, so when they are too muddy I make them walk there before entering to the house


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## shugarhey (Jul 29, 2013)

Mine is 10 weeks old and I have given him one bath and it was horrible. He hated it. So I took him to petsmart this weekend. They have a puppy special $10.99 for puppies up to 5 months old so I am going to take him monthly so he can get use to them. He has had a coupe accidents in his kennel so he was starting to have a urine smell. He is has gotten better over the last few days. Hopefully that will continue so he doesn't need them often.
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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

All of the dirty dogs who LOVE mud/dirt seem to make it to my house! I used to wash the dogs every time they went to the pond/lake because of the smell, but I've found that brushing after they are dry takes care of that. I usually only bathe two-three times per year for my personal dogs. For rescue dogs it just depends on how they are when they come in. I always give a bath before they go the new home though.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I love the blower. That and a slicker seem to be enough to keep him clean. Coat does no smell. He has a pool and loves to wallow in mud.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

About every 6 months.
Hans does not stink. 
I got a blower for taking care of loose hair and was delighted to discover it also refreshes the fur and skin.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Gryffon, hardley ever. He is four, I think he I just recently gave him his 2nd bath of his life. Keeta has some minor incontinence issues, and her coat does not shed water and dirt like a GSD coat does, so she gets baths more often, maybe every four, five months? 

Both dogs are on raw, so no doggy smell. We have six months of solid freezing weather with snow and ice, so during that time the dogs stay clean (LOVE IT!). The worse is spring thaw and fall, when we have a lot of rais, then they get easily muddy, but I get them swimming a lot to help them stay clean during that time. 

I bathe and groom my dogs myself - Keeta gets some coat trimmed, legs and feet cleaned up from lots of hair to keep her cleaner and to keep getting too much dirt tracked into the house.


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## Rogue's Mama (Aug 8, 2013)

My dogs will get a bath about every 6 - 8 weeks during the summer months because they like to play in the mud and it is HOT here so they start stinking pretty bad. But in the colder months, I usually only bathe them once or twice. I do brush them constantly which helps a lot to reduce the amount of bathing they would need.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

I try to bathe them once a month all year around. I do it in the tub. They love to have their baths!


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

We bathe the dogs about 2-3 times a year unless they are realllllly nasty and water just doesn't do the trick. I usually stick to a good grooming routine every week, and use supplements that help keep the coat healthy and promote natural oils. When they are just a little dirty, I wash them down with water....... they love playing with the hose (except Zira.. she hates water), so we do this often to let them run around and keep them cool during the summer. This is good for keeping some dirty off of them.

When we do bathe them, it's outdoors, good brushing before and after. We use oatmeal shampoo, and I use tea tree oil every once in a while to soothe their skin (and it smells awesome!!). 

I think a good grooming session once a week is the most important thing for this breed... it works for mine, they stay pretty clean.


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## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

2-3 times a year. We gave Joey a bath in the spring; when he was recently kenneled overnight at the vet, he got bathed and groomed there.

He grooms himself a lot, and does not smell.


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## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

Wow! I am really impressed that you all have such clean natured dogs and can bathe them so infrequently! I give mine a bath at least once a week to once every two weeks. Two weeks is really stretching it though. My male goes to the office with my wife so he has to be clean or her boss will make an issue of it. My new pup loves to find some wet mud hole to lay in so she is always dirty. I can't stand a dirty dog in the house so they get bathed very often. We usually bathe them on Sunday evening after all the activities of the week end are over that way they are clean and ready for the new week ahead.


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

I wash my guys probably every 8-10 weeks or so, if they haven't gotten dirty enough to warrant a bath for some reason in the interval. They don't really get smelly, but they do get a little oily, and I don't want them messing up the carpets or furniture any more than they have to.

Yesterday Pongu rolled around in some fox poop while we were out hiking in the woods, so he got a bath for that.

Crookytail likes to wallow around in any stream, pond, or giant mud puddle he can find, but he knocks the dirt off when it dries, so I usually only have to wash him about 50% of the time after he does that.


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