How often can I bathe my poodle mix? (clean, skin, diet)

[atina33]

She gets groomed about 4 times/year but how often can I bathe her between groomings? Monthly?

She's healthy and has no skin issues.

Thanks.

[WildnFree]

How does she feel in between her grooming?

We had folks bring in their dogs almost weekly for grooming which is to much IMO, as it strips the oils from the dog's skin. I have short haired breeds so normally when I feel "build-up" on my hands I bathe them. When I had longer hair breeds I was able to stretch it out by a few months. Brushing really helps too. Or you can try wipes

[atina33]

I do brush her so she doesn't actually feel all that dirty under normal circumstances but she will start to smell a bit.

Today, however, I took her to the dog park and her whole "undercarriage" was a mess. And this is a dog park with no grass, just dry gravel!

Is every 6 weeks or so too much bathing?

[WildnFree]

Actually that's the recommendation we gave to our clients. Unless their dog had allergies then a bit more frequent. If she really smells bad, I'd bath her otherwise I would try the wipes.

[strawberrykiki]

I think every 6 weeks sounds about right. That's probably about how long I go inbetween baths for my dog. I can tell when my hands start to feel dirty after I pet him that he needs a bath again.

[LynnKrause1]

My cockapoo is groomed every 8 weeks...in between, we give him one bath. He stays clean and does not smell bad. Groomer has not complained about lack of oil in his coat, so I think we're good.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Since I've had show dogs for decades, I can assure you that they can be bathed once a week, plus another 2 baths on the weekend and their coats and skin will be fine. You must use good quality shampoo, a conditioner, and a very good diet.

Skin and hair quality comes from the diet. Once you have good condition on the skin and coat, you can wash all you want to as long as you don't strip the oils from the coat and you replace any oils lost with a good conditioner.

Many dog shampoos are too harsh. Use top of the line dog shampoos or else use shampoo made for show horeses. Show horses are bathed frequently, sometimes daily, and horses have very sensitive skin. Show horse shampoo will not harm a dog's coat or skin.

If the only problem is odor and not dirt, then use a brush-out dry shampoo made for show dogs. Or even just use cornstarch. Work it through the coat and then brush it out.

Or the dog can be spritzed with some diluted Listerine mouthwash and toweled off with a slight damp towel.

Dogs who get eye stains need to have the face washed every day to keep the staining under control.

[nmnita]

We try to wash our little guys eyes out, because of the stains about every few days. Other than that and brushing we do nothing between groomings. We don't even brush him too often, he hates it. We do have him groomed about every 8 to 10 weeks.