# Bath time?



## ridestride (Mar 7, 2013)

How's the bath time in your V land? Ours is very cooperative yet feels utterly miserable and pathetic. Also, is your V a dirt magnet. I am horrified to find the amount of dirt she carries on her. If there is 1 thing I wish V's did - is to clean themselves. How frequently do you wash your's?


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Our Vizsla gets skin irritation from local pollen and salt water so we wash him once a week as this helps keep him from breaking out in hives. We use a moisturizing natural shampoo to prevent dry skin and supplement with fish oil and have not had any trouble with his skin being too dry. We call Sunday his 'spa day.' He gets bath, brush, nails dremeled, teeth brushed, and ears cleaned. He's just a bit spoiled


----------



## dmak (Jul 25, 2012)

My pup does clean himself and it's my understanding that most Vs do self clean. ****, my pup even maintains his nails (we only have to grind the front nails, never his back, every 6-8 weeks) We typically only bath him during the fall/winter hunting seasons cause he gets incredibly dirty working in the swamps. Other than that, he usually only gets cleaned once every 2-3 months. We typically put him in the shower with one of us, its proved to be the easiest and most effective way. For shampoo, we use Johnson and Johnson tear free baby shampoo/oil and it works excellently.


----------



## datacan (May 15, 2011)

They lick themselves like cats... 
Wipe her down with baby wipes from Costco, washing and shampooing them too often will just make them and you weaker.
I wash Sammy every two to three weeks (unless he rolls in something nasty) a quick shower with some Maine and Tail shampoo. He also sleeps with us on occasion... 

*"One leading researcher, Dr. Joel V. Weinstock, the director of gastroenterology and hepatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said in an interview that the immune system at birth "is like an unprogrammed computer. It needs instruction."

"Children raised in an ultraclean environment," he added, "are not being exposed to organisms that help them develop appropriate immune regulatory circuits.""*

more and more research suggests living in a sterile world is not any healthier for us.


----------



## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

dmak said:


> My pup does clean himself and it's my understanding that most Vs do self clean. ****, my pup even maintains his nails (we only have to grind the front nails, never his back, every 6-8 weeks) We typically only bath him during the fall/winter hunting seasons cause he gets incredibly dirty working in the swamps. Other than that, he usually only gets cleaned once every 2-3 months. We typically put him in the shower with one of us, its proved to be the easiest and most effective way. For shampoo, we use Johnson and Johnson tear free baby shampoo/oil and it works excellently.


Funny that - Ester chews her nails on her back paws too! Never had a dog that did that before, but they always let me clip them, she is the worst for not letting me near her paws. Thinking of getting a dremmel, but don't want to freak her out even more! As for bathing, she gets a wash down daily at present, due to coming home filthy dirty after her run, mainly just belly and legs, but has only had a couple of baths since we got her last Easter. Her coat is still lovely, and she also has a regular rub down with a rubber glove, to remove all the dead hairs. I like the shower idea though, makes more sense, as at least it contains all the water. With a bath, most of the water ends up sprayed all over the walls and floor!!!


----------



## Vida (Dec 26, 2011)

Hose mine when they get muddy,depends on the weather ???
They only get a proper shampoo in the tub when they really need it! So not very often. :-* They all love a nice bath and will jump in with me given half a chance ;D
I use kids tea tree oil shampoo or dog shampoo if I have any :
If you bath them too much they lose the natural oils in their coat. :-\


----------



## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

If you bath them too much they lose the natural oils in their coat. :-\ 
[/quote]I agree, that's why I don't bathe Ester very often.


----------



## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

Sorry Vida, tried to add a quote of yours, but not very good at it. Think you get the drift!


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Ya I get that washing the too often can cause some loss of natural oils, but for us it's a trade off of less oils or daily Benadryl and hives. He seems to be outgrowing his allergies, it's high pollen count here and he hasn't broken out yet.


----------



## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

Oh bless him. No sign of any pollen here (UK), just lots of snow!!!


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We had lots of testing done on his skin and all came back negative for mites, ringworm etc. he was diagnosed with seasonal allergies and the vet said he would likely outgrow it. We were doubtful having struggled with it for 6 months, but at 15 months for the first time since 7 months he is not breaking out after hikes and has had not had any big hives in a month! So hopefully if this continues we can back off on our efforts to keep pollen off his coat.


----------



## FLgatorgirl (Mar 11, 2013)

The first month or two we had our girl she battled with bumps, hives, rashes etc that twice turned into a staph infection on her skin. The vet said they often grow out of it as the immune system matures. When she started her daily play dates with her best buddy, I noticed how much they were wrestling in the grass and even though she did not look dirty, I decided to clean her up because she seemed so prone to infection. She gets wiped down every afternoon with a warm wet microfiber cloth with a drop or two of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castille Soap (liquid). Then another wipe down with the cloth rinsed out. Not a single problem since we started doing this. Even if she does not get dirty, I wipe her down with just a wet microfiber to get the pollen off of her and any loose hair. It has not dried her coat out at all and we get a lot of comments on her shiny coat. 

The Dr. Bronner's soap is all natural, organic and gentle enough to use on babies (I grew up with it and use it myself). The peppermint is supposed to help with fleas and *BONUS* it gets rid of the nasty smell if there is an anal gland issue. I even used it to get the anal gland nastiness off of furniture. It is also said to work on a dog that has been sprayed by a skunk.


----------



## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

FLgatorgirl

Never heard of Bronners Peppermint Castille soap. Sounds interesting. Not sure it's available over here in the uk though.


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

Pippylongstocking said:


> FLgatorgirl
> 
> Never heard of Bronners Peppermint Castille soap. Sounds interesting. Not sure it's available over here in the uk though.



I just put my anorac on and Googled the soap...you can buy it from Amazon.uk....


----------



## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Dozer hates the bath but will stand there for it. And he needs them weekly due to all of his skin conditions. Penny loves a bath but at 11 months old she probably only had two. Ive rinsed her several times and if she can jump In during Dozers bath, watch out. however i do also find it easier to just put them in the shower with me. Glad I'm not the only crazy out there.


----------



## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

We use Bronners too! My husband used to keep sheep and they used castille soap so it made sense to do Bronners. Wilson gets a bath as needed -- usually about every 2-3 weeks. He gets rubbed down with a curry brush and some natures miracle deodorizer in between or when we don't have time for a bath


----------



## FLgatorgirl (Mar 11, 2013)

Pippylongstocking--

Dr. Bronner's web site shows the following link for UK distribution http://www.kinetic4health.co.uk/dynamic/browse.php?department=HF210

Bronner's is somewhat of a 60's hippie soap and has quite a following. Lots of interesting reading about it on the web. It is also very popular with boaters and campers because it has a number of uses and it is biodegradable. 

If you or your V have super sensitive skin, the almond or baby formula might be recommended over the peppermint. The peppermint is tingly with essential oils so be very careful around eyes and possibly private bits . Our girl really likes getting cleaned up with the microfiber cloth after playing and will actually sit next to me while the water is warming up. However, if you try to hose her down outside she has a full blown fit!


----------



## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Jasper...tolerates baths. He'll hold still as long as you stay there with him, but turn your back and he'll jump out. He only wants to be wet when it's fun for him and inconvenient for me. 

I usually just put him in the shower with me for a rinse down if he's dusty. Baths only if he's particularly gross because he rolled in something. That would normally only end up meaning a shampoo twice or so a year. Unfortunately we've recently had to do a few more than that because of...DUCK POOP. We go to a park with a swampy area that some ducks love. When the water level gets low there's a lot of splashing along the banks, chasing ducks. Which causes some mud and whatever duck poop might be mixed in to end up covering his legs and belly.

For the life of me, I cannot get this stuff to rinse off his coat. Normal dried mud will just rinse off, or I can brush it off easily once it's dry. But this weird duck-poop-swamp-mud will not come off with water or brush alone. I tried using a washcloth to give it a little more friction, and that didn't work either. It's shampoo or nothing. Has anyone else had experience with this? I hate to be shampooing him that often, but I also don't want that stuff staying on him!


----------



## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Mine sleep in bed with me, so it's important that they are always clean. Having said that, none of my three have EVER had a bath. I just wet a towel with warm water and rub it up their coat backwards. Squeeky clean!!!  It's not just my nose either, I just had a friend visit yesterday and she is sensitive to doggy smells and could not believe how wonderful my dogs smell.


----------



## FLgatorgirl (Mar 11, 2013)

Ozkar,

That is pretty much what we have done with our 9 month old girl. She has never had a real bath, just the rub down with a warm wet microfiber cloth with a dab of Dr. Bronner's typically daily. She also gets in the pool some when the weather is warm. I have tried hosing mud off of her the two times she got in our swamp and she freaked out. So I convinced her to get in the pool even though the water was a bit chilly. She has no smell either. The daily wipedown with the cloth works great.


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

My sister has hot and cold running water plumbed to an outside faucet, mostly for car washing. So Willie gets two "baths" each year, spring and fall, standing in my sister's driveway. We use nice, warm water and no tears puppy shampoo, and he seems to enjoy it... because he has FOUR hands rubbing him all over. My sister loves Willie, so she's always happy to help!

Then, the rest of the time, he gets wiped down with a towel that has been dampened with warm water. He always smells good!


----------



## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

mswhipple said:


> My sister has hot and cold running water plumbed to an outside faucet, mostly for car washing. So Willie gets two "baths" each year, spring and fall, standing in my sister's driveway. We use nice, warm water and no tears puppy shampoo, and he seems to enjoy it... because he has FOUR hands rubbing him all over. _*My sister loves Willie, so she's always happy to help!*_
> 
> Then, the rest of the time, he gets wiped down with a towel that has been dampened with warm water. He always smells good!


Is she single??? I've got one that's not being used much at the moment!!!


----------



## River (Sep 24, 2012)

Calm down boy!


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Oh, Ozkar... you're so silly!! 

No, my sister is happily married to bachelor number 3! She says the third time was the charm.

And after two divorces, I am happily single and intend to stay that way. None of that matters to Willie. He loves us both! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


----------



## TAIsMom (Mar 7, 2013)

My Tai loves the shower. He usually jumps in with me 2 or three times a week because he doesn't like to be on the other side of the curtain and he thinks it's fun. He started doing that the first week I'd brought him home and he's been with me for a month now. Gosh time flies!! I can't believe he's already 15 weeks old!

I've only used shampoo on him once, and that was because he was filthy from running in the desert and playing with several other V puppies (they were 20 weekks old). It was his first hunt training this past weekend and he pointed and caught 2 bobwhite! I'm so proud of my little boy! ;D


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

A few postings ago I thought me and Darcy were on the wrong website..LOL.. ;D


----------



## maplevizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

Brandy gets bathed every 2-4 weeks, she has terrible skin allergies and stinks really badly if she is not kept bathed.

Otherwise, my other V's only got bathed before a dog show if I thought they were dirty, rolled in something or for Christmas!

I only use Bio-Groom Protein Lanolin Conditioning Shampoo, and for a dog show a mist of Bio-Groom Mink Oil for extra softness and shine (works lovely on a sunny show day).


----------

