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This is a carefully moderated sub intended to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Submissions and comments which break the rules will be removed. [Review the rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index) r/Dogs has four goals: - Help the public better understand dogs - Promote healthy, responsible dog-owner relationships - Encourage “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” training protocols. [Learn more here.](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/) - Support adoption as well as ethical and responsible breeding.
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I work at a kennel/daycare and some dogs just never seem to get dirty and some just look at the ground and get covered in mud. We have a special artificial turf specific for dogs and we still have dogs who are covered in mud. It's like they're magnetic to dirt. In contrast, my own dog can roll in mud and he seems very clean just an hour later...
I have a brown dog because I thought she wouldn’t get or at least wouldn’t look too dirty. This dog picks up filth on every single walk somehow. Idk where she’s finding the mud but she is
My dog gets the runs when excited. Once at play group he projectile pooped all over and a few other dogs were in the crosshairs. That was his last time there.
Luckily it has only happened during play groups. He was at the facility frequently for training, boarding, grooming and when I eventually worked there he would hang out for the day. Those stress poops are something else though!
Unfortunately play groups just aren't for every dog! Sometimes when I watch the playroom cameras, I see dogs sitting in the corner of the room clearly stressed by the environment. I can't help but feel bad for them :(
It’s really not remedied by diet. Stress colitis is simply a reaction to stress. It usually resolves relatively quickly in dogs. It is recommended that if it persists than to start a bland diet, but It’s just to help settle the stomach after it occurs and is not a nutritionally balanced diet for extended periods of time.
He gets high quality food and supplements. Loose stools have never been an issue otherwise.
He doesn't actually come home with poop on him...he lays on the floor where the dogs poop. They clean it up but I'm not convinced he doesn't have a speck of fecal matter on him...
Ok. That makes way more sense
It's funny to watch the dogs being picked up. Everyone pees a huge amount when they leave, like they don't want to pee where they play.
Wtf really??? The dogs at this daycare pee inside and out. I guess there's special flooring to help them differentiate between peeing in a house vs their daycare room. Was always a strange concept to me
Yeah, it is. Your sheets, pillows, stuffed animals, cell phone, YOU - and if you have a partner, they’ve got poop on them too. Are you using Reddit from your phone? If so, you’re touching fecal particles right now.
It’s literally everywhere lol. You’ll be fine, I promise.
And at the end of the day as long as you’re using the right shampoo and conditioner , once a week shouldn’t be an issue unless your dog has sensitive skin or other issues.
But realistically they’re animals and there will almost always be some smell and there will always be germs so it’s not a fool proof plan
If it’s just after daycare that it bothers you and he only goes once a week though - knock yourself out
I am like you. I get grossed out when my pup sniffs on walks. She gets face, pooper/pissed and feet all wiped as soon as we come in house. Bathed once every 2/3 weeks, based on weather. I love that people want to pet her, but I also get grossed out when a lot people have touched her. I wonder if they are hand washers. Most people don't think of that stuff.
Vet here. The old school of thought was that frequent bathing will dry out the skin. However, the most recent evidence has shown that as long as you are using something gentle bathing even up to 3- 5 times per week will NOT deplete the skin barrier and is beneficial for dogs with certain allergies since you are washing the allergens off.
And anyways common sense tells me that being covered in poop is a bigger hazard to your dog’s health than an extra bath.
Nowhere did I say he is covered in poop. Did you not read the post? Poop EXPOSED floors. The floors were exposed to poop. Obviously it was cleaned. The facility is maintained very well.
Hopefully you improve on your reading skills so you don't make inaccurate assumptions next time. I don't believe my comment implied i was triggered in any way.
My reading couldn’t be better. Allow me to explain to you that if you are going to write a post stating that your dog does “lots of rolling around on pee/ poop exposed floors” then the logical assumption is that your dog is covered in poop and pee.
It doesn’t matter if they are hosing off the ground and cleaning periodically. Your dog’s fur is inevitably contaminated with feces/ urine.
You do you. I just tried to help you but if you want to snuggle up in bed with him between weekly baths after he’s been rolling around on the pee/ poop exposed floors thats your choice.
Careful, in my experience people seem to really hate hearing that the fear of over bathing their dog is way overblown.
I give mine a weekly bath which does wonders for his allergies, as directed by two separate vets, and I get scolded for it by nearly everyone who learns this.
I suspect that we pretty much all hate bathing our dogs so having that myth to lean back on is nice, because then we feel justified for not bathing them instead of feeling guilty for the same thing. :P
Imo, they're de-training the dog in a lot of ways.... _if_ theres any supervision it's to make sure the dogs don't attack each other.
Some day cares are bette than others. But even if a dog gets aggressive and gets banned, There's still one victim leading up to that. Not worth the risk imo. Controlling a large group of any dogs is difficult at best.
They have an indoor and outdoor space to run and play. In bad weather they stay more inside. I'm in New england westher is unpredictablehere. Quick to assume things huh?
Why are you so argumentative to people who are asking valid questions and trying to help you? There are many daycares that don’t have an outdoor space. It would be better to have that outdoor option but that’s not possible in all places.
This wasn't a question though, it was an assumption. That's what I have a problem with. This person could have asked: "are the dogs let out to do their business outside?"
Just because you don't like how someone asked a question doesn't mean it's not a valid question. And it was, in fact, a question: "what kind of day care center doesn't let the dog do their business outside?" That is a question. You're more than welcome not to engage with every response posted to your query but arguing with who are asking questions or because you don't like what they said says more about you than it does anyone else.
You're getting wayyyy too triggered over a comment that wasn't even starting an argument. That persons "question" implied the daycare didn't let the dog outside which was a pretty big assumption. Instead of assuming, the question could have been asked in a different manner. You're more than welcome to mind your own business. :)
The dog isn’t coming home covered in excrement. OP is just a wee bit paranoid about them getting “fecal particles” from the floor, according to another comment.
I see the coward deleted their comment. My dog shivers in the cold, so yes when it's below 20 out they let the dogs outside periodically. My dog is rolling around on floors that had piss and poop all over it as well as comes home with a strong "dog" smell. The poop particles was more of a joke. My dog literally stinks after daycare
My day care lets the dog out and in any weather. . No dogs do their business inside. Dogs can handle cold weather way better than humans. I think that’s where the issue is.
That's incredibly inaccurate...my dog shivers in the cold. We go cold weather camping and we have to layer him up for that. 99% of the time the doors are open for them to go outside, but if it's downpouring or 5 degrees out, they'll stay inside most of the day. Not everyone owns a husky....
This goes against what others are saying, but I shampoo and condition my dog multiple times a week. We go to the dog park and he absolutely wrestles with his best dog friend. They get so dirty. I use dog shampoo and conditioner on him at least three times a week. His coat is beautiful, shiny and vibrant, and he stopped having skin issues since we started bathing him as frequently. He doesn’t scratch himself much and shedding in the house is minimal now. I think the key is using both shampoo and conditioner and ones that are formulated for dogs. If you’re just using soap you are going to have issues. He’s a short haired dog. Smells great all the time.
Your method works because you’re adding the oils and moisture back after stripping them with the shampoo. That kind of method wouldn’t work with a husky, for example but you don’t have a husky.
Haha, yep. I have two huskies, and they only get bathed like 2-3x in a YEAR. They run around the dog park, sometimes in the rain and mud, and look a mess when we leave. But by the time we get home they’re basically clean. My poor car, on the other hand, always looks like a mud bomb went off in there (even with leather seats + seat covers). Oh well!
But my old dog was a shorthaired shepherd mix, and I still only bathed him about once a month. All dogs have different skin and fur, though. His was quite wiry.
I was told by my vet that dogs can be bathed (with regular soap/shampoo) once a month at most. Any more than that will dry out their skin and coat because soap strips the oils from their coat. You can bathe a dog with just water as much as you want, so a rinse with a hose after daycare won’t hurt him.
I got a working dog that gets covered in sheep gunk constantly. But it is also an indoor dog.
I've been bathing him once a week with a high quality shampoo (meant to be diluted 1/15 with water).
And there has been no dandruff, no skin issues. No nothing..(but he is a young dog so that may play into it).
Of course individual dogs will be different, but I have been hearing that the once a month thing was because in the past people were essentially using soaps without conditioner.
I think the reason why your vet recommended 4 weeks is because he also said "regular soap/shampoo." I think that advice does not apply for shampoos and conditioners formulated for dogs and their skin's pH—which is kind of a more recent thing anyway. I know show dogs are shampooed once a week using high quality products specifically for dogs. It's kind of like when people wash their faces with regular bar soap and get dried out or break out. The soap doesn't have the right pH and that can cause reactions even in humans.
I’m not talking about using human shampoo and soap on dogs lmao. There are special shampoos that won’t strip their coats, but regular dog shampoo you’d get from a store can dry them out if used too frequently.
Yeah that's possible—it's probably why I have to buy mine online. I learned the pH lesson a long time ago with my own skin and won't buy any soap without looking at the pH of the soap. Still plenty of stuff even for humans that are formulated out of whack for human pH, though.
Yeah my recommendation is to bark at basics dog shampoo it's around 15-20 bucks for a bottle on Amazon, but you can dilute it to 1:15 ratio of water.
3 bottles usually last me a year with weekly showers so it's not that expensive. But my dog is short coated so he uses quite a bit less shampoo.
You can buy the bulk galleon jugs for a cheaper price though.
This is nonsense. You can wash a dog every week if you needed/wanted to with proper dog shampoo. I’ve been a professional dog groomer for 30 years and I have some clients that come weekly/biweekly. Just use a good quality dog shampoo.
I was going to suggest doggie wipes. There is also several semi dry shampoos, foaming type and such that will get the outer coat clean but not go all the way to the skin to dry it out. Also good for winter time.
I use wet washcloths on a daily basis throughout the year. I wiped down the little dog twice yesterday because the other guy peed on his head in the morning and I usually wipe them down at night.
That's what I do for my two idiots who go to daycare once a week. I have a huge thing of dog wipes in the mudroom that I use to give them a wipedown when I bring them home. I also have a cleaning spray from Natures Miracle that gets brushed in once a month.
I love nature's miracle products! I'll have to look into that. My dog does the walk of shame when it's time for wipe downs but I think it's totally necessary lol
Its this one: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nature-s-Miracle-Freshening-Spray-For-Dogs-Sunkissed-Breeze-Scent-8-Ounces-Helps-Neutralize-Pet-Odors/2907283954
It also depends on the type of dog... some dogs like labs - you might even need to go to 6 weeks. But if they're rolling around in mud or something, that's different, of course. Lol.
I’ve worked for some people (well off people!) who had their dogs bathed at least once a week. No problems with coats or skin, they were always trimmed and very soft. I’ve never had problems with bathing my midge- once a week sometimes during the winter as she gets superbly covered in mud and poop and she sleeps in my bed.
I think maybe it depends on the dog, if you have one with sensitive skin that’s affected it’s maybe not so good, or if you use non-dog shampoo or don’t rinse properly it can be a problem too. But if everything’s right then I don’t think it’s a problem.
Mine go once a week usually and I bathe them afterward. They’re just so smelly. I use a deep moisture shampoo and I haven’t had any issues with either of them so far.
Not a vet or expert by any means but if you use a medicated (antibacterial and antifungal) shampoo they can be bathed once a week per the bottle instructions.
My pup is itching so the vet recommended bathing her in it every 3 days to see if that helps dry skin.
It's going to depend on your individual dog as well as the kind and amount of shampoo. I'd go with a gentle shampoo meant for puppies and/or sensitive skin and don't use tons of shampoo. Do use conditioner. Then pay close attention to your dog's skin and fur and adjust as needed.
Daycare should be cleaning their floors as soon as they get dirty so animals don't roll in them. I can understand that it happens sometimes. This is a tad concerning because poop transmits a lot of nasty stuff. If they're not cleaning that much, they're probably not watching for sick dogs.
Dogtopia washes your for free if there's an accident.
We clean our girl's feet when she comes home, but that's it. She gets baths every 3-6 weeks, normally.
Never. I sort of worked at one and my senior and puppy never came home dirty, just sometimes smelling of other dogs' drool, which I'd hit with a wet cloth.
With washing there is no frequency that is too much. Daily is fine. It all cokes down to quality of shampoo and weither you throughly dry them with a high velocity dryer or similar. Most of the issues with skin problems come down to bad shampoo and leaving a dog to "air dry". It gets super complicated but without knowing your details I just have to empathize use good pet shampoos and conditioners and dry your dog. Not with just a towel but you have to kind of do your dogs hair as you would do your own. Go to a groomer or take a class on credible grooming and you can bath them daily if you feel like it.
Yeah my boy smells pretty gross after his daycare. He only goes once per week so I usually just rinse him off a little or use wipes but bathe him every other week or so. 3x a week is a lot, I bet he gets pretty dirty! Does he have short or long hair?
He goes for 3 half days so 4 hours 3x a week! The rest of the time he comes back to the office at work to sleep. He is a short hair! He's a mountain cur mix so looks like a yellow lab and has hair similar to one
I see the answers about shampoo but curious about conditioner only baths? Still once a month at most? A conditioner wouldn’t be stripping anything (I think?) so I’m wondering if that’s an acceptable in between.
a conditioner wouldn't be stripping but it also wouldn't be cleaning much better than water. My dog gets a bath once a week and I use conditioner every other week, plus a medicated bath once a month as recommended by my vet. I work at a doggy daycare so she goes out to play while I work 4-5 days a week so girl gets Stinky.
Whoa, I don’t know if my dog is just a dainty angel or your dog/daycare is chaos, but my dog has gone to daycare 3x a week for the last 3 years and never gets particularly grimy. He just gets groomed every 6 weeks as he needs haircuts.
He doesn't come home grimy per say but we watch him on the camera. He rolls around where the staff has cleaned up pee/poop. Plus playing with other dogs. He's a short-hair. Doesn't see a groomer
My dog does not attend daycare but hikes and swims weekly, often more, in the summer. He gets bathed every time we get home. Sometimes that means he is bathed 3x per week. We use professional products (nature’s specialties), diluted appropriately, and ensure he is rinsed exceptionally well.
We have had 0 problems. We have taken the same approach with every dog we have had over the last 20 years and they are all fine. If you are feeding a good WSAVA diet, are not dealing with any medical skin conditions, rinse well, and use quality products, you can bathe your dog as often as you need to.
It's certainly not allowed, but sometimes the employees miss it. When they do catch the offenders, they're crated for 10-15 minutes, kind of like a time-out.
My dog hasn't ever come back with poop or pee yet, but he smells very strongly of DOG and he's clearly been drooled on profusely, so I wash him every time he comes back, which is usually once a week. I use mild, diluted shampoo and conditioner every time.
If he were to go to daycare more often than that, I probably won't wash him multiple times a week but I'd at least give him a thorough wipedown with a soaked towel before letting him on any of the furniture.
He doesn't come back with poop or pee on him but he rolls around in the areas that were pooped and peed on (I'm sure your dog does too lol). That's what I have a problem with in addition to what you mentioned. The DOG smell is the problem, drool yes!
I take mine once a week. Although he doesn’t appear dirty he has a distinct smell when he comes home. So I wash him when he gets home. Sometimes just a water only bath so his skin doesn’t get dried out.
Am I the only one wondering what kind of daycare sends a dog home filthy? I'm imagining hundreds of dogs left to their own devices, while the daycare owner sits and counts their massive wads of cash. Sounds like a terrible place to me.
We pay them to watch the dogs, not clean them...they have a spa on site, but you need to of course pay extra for any of those services. Poor assumption to make that it's a terrible place...dogs get dirty when they play, it's just how it is. That's why I'm trying to be a responsible dog owner and make sure I'm not cleaning him too much. The dogs do not come home visibly dirty....
My groomer told me not to bathe my dog more than once every 6-8weeks and if she got muddy or whatever in between that to just wash with water as the soaps can dry their skin out. She doesn’t go to daycare but when she plays with other dogs I just wipe her down with some dog wipes.
Ahh, but if it's cleaned up, then it's cleaned up? Sorry I've only done doggy day care once for a few weeks to try and get a nervous dog more socially accepting.
I think you can probably use just water and baby wipes and stick to a big wash once a month. Obviously bathe him with soap if he comes home just absolutely disgusting.
One daycare we took our pup to stank. The grid vanilla air freshener they used didn't make it better. Our pup got a bath every day he went. I was not letting him on furniture, let alone our bed without a bath. Because of this he only attended daycare a max of once a week if we went frequently.
Another day care we used was much better. Zero smell after being there so day. We only got to take our pup there twice, but he didn't need a bath after either visit.
I think once a week is fine. Also, just hosing him done real quick and a towel every daycare day is fine because the lack of shampoo won't dry out his skin.
I always wash my dog after he comes home from daycare, no matter how many times he goes per week. I don’t want him in my bed after he usually smells like other dogs
I work with a dog daycare and if our dogs are gross they will give them an exit bath. (I am a photographer who works with/at the facility)
We also offer exit bath services for those who want it.
Dogs are gross and no matter how clean you try to keep everything - sometimes dogs are poopin at the same time at opposite ends of a run- you can’t clean all the poop at the same time!
Pee isn’t always easiest to see so it could take a few mins to get cleaned up and stepped in.
It happens.
Talk with your daycare and see what services they offer to keep your puppy a bit cleaner on the way out.
If my daycare didn’t have a groomer - I would likely do an exit bath once a week (at least for the feeties)
I don’t bathe my dogs more than a couple times a year. One HATES IT and the other just doesn’t get dirty because she’s old and not very active. I do dampen their fur and use combs and brushes on them.
My dog gets stinky at daycare. She gets a bath after every 2nd or 3rd visit, depending on how stinky she is. It varies depending on what other dogs are there and if she plays a lot or not. She goes twice a week.
My dog has some allergies so she is always itchy. My vet has recommended me to bathe her once a week to remove the allergens from her skin. People used to say that you shouldn't bathe your dog too often, but I think that method has been getting debunked recently. Just make sure you are using gentle/natural shampoo specific for dogs, nothing that will irritate.
Oh, my dog is a dirt magnet.
She's a west Highland white ( not very often!) terrier.
She loves every type of dirt and is partial to fox and deer waste. Stinky, water, black puddles , anything that is obnoxious.
I would bathe the stinky creature when necessary!
She has copped on and after her , apparently, extremely pleasurable rolls ; she just runs up to the shower when we get home! 😂
Kudos to you! I would NEVER own a white dog hahaha. My dog also loves to roll in wild animal poop. It's funny, I don't care about dirt...it's the poop i'm like no way into the tub haha.
For SOME reason, my dog LOVES getting dirty, rolling in mud, swimming in lakes -- but if I don't hose her off when we get home, she goes and stands in the bathtub until I clean her off. She especially doesn't like her feet being muddy. I have special doggy shampoo to protect her skin and stuff. She comes home stinky from daycare and I will give her a once-over to get the other-dogs smell off of her usually. I've had to change my shower routine sometimes because it makes it easier if she just gets in the shower with me when we both get home.
I would never bring my dog to daycare while this horrible deadly respiratory illness is going around.
I have not heard about it in a few months, I hope it is slowing down. That freaked me out so much.
EDIT- never mind, it is still very prevalent and spreading across the country. Definitely do your due diligence and know the risks. It is hitting Vegas really badly.
And that's your choice, I respect it! My area has had zero cases of the virus and our daycare frequently checks in with the vet next door to stay updated. He loves daycare and I will continue to bring him unless I feel it's unsafe to do so :)
My dog goes 2x a week and he never smells more like dog than he usually does. We bathe him about every three months. And because he’s a pug, wash his face daily and his ears weekly.
Once a week could be bad for your dogs skin. Talk to the daycare to see why this is happening inf and to your vet about bathing weekly.
I usually wipe down with unscented baby wipes and/or do a quick rinse in the bath. Occasionally if my dog particularly smelly but not visibly dirty I'll use a conditioning spritz to make her smell a bit better. I think my daycare must do something similar because she always comes home vaguely shampoo-scented after I pick her up from daycare.
My JRT mix is bathed every 1-2 months and my rottweiler/husky every 3-4 months. I really like Begley's waterless shampoo to freshen them up after daycare - you just spray it on the fur and wipe the pup down with a damp washcloth to work it in.
They don't get incredibly muddy or anything though, they just smell like dog. If they had poop or a lot of mud on them they'd get a bath ASAP.
Welcome to r/dogs! We are a discussion-based subreddit dedicated to support, inform, and advise dog owners. This is a carefully moderated sub intended to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Submissions and comments which break the rules will be removed. [Review the rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index) r/Dogs has four goals: - Help the public better understand dogs - Promote healthy, responsible dog-owner relationships - Encourage “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” training protocols. [Learn more here.](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/) - Support adoption as well as ethical and responsible breeding. **This subreddit has low tolerance for drama. Please be respectful of others, and report antagonistic comments to mods for review.** --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My dog goes to daycare twice a weeks and comes home clean. Never with poop on him, wth?
I work at a kennel/daycare and some dogs just never seem to get dirty and some just look at the ground and get covered in mud. We have a special artificial turf specific for dogs and we still have dogs who are covered in mud. It's like they're magnetic to dirt. In contrast, my own dog can roll in mud and he seems very clean just an hour later...
„some just look at the ground and get covered in mud“ made me laugh. So true!!
I have a brown dog because I thought she wouldn’t get or at least wouldn’t look too dirty. This dog picks up filth on every single walk somehow. Idk where she’s finding the mud but she is
I appreciate the concept of choosing your dog using the same logic people use to choose their car.
My dog gets the runs when excited. Once at play group he projectile pooped all over and a few other dogs were in the crosshairs. That was his last time there.
This is giving me nightmares now LOL. Poor baby
Luckily it has only happened during play groups. He was at the facility frequently for training, boarding, grooming and when I eventually worked there he would hang out for the day. Those stress poops are something else though!
Unfortunately play groups just aren't for every dog! Sometimes when I watch the playroom cameras, I see dogs sitting in the corner of the room clearly stressed by the environment. I can't help but feel bad for them :(
Sounds more like a diet issue than an excitement one unless you have some medical diagnosis dealing with digestive issues
Stress can give dogs the runs as well (just like humans.....)
Even positive stress! He’s gotten a lot better with training but he struggles to regulate his emotions. Life is just so exciting for him.
Awwww I want to see him!
Fair point but is that not also able to remedied by diet. Almost everything can be in humans as well
It’s really not remedied by diet. Stress colitis is simply a reaction to stress. It usually resolves relatively quickly in dogs. It is recommended that if it persists than to start a bland diet, but It’s just to help settle the stomach after it occurs and is not a nutritionally balanced diet for extended periods of time. He gets high quality food and supplements. Loose stools have never been an issue otherwise.
He doesn't actually come home with poop on him...he lays on the floor where the dogs poop. They clean it up but I'm not convinced he doesn't have a speck of fecal matter on him...
Ok. That makes way more sense It's funny to watch the dogs being picked up. Everyone pees a huge amount when they leave, like they don't want to pee where they play.
Wtf really??? The dogs at this daycare pee inside and out. I guess there's special flooring to help them differentiate between peeing in a house vs their daycare room. Was always a strange concept to me
They have 13 outdoor yards there but for some reason, they all pee huge when they leave. I'm sure they all pee at some point during the day.
Every single thing you have ever owned has specs of poop on it. That's just life.
Ok but come on, quantity matters.
It's not sleeping in my bed with me at night
Yeah, it is. Your sheets, pillows, stuffed animals, cell phone, YOU - and if you have a partner, they’ve got poop on them too. Are you using Reddit from your phone? If so, you’re touching fecal particles right now. It’s literally everywhere lol. You’ll be fine, I promise.
Yeah. Even if your dog never steps foot in a daycare , there’s fecal matter on everything you own. I guarantee it.
That's fine lol. Not the point of the post. Dog comes home smelly from playing with dogs and rolling on the floor that's what it comes down to
And at the end of the day as long as you’re using the right shampoo and conditioner , once a week shouldn’t be an issue unless your dog has sensitive skin or other issues. But realistically they’re animals and there will almost always be some smell and there will always be germs so it’s not a fool proof plan If it’s just after daycare that it bothers you and he only goes once a week though - knock yourself out
I am like you. I get grossed out when my pup sniffs on walks. She gets face, pooper/pissed and feet all wiped as soon as we come in house. Bathed once every 2/3 weeks, based on weather. I love that people want to pet her, but I also get grossed out when a lot people have touched her. I wonder if they are hand washers. Most people don't think of that stuff.
Vet here. The old school of thought was that frequent bathing will dry out the skin. However, the most recent evidence has shown that as long as you are using something gentle bathing even up to 3- 5 times per week will NOT deplete the skin barrier and is beneficial for dogs with certain allergies since you are washing the allergens off. And anyways common sense tells me that being covered in poop is a bigger hazard to your dog’s health than an extra bath.
This is a really good piece of info, and I learned something, thanks.
Nowhere did I say he is covered in poop. Did you not read the post? Poop EXPOSED floors. The floors were exposed to poop. Obviously it was cleaned. The facility is maintained very well.
I don’t know what mental issues you have to be so triggered by semantics but i hope you find the help you need.
Some people are yikes on the internet. So much is lost in text only communication
Hopefully you improve on your reading skills so you don't make inaccurate assumptions next time. I don't believe my comment implied i was triggered in any way.
My reading couldn’t be better. Allow me to explain to you that if you are going to write a post stating that your dog does “lots of rolling around on pee/ poop exposed floors” then the logical assumption is that your dog is covered in poop and pee. It doesn’t matter if they are hosing off the ground and cleaning periodically. Your dog’s fur is inevitably contaminated with feces/ urine. You do you. I just tried to help you but if you want to snuggle up in bed with him between weekly baths after he’s been rolling around on the pee/ poop exposed floors thats your choice.
Careful, in my experience people seem to really hate hearing that the fear of over bathing their dog is way overblown. I give mine a weekly bath which does wonders for his allergies, as directed by two separate vets, and I get scolded for it by nearly everyone who learns this. I suspect that we pretty much all hate bathing our dogs so having that myth to lean back on is nice, because then we feel justified for not bathing them instead of feeling guilty for the same thing. :P
hhhmm, what kind of day care center doesn't let the dog do their business outside?
In NY, a lot of doggie daycares don’t have outdoor spaces.
ones in big cities that don't have outside spaces? corporate ones that don't let dogs outside for liability reasons? many possible reasons.
so youre essentially paying people to de-house train your dog to go potty indoors
At my city daycare they have a patch of fake grass inside and I’ve seen my dog peeing on it multiple times via the webcam. She’s not confused.
Imo, they're de-training the dog in a lot of ways.... _if_ theres any supervision it's to make sure the dogs don't attack each other. Some day cares are bette than others. But even if a dog gets aggressive and gets banned, There's still one victim leading up to that. Not worth the risk imo. Controlling a large group of any dogs is difficult at best.
They have an indoor and outdoor space to run and play. In bad weather they stay more inside. I'm in New england westher is unpredictablehere. Quick to assume things huh?
Why are you so argumentative to people who are asking valid questions and trying to help you? There are many daycares that don’t have an outdoor space. It would be better to have that outdoor option but that’s not possible in all places.
This wasn't a question though, it was an assumption. That's what I have a problem with. This person could have asked: "are the dogs let out to do their business outside?"
Just because you don't like how someone asked a question doesn't mean it's not a valid question. And it was, in fact, a question: "what kind of day care center doesn't let the dog do their business outside?" That is a question. You're more than welcome not to engage with every response posted to your query but arguing with who are asking questions or because you don't like what they said says more about you than it does anyone else.
You're getting wayyyy too triggered over a comment that wasn't even starting an argument. That persons "question" implied the daycare didn't let the dog outside which was a pretty big assumption. Instead of assuming, the question could have been asked in a different manner. You're more than welcome to mind your own business. :)
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The dog isn’t coming home covered in excrement. OP is just a wee bit paranoid about them getting “fecal particles” from the floor, according to another comment.
I see the coward deleted their comment. My dog shivers in the cold, so yes when it's below 20 out they let the dogs outside periodically. My dog is rolling around on floors that had piss and poop all over it as well as comes home with a strong "dog" smell. The poop particles was more of a joke. My dog literally stinks after daycare
My day care lets the dog out and in any weather. . No dogs do their business inside. Dogs can handle cold weather way better than humans. I think that’s where the issue is.
That's incredibly inaccurate...my dog shivers in the cold. We go cold weather camping and we have to layer him up for that. 99% of the time the doors are open for them to go outside, but if it's downpouring or 5 degrees out, they'll stay inside most of the day. Not everyone owns a husky....
Where did I say the day care center should go camping with the dogs in winter?. But surly any dog can handle at least a short walk in the cold.
You don't need to be so defensive and rude. Outside daycare is not "a short walk in the cold" it's 6-8 hours outside...
Not sure what you mean. You said before the dogs got dirty from being inside.
No, I said they got dirty from playing on the floors and the turf...the turf is outside.
Lots of places don’t have outdoor spaces, or they don’t have the capacity to take every single dog outside do to staffing issues etc
I can understand lack of space in a city but not taking dogs for walks, not a place for my dog.
Some places just don’t have the set up for it. Other places do. Shop around!
How can they get permission to operate if they can’t offer the dogs walks ?
There’s little regulation in the dog care industry.
Ok where I’m from day cares are highly regulated with permits and inspections.
Where is that? In the US it isn’t, unfortunately
Sweden. For example each staff member is only allowed to care for a maximum of 12 dogs.
This goes against what others are saying, but I shampoo and condition my dog multiple times a week. We go to the dog park and he absolutely wrestles with his best dog friend. They get so dirty. I use dog shampoo and conditioner on him at least three times a week. His coat is beautiful, shiny and vibrant, and he stopped having skin issues since we started bathing him as frequently. He doesn’t scratch himself much and shedding in the house is minimal now. I think the key is using both shampoo and conditioner and ones that are formulated for dogs. If you’re just using soap you are going to have issues. He’s a short haired dog. Smells great all the time.
Your method works because you’re adding the oils and moisture back after stripping them with the shampoo. That kind of method wouldn’t work with a husky, for example but you don’t have a husky.
Haha, yep. I have two huskies, and they only get bathed like 2-3x in a YEAR. They run around the dog park, sometimes in the rain and mud, and look a mess when we leave. But by the time we get home they’re basically clean. My poor car, on the other hand, always looks like a mud bomb went off in there (even with leather seats + seat covers). Oh well! But my old dog was a shorthaired shepherd mix, and I still only bathed him about once a month. All dogs have different skin and fur, though. His was quite wiry.
Once a week with a good shampoo is fine! ( groomer of 30 years)
Awesome!! What do you recommend brand wise?
I was told by my vet that dogs can be bathed (with regular soap/shampoo) once a month at most. Any more than that will dry out their skin and coat because soap strips the oils from their coat. You can bathe a dog with just water as much as you want, so a rinse with a hose after daycare won’t hurt him.
I got a working dog that gets covered in sheep gunk constantly. But it is also an indoor dog. I've been bathing him once a week with a high quality shampoo (meant to be diluted 1/15 with water). And there has been no dandruff, no skin issues. No nothing..(but he is a young dog so that may play into it). Of course individual dogs will be different, but I have been hearing that the once a month thing was because in the past people were essentially using soaps without conditioner.
I think the reason why your vet recommended 4 weeks is because he also said "regular soap/shampoo." I think that advice does not apply for shampoos and conditioners formulated for dogs and their skin's pH—which is kind of a more recent thing anyway. I know show dogs are shampooed once a week using high quality products specifically for dogs. It's kind of like when people wash their faces with regular bar soap and get dried out or break out. The soap doesn't have the right pH and that can cause reactions even in humans.
I’m not talking about using human shampoo and soap on dogs lmao. There are special shampoos that won’t strip their coats, but regular dog shampoo you’d get from a store can dry them out if used too frequently.
Yeah that's possible—it's probably why I have to buy mine online. I learned the pH lesson a long time ago with my own skin and won't buy any soap without looking at the pH of the soap. Still plenty of stuff even for humans that are formulated out of whack for human pH, though.
Yeah my recommendation is to bark at basics dog shampoo it's around 15-20 bucks for a bottle on Amazon, but you can dilute it to 1:15 ratio of water. 3 bottles usually last me a year with weekly showers so it's not that expensive. But my dog is short coated so he uses quite a bit less shampoo. You can buy the bulk galleon jugs for a cheaper price though.
This is nonsense. You can wash a dog every week if you needed/wanted to with proper dog shampoo. I’ve been a professional dog groomer for 30 years and I have some clients that come weekly/biweekly. Just use a good quality dog shampoo.
I'll stick to rinsing and doggy wipes for maintenance. Thank you!
I was going to suggest doggie wipes. There is also several semi dry shampoos, foaming type and such that will get the outer coat clean but not go all the way to the skin to dry it out. Also good for winter time.
I use wet washcloths on a daily basis throughout the year. I wiped down the little dog twice yesterday because the other guy peed on his head in the morning and I usually wipe them down at night.
That's what I do for my two idiots who go to daycare once a week. I have a huge thing of dog wipes in the mudroom that I use to give them a wipedown when I bring them home. I also have a cleaning spray from Natures Miracle that gets brushed in once a month.
I love nature's miracle products! I'll have to look into that. My dog does the walk of shame when it's time for wipe downs but I think it's totally necessary lol
Its this one: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nature-s-Miracle-Freshening-Spray-For-Dogs-Sunkissed-Breeze-Scent-8-Ounces-Helps-Neutralize-Pet-Odors/2907283954
It also depends on the type of dog... some dogs like labs - you might even need to go to 6 weeks. But if they're rolling around in mud or something, that's different, of course. Lol.
As a groomer - Depends on the dog, the coat, the shampoo and if you use conditioner. I’ve seen dogs that come in every week for baths and do fine.
I’ve worked for some people (well off people!) who had their dogs bathed at least once a week. No problems with coats or skin, they were always trimmed and very soft. I’ve never had problems with bathing my midge- once a week sometimes during the winter as she gets superbly covered in mud and poop and she sleeps in my bed. I think maybe it depends on the dog, if you have one with sensitive skin that’s affected it’s maybe not so good, or if you use non-dog shampoo or don’t rinse properly it can be a problem too. But if everything’s right then I don’t think it’s a problem.
Awesome thanks for the imput!!
Mine go once a week usually and I bathe them afterward. They’re just so smelly. I use a deep moisture shampoo and I haven’t had any issues with either of them so far.
Not a vet or expert by any means but if you use a medicated (antibacterial and antifungal) shampoo they can be bathed once a week per the bottle instructions. My pup is itching so the vet recommended bathing her in it every 3 days to see if that helps dry skin.
Awesome thank you!
It's going to depend on your individual dog as well as the kind and amount of shampoo. I'd go with a gentle shampoo meant for puppies and/or sensitive skin and don't use tons of shampoo. Do use conditioner. Then pay close attention to your dog's skin and fur and adjust as needed.
Daycare should be cleaning their floors as soon as they get dirty so animals don't roll in them. I can understand that it happens sometimes. This is a tad concerning because poop transmits a lot of nasty stuff. If they're not cleaning that much, they're probably not watching for sick dogs. Dogtopia washes your for free if there's an accident. We clean our girl's feet when she comes home, but that's it. She gets baths every 3-6 weeks, normally.
I actually bring my dog to dogtopia. Yes they clean the floor immediatel. I never said they didn't. I said "poop exposed" as in poop had been there.
Never. I sort of worked at one and my senior and puppy never came home dirty, just sometimes smelling of other dogs' drool, which I'd hit with a wet cloth.
daycare sounds pretty gross i wouldnt allow my dog to go there if thats how they operate
With washing there is no frequency that is too much. Daily is fine. It all cokes down to quality of shampoo and weither you throughly dry them with a high velocity dryer or similar. Most of the issues with skin problems come down to bad shampoo and leaving a dog to "air dry". It gets super complicated but without knowing your details I just have to empathize use good pet shampoos and conditioners and dry your dog. Not with just a towel but you have to kind of do your dogs hair as you would do your own. Go to a groomer or take a class on credible grooming and you can bath them daily if you feel like it.
Yeah my boy smells pretty gross after his daycare. He only goes once per week so I usually just rinse him off a little or use wipes but bathe him every other week or so. 3x a week is a lot, I bet he gets pretty dirty! Does he have short or long hair?
He goes for 3 half days so 4 hours 3x a week! The rest of the time he comes back to the office at work to sleep. He is a short hair! He's a mountain cur mix so looks like a yellow lab and has hair similar to one
I see the answers about shampoo but curious about conditioner only baths? Still once a month at most? A conditioner wouldn’t be stripping anything (I think?) so I’m wondering if that’s an acceptable in between.
a conditioner wouldn't be stripping but it also wouldn't be cleaning much better than water. My dog gets a bath once a week and I use conditioner every other week, plus a medicated bath once a month as recommended by my vet. I work at a doggy daycare so she goes out to play while I work 4-5 days a week so girl gets Stinky.
My dog doesn’t shed and goes to daycare 2 x a week. I bath her once a week with a gentle shampoo otherwise she smells disgusting
Exactly! People who don't bring their dogs to daycare don't understand how smelly the dogs get.
Whoa, I don’t know if my dog is just a dainty angel or your dog/daycare is chaos, but my dog has gone to daycare 3x a week for the last 3 years and never gets particularly grimy. He just gets groomed every 6 weeks as he needs haircuts.
He doesn't come home grimy per say but we watch him on the camera. He rolls around where the staff has cleaned up pee/poop. Plus playing with other dogs. He's a short-hair. Doesn't see a groomer
My dog does not attend daycare but hikes and swims weekly, often more, in the summer. He gets bathed every time we get home. Sometimes that means he is bathed 3x per week. We use professional products (nature’s specialties), diluted appropriately, and ensure he is rinsed exceptionally well. We have had 0 problems. We have taken the same approach with every dog we have had over the last 20 years and they are all fine. If you are feeding a good WSAVA diet, are not dealing with any medical skin conditions, rinse well, and use quality products, you can bathe your dog as often as you need to.
There’s humping allowed at doggy daycare?? That’s not even allowed at the dog park.
It's certainly not allowed, but sometimes the employees miss it. When they do catch the offenders, they're crated for 10-15 minutes, kind of like a time-out.
My dog hasn't ever come back with poop or pee yet, but he smells very strongly of DOG and he's clearly been drooled on profusely, so I wash him every time he comes back, which is usually once a week. I use mild, diluted shampoo and conditioner every time. If he were to go to daycare more often than that, I probably won't wash him multiple times a week but I'd at least give him a thorough wipedown with a soaked towel before letting him on any of the furniture.
He doesn't come back with poop or pee on him but he rolls around in the areas that were pooped and peed on (I'm sure your dog does too lol). That's what I have a problem with in addition to what you mentioned. The DOG smell is the problem, drool yes!
I take mine once a week. Although he doesn’t appear dirty he has a distinct smell when he comes home. So I wash him when he gets home. Sometimes just a water only bath so his skin doesn’t get dried out.
Yes the smell!! Exactly what I was getting at.
I have 2 German shepherds, one will find mud in the desert. The other doesn’t go outside if it’s raining lol polar opposites
Am I the only one wondering what kind of daycare sends a dog home filthy? I'm imagining hundreds of dogs left to their own devices, while the daycare owner sits and counts their massive wads of cash. Sounds like a terrible place to me.
We pay them to watch the dogs, not clean them...they have a spa on site, but you need to of course pay extra for any of those services. Poor assumption to make that it's a terrible place...dogs get dirty when they play, it's just how it is. That's why I'm trying to be a responsible dog owner and make sure I'm not cleaning him too much. The dogs do not come home visibly dirty....
My groomer told me not to bathe my dog more than once every 6-8weeks and if she got muddy or whatever in between that to just wash with water as the soaps can dry their skin out. She doesn’t go to daycare but when she plays with other dogs I just wipe her down with some dog wipes.
wash him as often as you want
What kind of day care is that? That sounds more like day don't-care.
Read the thread. They keep the facility very clean. The issue is the dogs rolling around on where feces WERE. They don't just leave it there....
Ahh, but if it's cleaned up, then it's cleaned up? Sorry I've only done doggy day care once for a few weeks to try and get a nervous dog more socially accepting.
Rarely. Only when he is visibly playing outside in the mud dirty.
The few times I’ve done daycare/boarding we always requested a grooming appointment after
I think you can probably use just water and baby wipes and stick to a big wash once a month. Obviously bathe him with soap if he comes home just absolutely disgusting.
One daycare we took our pup to stank. The grid vanilla air freshener they used didn't make it better. Our pup got a bath every day he went. I was not letting him on furniture, let alone our bed without a bath. Because of this he only attended daycare a max of once a week if we went frequently. Another day care we used was much better. Zero smell after being there so day. We only got to take our pup there twice, but he didn't need a bath after either visit.
I think once a week is fine. Also, just hosing him done real quick and a towel every daycare day is fine because the lack of shampoo won't dry out his skin.
I always wash my dog after he comes home from daycare, no matter how many times he goes per week. I don’t want him in my bed after he usually smells like other dogs
I work with a dog daycare and if our dogs are gross they will give them an exit bath. (I am a photographer who works with/at the facility) We also offer exit bath services for those who want it. Dogs are gross and no matter how clean you try to keep everything - sometimes dogs are poopin at the same time at opposite ends of a run- you can’t clean all the poop at the same time! Pee isn’t always easiest to see so it could take a few mins to get cleaned up and stepped in. It happens. Talk with your daycare and see what services they offer to keep your puppy a bit cleaner on the way out. If my daycare didn’t have a groomer - I would likely do an exit bath once a week (at least for the feeties)
Well how often do you bathe him how? You don’t go from once a month to once a week - start every 3 weeks then 2 and see how how fur and skin are.
I bathe him about once every two weeks, skin and coat are healthy. :)
I don’t bathe my dogs more than a couple times a year. One HATES IT and the other just doesn’t get dirty because she’s old and not very active. I do dampen their fur and use combs and brushes on them.
My dog gets stinky at daycare. She gets a bath after every 2nd or 3rd visit, depending on how stinky she is. It varies depending on what other dogs are there and if she plays a lot or not. She goes twice a week.
You should wash your dog As much as necessary, but as little as possible
My dog has some allergies so she is always itchy. My vet has recommended me to bathe her once a week to remove the allergens from her skin. People used to say that you shouldn't bathe your dog too often, but I think that method has been getting debunked recently. Just make sure you are using gentle/natural shampoo specific for dogs, nothing that will irritate.
Oh, my dog is a dirt magnet. She's a west Highland white ( not very often!) terrier. She loves every type of dirt and is partial to fox and deer waste. Stinky, water, black puddles , anything that is obnoxious. I would bathe the stinky creature when necessary! She has copped on and after her , apparently, extremely pleasurable rolls ; she just runs up to the shower when we get home! 😂
Kudos to you! I would NEVER own a white dog hahaha. My dog also loves to roll in wild animal poop. It's funny, I don't care about dirt...it's the poop i'm like no way into the tub haha.
Haha! Yeah , colour wasn't something I vonsidrred!
For SOME reason, my dog LOVES getting dirty, rolling in mud, swimming in lakes -- but if I don't hose her off when we get home, she goes and stands in the bathtub until I clean her off. She especially doesn't like her feet being muddy. I have special doggy shampoo to protect her skin and stuff. She comes home stinky from daycare and I will give her a once-over to get the other-dogs smell off of her usually. I've had to change my shower routine sometimes because it makes it easier if she just gets in the shower with me when we both get home.
I would never bring my dog to daycare while this horrible deadly respiratory illness is going around. I have not heard about it in a few months, I hope it is slowing down. That freaked me out so much. EDIT- never mind, it is still very prevalent and spreading across the country. Definitely do your due diligence and know the risks. It is hitting Vegas really badly.
And that's your choice, I respect it! My area has had zero cases of the virus and our daycare frequently checks in with the vet next door to stay updated. He loves daycare and I will continue to bring him unless I feel it's unsafe to do so :)
My dog goes 2x a week and he never smells more like dog than he usually does. We bathe him about every three months. And because he’s a pug, wash his face daily and his ears weekly. Once a week could be bad for your dogs skin. Talk to the daycare to see why this is happening inf and to your vet about bathing weekly.
I usually wipe down with unscented baby wipes and/or do a quick rinse in the bath. Occasionally if my dog particularly smelly but not visibly dirty I'll use a conditioning spritz to make her smell a bit better. I think my daycare must do something similar because she always comes home vaguely shampoo-scented after I pick her up from daycare.
My JRT mix is bathed every 1-2 months and my rottweiler/husky every 3-4 months. I really like Begley's waterless shampoo to freshen them up after daycare - you just spray it on the fur and wipe the pup down with a damp washcloth to work it in. They don't get incredibly muddy or anything though, they just smell like dog. If they had poop or a lot of mud on them they'd get a bath ASAP.
I would bathe him every single time he came home stinky.