# How often to bathe ---- wiping down Urine on Puppy



## mobiledynamics (Jul 10, 2011)

My puppy is urinating and getting it over his feet....
I think it's due to excitement when he is crated.....hates it. Did not it last night, but sure did it this mid-afternoon.


Anyhow, I've been wiping his feet down with baby wipes and then a wet paper towel.
Should I be rinsing his feet off everyday.

Moreso, I've been told to not wash too often as it dries the skin out...

What do you guys suggest or recommend. It's a shihtzu. The breeder told me that wash every week and just use watered down human shampoo and conditioner. Go figure as I read about PH levels and such. Not sure what the breeder would recommend/use human products


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

Every now and then I notice my dog's front paws accidentally getting splattered and if it's just a couple drops I just wipe off w/a baby wipe, but I have also put him in the tub and washed only his feet with water and a tiny drop of dog or baby shampoo (when I was out of dog shampoo). If you're worried about his skin getting dried out, just use water to rinse them off and maybe a rinse of water & vinegar (the smell will dissipate when it dries) to clean and freshen. 

I also wash his feet if it's muddy out or something like that.


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## mom24doggies (Mar 25, 2011)

mobiledynamics said:


> My puppy is urinating and getting it over his feet....
> I think it's due to excitement when he is crated.....hates it. Did not it last night, but sure did it this mid-afternoon.
> 
> 
> ...


If it's just a little bit of pee, wiping would be ok, but if it's a lot I would go ahead and rinse, mainly because a) urine stains white/light fur if you don't get it off and b) it also smells! Bathing too often will definitely dry the skin out, about once a week is fine. And yeah, wouldn't recommend using human shampoo/conditioner. A mild/tearless puppy shampoo and a mild conditioner are best for puppies.


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

I'm not certain on this, but I think the dogs with "hair" that grows continuously and need to be groomed can be bathed more often. Also, the different ph thing is just a wise tale, it isn't true. That said, I would get shampoo made for dogs just because it's formulated specifically for what you're using it for. I usually bathe my dog about once a month or every 2 months, but if she gets dirty I do rinse her off, and if it's bad I use soap in just the areas that are soiled. Hope this helps.


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## mom24doggies (Mar 25, 2011)

kafkabeetle said:


> I'm not certain on this, but I think the dogs with "hair" that grows continuously and need to be groomed can be bathed more often. Also, the different ph thing is just a wise tale, it isn't true. That said, I would get shampoo made for dogs just because it's formulated specifically for what you're using it for. I usually bathe my dog about once a month or every 2 months, but if she gets dirty I do rinse her off, and if it's bad I use soap in just the areas that are soiled. Hope this helps.


 You can still dry their skin/coat out though. And I've never read anything saying that the different ph thing was a wives tale; could you post a link to an article or something? 'Cause now I'm curious.


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

mom24doggies said:


> You can still dry their skin/coat out though. And I've never read anything saying that the different ph thing was a wives tale; could you post a link to an article or something? 'Cause now I'm curious.


Well, the first time I ever saw it contested was in this article about dog shampoo, which was posted in another thread. The statement is short in the second and third comments at the bottom of the page. I know there is more info out there, but this is where I first saw it. The article itself is an interesting read as well.

Ok, from what I'm reading now, it seems like dogs do have slightly more acidic skin as a whole (but within any group of animals this is a range) but that that doesn't actually mean anything when it comes to choosing a shampoo, etc, because you want shampoo to pretty much always have a ph of 7 (neutral) no matter what ph the skin is. So that's what makes it a myth. Someone somewhere took a fact and imposed "implications" upon that fact that simply weren't true.

For more discussion on the topic, this was an interesting thread.


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## osdbmom (Feb 15, 2011)

I have dogs with hair like yours. We try to bathe them once a week. Once in a while, they go two weeks. They have never had dry skin as a result. In fact, my yorkie had extremely dry skin when we got her, and after bathing her weekly with oatmeal dog shampoo, her skin is actually a whole lot less dry


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## amberly (Feb 6, 2011)

i just say please don't use human shampoo on a dog. i have a shih tzu pup, she gets dirty weekly~! i tell you she must love the baths! she does get a bath weekly shes just to dirty not too and i don't like the wipes. if its just her feet i say pop em in the tub and rinse em off, with dog shampoo or without but at lesat every other time w the shampoo. it won't do to much harm if its just the feet.


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## Bentley Boxers (Jul 13, 2011)

With dogs like shih tzu's its ok to bath more often than you would with short haired dogs. We also have a shih tzu and he gets bathed atleast once every two weeks, I wouldnt recommend using human shampoos though. We use an oatmeal based dog shampoo.


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## Pumpkinbutt (Jul 29, 2011)

I bathe my yorkie poo once a week. I was using dog shampoo, but switched to WEN cleansing cream, what I use as well. Her hair is shiny, soft and no dry patches to be found.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

mom24doggies said:


> You can still dry their skin/coat out though. And I've never read anything saying that the different ph thing was a wives tale; could you post a link to an article or something? 'Cause now I'm curious.


You can, but it seems to happen more in fur bearing dogs rather than dogs with hair (like shih-tzu, yorkies, etc). I used to groom a maltese weekly, and his coat and skin were NEVER dried out. We went through a period where we bathed someones lab every 2 weeks, and the dogs coat and skin was indeed a mess, even with conditioning. (Came to find out she was bathing the dog at home, in between). I think it depends on the dog; I can bathe one of my papillons every few days and his skin is fine, but the other gets dried out if I do.



kafkabeetle said:


> Well, the first time I ever saw it contested was in this article about dog shampoo, which was posted in another thread. The statement is short in the second and third comments at the bottom of the page. I know there is more info out there, but this is where I first saw it. The article itself is an interesting read as well.
> 
> Ok, from what I'm reading now, it seems like dogs do have slightly more acidic skin as a whole (but within any group of animals this is a range) but that that doesn't actually mean anything when it comes to choosing a shampoo, etc, because you want shampoo to pretty much always have a ph of 7 (neutral) no matter what ph the skin is. So that's what makes it a myth. Someone somewhere took a fact and imposed "implications" upon that fact that simply weren't true.
> 
> For more discussion on the topic, this was an interesting thread.


I've used VO5 and Baby Shampoo in a pinch. The only thing I don't like about the baby shampoo is the smell. I actually use VO5 on the GSD more than I do dog shampoo; he just looks better and his coat doesn't get mashy looking within a day or two. Stays fluffed out.


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