# Afraid to bath my westie much



## moots (Oct 26, 2009)

In fact she's been bathed 3 or 4 times since we've had her at 10 weeks old , she is almost 8 months now. I've been told by many other westie owners that westies cannot be bathed much at all as they can develop skin conditions if bathed too often. She will be having a full groom/bath at the end of this month from a home groomer well known for being the best groomer for small dogs in my local area. 

These photos of is her about a week ago...she hasn't been bathed for at least 4 months in these pics...the camera shot outside seems to make her look a lot more white than she actually is lol.

P.S Her big coat is making her look fat :<


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Once a month shouldn't be too much. The trick is you have to rinse THOROUGHLY. Rinse all the shampoo out, then rinse some more just to be sure. It's the soap residue that causes skin irritation.

I bathe my gal once a week, and she has no problems. If you want to use a Whitening shampoo, that actually works better if you use it weekly. Once again, rinse way more than you think is necessary, and it should work out. You can always put fish oil supplement in her food if you're worried about skin health. Having a clean coat is actually beneficial for the skin.


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## railNtrailcowgrl (Jul 24, 2008)

Another thing you can use if your afraid of leaving residue is a vinigar rinse. There is debate over white vs ACV but just do a quick google search and you'll find a few helpful results.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Nothing wrong with regular bathing...like stated above..the rinsing is what is important. if you were planning on having her hand stripped, rather than clipped, I would not recommend bathing often though, as bathing softens the coat. However, if clipping, it doesn't matter, as that is going to soften the coat anyway. Have the groomer show you how to brush her while you are there as well. Hard to tell in the pics, but looks like she may be getting some matting around her shoulder area? You want to prevent matting by regular brushing and grooming.  She's a cutie! I love Westies..rambunctious little things!


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## moots (Oct 26, 2009)

It does look like she does but in real life her shoulder area doesn't have that much fur, no mats there. Her hair is wierd it's all seperated the only places I've ever found a mat was on her legs and they've always been really tiny ones. 

But this is what her shoulder fur/hair looks like when opened, there are no mats i am pretty sure because I've had to cut some mats out of my friends dogs before.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

moots said:


> It does look like she does but in real life her shoulder area doesn't have that much fur, no mats there. Her hair is wierd it's all seperated the only places I've ever found a mat was on her legs and they've always been really tiny ones.
> 
> But this is what her shoulder fur/hair looks like when opened, there are no mats i am pretty sure because I've had to cut some mats out of my friends dogs before.


Those separations are the starting of matts. When a wire coat starts to form those thin almost dread locks, its the starts of matts. Wire coats don't start matting like curly coated dogs (close to skin). Their coats separate like yours in the photo, and if not brushed out, will become a dread lock.  She could definitly benefit froma good brush out.


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## moots (Oct 26, 2009)

Graco22 said:


> Those separations are the starting of matts. When a wire coat starts to form those thin almost dread locks, its the starts of matts. Wire coats don't start matting like curly coated dogs (close to skin). Their coats separate like yours in the photo, and if not brushed out, will become a dread lock.  She could definitly benefit froma good brush out.


Ah ok thanks for that. I think I might need a different brush, the brush im using doesnt seem to seperate the thin wires at all really. The brush im using is identical to this, I also have like the 2nd one which I dont use.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

Combs are usually best for getting mats out, they get down to the skin better than a brush. Also, if your worried about drying out her coat, you can use a gentle shampoo.. pretty much anything with out soap or harsh chemicals (I like Buddy Wash), and to do even better, you can dilute it with water. I've never diluted my buddy wash, but I dilute all my Eqyss products 8 to 1 with water.. 8 being water. The shampoo will still clean just as effectively. Of course, that's only assuming you aren't concerned about keeping the coat wirey.. as other said, bathing will soften the coat.


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## moots (Oct 26, 2009)

Just gave her a really hard brushing, no mats but i did get a lot of dead hair out, she looks refreshed.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Unfortunately, that brush isn't going to be of much real use on your westie..other than a massage really. You need a good slicker brush and a comb. A slicker will get down to the skin, and break those clumps of hair up, and a comb will get what the slicker slides over. After any brushing session, you should be able to get a greyhound comb thru every inch of her, all the way DOWN to the skin. Get a good firm slicker brush, you will see a huge difference!


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## sassykzt (Oct 25, 2009)

moots said:


> In fact she's been bathed 3 or 4 times since we've had her at 10 weeks old , she is almost 8 months now. I've been told by many other westie owners that westies cannot be bathed much at all as they can develop skin conditions if bathed too often. She will be having a full groom/bath at the end of this month from a home groomer well known for being the best groomer for small dogs in my local area.
> 
> I've had Westies my entire life-- have 3 currently. I have usually bathed them every 10 -14 days for the past 12 yrs. I've never heard of developing skin conditions due to over bathing-- diet, yes. Westies are prone to yeast and frequent bathing especially w/ an anti fungal shampoo if needed helps immensely. Quick daily or every other day brushing w/ a metal comb is best. I also rinse w/ vinegar-- usually white. Westies usually have to be groomed every 10- 12 wks as adults. So, I wouldn't be too afraid of washing her-- It's also easier once you get them settled into a routine.She's a cutie-- and I don't she looks fat-- just typical Westie!


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## MoonStr80 (Oct 9, 2006)

AW your Westie is a cutie. Well what you could do is brush the dog every other day, or everyday to aviod mats, you could also use a dematted comb

Is it cold is there? Is why she's shaggy?


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## moots (Oct 26, 2009)

MoonStr80 said:


> AW your Westie is a cutie. Well what you could do is brush the dog every other day, or everyday to aviod mats, you could also use a dematted comb
> 
> Is it cold is there? Is why she's shaggy?


I am in australia so the weather isn't really extremely cold in winter, we got her in winter early in the year but wanted to keep her coat on as she is outside a lot lowest it got to was about 5 degrees celcius other than that it was usually around 10-15 celcius in winter. Summer is starting now and we've had a few 30-35 degree days during the week so she'll be getting a full groom at the end of the month when summer really kicks in.

She looks shaggy cus she is outside A LOT, she's outside more than she's in by far, she just prefers outside - she never complains about coming inside , she waits at the back doors because it's all class and she can see outside she gets bored of being inside after 20-30minutes. She digs holes n runs around laying in grass constantly so it makes her look pretty dirty. My maltese looks coat looks extremely white compared to my westies because my maltese doesnt do any of the things my westie does.


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

I use human shampoo on my dog. Baby shampoo. Nothing bad has happened -- in a hairless dog, it would be kind of hard to miss. My dog's breeder uses Aussie and has many successful show dogs. I have never found proof of the whole 'dogs need a different pH balance' claim.


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## moots (Oct 26, 2009)

Hey i thought id bump this post with 2 pics of my westieee

first pic is her 1 week before a groom (8 months old), 2nd pic is about 1hour after she had been groomed (8 months 1 week old). The groomer is a home-business. A lady that is apparently one of the most well known "small breed" groomers in the area. This was her first full grooming ever, we're going to keep her this way she looks so much better, people thought she was over-weight before but I always knew there was an athetlic westie body hiding under all that fur 

What do you guys think of this transformation?


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

She looks VERY nice Moots.


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## tabijr (Dec 21, 2009)

white dogs in general have very sensitive skin. i would try using just a mild puppy shampoo or a hypo shampoo. you shouldn't bath her more than once a month. but if you are going to make sure that you are using a conditioner for her, they do make hypo conditioner also. when you bath her you are stripping her of her natural oils which is going to dry out her skin and make it irritated. also if you are worried about her skin, i don't know what you feed her but i would feed her a food with no wheat or corn in it. a lot of dogs have very very high allergies to these ingredients.


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## RinseAce (Aug 16, 2010)

moots said:


> In fact she's been bathed 3 or 4 times since we've had her at 10 weeks old , she is almost 8 months now. I've been told by many other westie owners that westies cannot be bathed much at all as they can develop skin conditions if bathed too often. She will be having a full groom/bath at the end of this month from a home groomer well known for being the best groomer for small dogs in my local area.
> 
> These photos of is her about a week ago...she hasn't been bathed for at least 4 months in these pics...the camera shot outside seems to make her look a lot more white than she actually is lol.
> 
> P.S Her big coat is making her look fat :<


Like the other people are saying, the rinsing is the most important part. You may want to invest into a pet shower, this is a flexible hose and sprayer that attaches to a special connector on your shower. This allows you to get your Westie rinsed well on the belly and legs, versus having a tub full of dirty water and dumping little cups of water over her. Should be available at your local pet store.


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