My husband and I go around and around... I have always been told you only bath a Golden when she is DIRTY. My husband says Skye should have a bath every 6 to 8 weeks.. I tried to tell him to many baths takes the oils from her fur and my every other day of brushing is better for her coat then a bath..
Skye is our fourth Golden I'm care giver. I'm the one that holds them when I lose them....I'm the one that reads, studies, and ask tons of questions.
Any way..now he says, and I have no ideal where he has read this...when I have a libaray on Goldens.. I know he isn't reading our books... He says he heard...or read...or was told by who knows who...that dogs need to get a bath every 6 to 8 weeks...

So...how often do you bath your Goldens?????

Ours are bathed once every 2-3 weeks, although our young puppy, Tyson, has been getting bathed almost weekly lately since he always come in super muddy now that it's almost spring, but our two adult dogs have baths once or twice a month. It helps get the dead fur out and conditions their coats.

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I only bath when its needed, But i brush weekly.

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I go the low maintenance route with my guys. They get baths only when they get really dirty. Maybe once or twice a year. They do a lot of swimming year round. I do try to use the undercoat rake and brush them weekly.

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If you use a good shampoo you can bathe them weekly if you want. I do that for the 2 that are being shown and the other 2 I try to not to go longer than 2wks. They run in the fields and get really dirty especially if they find water. Plus a couple of them are bed bums and I prefer not waking up with mud clots in the bed!!

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http://www.katmargoldens.com

The 'few baths' thing is mostly due to shampoos being really harsh in the past. These days that's not an issue. Some people are still set on few baths (...hah..I don't blame them!). My dogs got washed a few times a year... then I spent a few years working in a groom shop. "Clean" dogs and "dirty" dogs feel really different. "Dirty" is not just about visible mud or dirt but the texture of the coat. I quickly learned to 'feel' the difference and I learned there's a very obvious texture difference between a dog washed once and a dog washed twice (not so much between washes 2 and 3).

Now that I'm not at a groom shop, it's a pain to bathe frequently and my dogs aren't getting thier every 1-2 week baths, but I sure wish they could when I pet them! When we do wash, mixing the shampoo in a water bottle with some warm water and shaking it up helps disperse it... we wet the dog, scrub, rinse, scrub with shampoo again, and do a ton of final rinses. That second wash makes a huge difference!

Wash as often as you want. The brushing is what helps with the hair....but for smell/texture...the bathing can be important. Some dogs have coats that need it more than others, and sometimes it's lifestyle. In the summer we get more baths...the swimming makes the dogs smell like fish and I don't want THAT in my bed!

I try to bathe them weekly ( just did so today), but sometimes it stretches out to 2 weeks... never more. Bathing with a good shampoo and rinsing completely is actually good for the coat and skin. Show dogs are often bathed even more often to be in top shape. My dogs share my bed, and they wouldn't if they weren't bathed often.

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Betty and the Dallas crew


“Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.” A. France

I bathe about every 3-4 weeks, and that's only because both goldens have therapy dog visits at least every other week. They don't stink, but they do start to feel a bit dirty. I am always surprised by the amount of dirt that washes off when I rinse them!

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Molly usually gets a bath once a month in summer. And only once or twice during all winter. Also, I brush her everyday!

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Duke was bathed weekly and sometimes 2x/week with "Relief" shampoo due to his skin allergies. Also, he was brushed almost daily just because I loved to brush him.

His coat was beautiful IMHO. One thing that I was grateful for was that, in batheing often your hands are in places not normally in during every day life and although my hands were on him constantly, I did not feel the first lymph node until it was the size of a golf ball. I have the bath to be grateful for.

Not that we should live in fear, but even brushing him daily I missed it until it got that big. Which, those nodes can grow at an alarming rate so probably grew that big in a week. Just my opinion.

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Duke 4/25/01 - 2/11/10
My puppy, Duke - I will always lobe you &
I miss you so. I hope you're enjoying all your friends at the Rainbow Bridge!

My baby boy, Coley. Duke - you'd have loved him! I know you're showing him things, though.
Born 01/01/10. Furever home 05/26/10