How often should you bathe your dog?

How often should you bathe a dog?

For most dogs, somewhere between once a month and once every three months. The Merck Veterinary Manual suggests a bath with pet shampoo about once a month, depending on the season, or whenever the coat gets very dirty or smells bad. The ASPCA's minimum is at least once every three months, with more frequent baths for dogs that spend a lot of time outdoors or have skin problems.

Coat type moves those numbers more than anything else. Hairless breeds need a bath every week, and long or curly coats that keep growing can need one anywhere from weekly to every 4 to 6 weeks, while a thick double coat does best when you don't overdo it.

Bath frequency by coat type

The 1-to-3-month range for short, double and wiry coats combines Merck's "about once a month" with the ASPCA's "at least every three months". The ranges for long coats and hairless dogs come from the groomers interviewed by the American Kennel Club.

Skin, lifestyle and season

The calculator starts in the middle of your coat's range and moves a quarter of the way toward more baths for an oily or smelly coat or a dog that lives in mud and water, and toward fewer for dry skin, an indoor dog or a cold spell. Those nudges are our judgment, built on the direction the sources give rather than a published formula. For example, an outdoorsy double-coated dog comes out at about every 6 weeks, and an indoor dog with a long coat and dry skin at about every 6 weeks.

If your vet has prescribed a medicated shampoo, their schedule replaces all of this, because medicated baths are part of a treatment plan.

Keeping your dog clean between baths

• Brush. The ASPCA recommends weekly brushing for smooth, short coats and daily attention for long ones. Brushing removes loose hair and prevents mats, so the coat stays cleaner for longer. Our grooming schedule by breed sets out a full routine.
• Wipe down. After a muddy walk, a short-coated dog often only needs a rubdown with a damp washcloth, not a full bath.

How often to bathe a double-coated dog

Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Huskies and other double-coated breeds have a dense undercoat under a weather-resistant topcoat. AKC's advice is to bathe them when they are dirty or smelly rather than on a tight schedule, because frequent washing strips the natural oils the coat depends on.

Brush with a slicker brush and a comb at least once a week, and more often while the undercoat sheds: usually spring and fall in colder climates, but up to four times a year, or all year round, in warm ones. When you do bathe, a de-shedding shampoo helps, and rinse several times so no shampoo stays trapped in the undercoat. Never shave a double coat to cut shedding: it doesn't reduce shedding and can damage the topcoat.

How to bathe your dog

Use a shampoo made for dogs. The ASPCA notes that human shampoos aren't toxic to pets but can contain fragrances and other ingredients that irritate their skin. Many dog shampoos are concentrates meant to be mixed with water: our shampoo dilution calculator works out the amounts from the ratio on the label. Wet the coat thoroughly, massage the shampoo in from head to tail, then rinse thoroughly; AKC suggests rinsing a double coat several times to get all the shampoo out.

Dry your dog well afterwards, especially in cold weather, when the ASPCA advises keeping baths to a minimum. Our guide to air drying after a bath covers when a towel is enough.