Both my pups love a good roll-about in any sh** they can find as with many dogs. I've shampood Keely only twice in her life and Sanna once as OH decided to make the garden hose a toy for winding them up with so i don't have the energy to catch them/pin them down for the hose anymore . I got hold of a bar of "doggy" soap with natural stuff in it and apparently environmentally friendly enough for water courses, so i take that on holiday so I can fling them in a river/sea, lather, fling, repeat etc Havent used it yet but find anti-bacterial grooming wipes do the job(by) Despite others warning otherwise, the pups get a dip in the sea once a week/fortnight (and purely their own choice as part of a ball fetch session at the beach at the weekend) and they don't get dry skin or itches.
I doubt that regular baths would do any harm to a dog if a good dog shampoo was used but I would not want to remove the natural oils from the coat of a working dog on a regular basis.
My dogs don't have a carpet to roll on as we have an oak floor which is not highly polished , a highly polished floor could easily lead to a dog being injured. Swimming in the sea ? Many people let their dogs swim in the sea almost daily , it does not seem to cause an "electrolyte imbalance" and jellyfish don't seem to trouble the dogs either. When my dogs have swam in the sea I try to let them swim in fresh water soon afterwards to wash out the salt from their coats . Wildfowling dogs are often swimming in the salty water and seem to remain healthy.
Since I do not bath dogs unless they really need it they should smell bad but they do not. After a training session or a days shooting all that is needed is a good rub down with a towel.
Any remaining dirt or dust falls out as the coat dries out completely or when the dogs are given a comb through and a brush.
My dogs get as wet and as dirty as anyone else's does but by the following day they look fine again and I can take them out working again knowing that I have not removed the natural oils from their coats.
I do bath dogs if they have rolled in poo but that is very seldom done by any of my dogs. Maybe they think they smell fine already ?
I don't keep coal in the bathtub as it is already in use as a live bait container for my fishing.
Wullie
If at first you don't succeed .....find out if there is a booby prize !
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Don't do what doesn't work - do what does.
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Our Golden Retriever and Springer Spaniel swim in the sea every week, they both also go head under the water looking for anything to take back to us, never done them any harm
My springer gets the hose if really mucky and no pond, river, stream to clean him off. He then gets towel dried and he is fine. Coat is in good condition, no problems with ears etc. Any remaining dirt falls off when totally dry and the Hoover sees to that.
After a hard days picking-up, on a very muddy shoot, I will either give them a quick swim if we are near the lake, or hose them down (the Missus has a heated hose for the horses) when I get home. Either way I always towel them down afterwards: a) because spaniels feel the cold more than labs, and b) to check underneath for cuts, sores etc.
Thanks awfully for your replies. I only took to bathing the dog since this bug that has killed about 16 dogs ( see the Alabama post on here). I'd hate to lose a dog for the sake of 5 minutes in the bath.
Whilst young, Merlin was frequently in the sea so bathing wasn't necessary unless it was a scrubbing out back when he'd rolled in fox poo! However, as he got older his swimming lessened and as I live in a house with a wet-room, I would walk him in and give him a wash off now and then when he'd gotten particularly silty. He always loved getting bathed and going swimming so it was a small compromise for him. Although not a worker, I've always used a hairdryer on him as he LOVED it. He'd bop you with a paw if you turned it off and would sit there moving around to get the blast where he wanted it. I never saw any behaviour that suggested the sound changed him any way. He still responded to the whistle commands we used for him and wasn't startled by loud noises. I couldn't answer as for whether it makes them hard mouthed.
I think it does depend on the dog. If they really enjoy it, why not pamper them a little now and then as a treat? By comparison, my Setter who had a real 'pampered princess' attitude at times wouldn't go near the hairdryer and it DID stress her out. Maybe it is in these sort of dogs that you would see affects on other noise based training?
Since WGDS chairman Steve Smith had 3 dogs affected by the illness, and the only one that survived was the one that had been washed, we purchased a Mobiwash and now wash the dogs straight after working. Filled with hot water in the morning, it means that they get a nice warm shower. Rub down to roughly dry, drying coats on and they are pretty much dry when they get home. The Mobiwash is also useful for washing down sweaty horses after summer rides and competitions. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... -prod46653
Inside every springer, no matter how well trained, is an idiot trying to get out
madrags wrote:Since WGDS chairman Steve Smith had 3 dogs affected by the illness, and the only one that survived was the one that had been washed, we purchased a Mobiwash and now wash the dogs straight after working. Filled with hot water in the morning, it means that they get a nice warm shower. Rub down to roughly dry, drying coats on and they are pretty much dry when they get home. The Mobiwash is also useful for washing down sweaty horses after summer rides and competitions. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... -prod46653
I appreciate your motives but I'd draw the line at having horses in my bathroom!
so i don't have the energy to catch them/pin them down for the hose anymore 
. I got hold of a bar of "doggy" soap with natural stuff in it and apparently environmentally friendly enough for water courses, so i take that on holiday so I can fling them in a river/sea, lather, fling, repeat etc Havent used it yet but find anti-bacterial grooming wipes do the job(by) 
Despite others warning otherwise, the pups get a dip in the sea once a week/fortnight (and purely their own choice as part of a ball fetch session at the beach at the weekend) and they don't get dry skin or itches.
