jeffrey's mom

I'm just wondering if 9 1/2 weeks is too young to start bathing Jeffrey. He's a little greasy near his ears. Also, how often do you all bathe your bassets? I've heard everything from twice a month to twice a year to never. Just curious.

We're taking Jeffrey to our vet tomorrow to make sure that he's totally healthy. He's eating plenty of food and has plenty of energy. We clipped his nails this afternoon, just a tiny bit off the ends, and he didn't hate it too badly.

AmyB

I've never bathed mine much. Spencer just had a bath today, one of only 2 or 3 he will get this year. Regular brushings & an occasional wipe down with baby wipes does the trick in between baths.

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Amy, mom to
Sadie (ATB, 6/9/06) & Spencer (ATB, 8/19/10) - always in my heart
and Clifford (gotcha date 7/2/11).

Beverly Anne

I would just use an unscented babywipe or a facecloth with a little puppy shampoo to clean the dirty area and I think he's a little too young for a full bath.

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Francis's Bevy

Daisy'sLady

I bathed Daisy when she was just a puppy, around 8 weeks or so. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, she didn't have any issues. Plus it's nice to get rid of the puppy/litter smell that they have when you first get them.

He will shiver and look cold and uncomfortbale but i reccomend that you just towel dry him, don't blow dry because it drys out the skin.

I bathe daisy every month to month and a half and i have not had any problems as a result of it.... just a pretty smelling/ looking dog

In regards to the greasy ear area though, that is a whole other issue. The ears need to be cleaned out almost weekly. Its easiest if you use an ear cleaner that breaks down the wax build-up rather than soap and water or bathing.

Also if you keep up with nail trimming he will get more and more used to it and you won't have to worry about cutting them too short because you'll just have to trim the tips rather than trying to shorten then when they get too long.


Good luck with his first bath!

jeffrey's mom

Thanks for all of the helpful comments. Our vet said to just use a cotton ball to clean Jeffrey's ears. But I've heard many times that we should use solution. What kind do you recommend?

Daisy'sLady

I have tried three different solutions and the best one, in fact the only one that i have found to be effective is called Dr. Golds Ear Therapy. It works really well and is gentle so you can use it often.

Use a Q-tip with some of the solution on it to first get all the hard to reach corners. Then poor a bit of the solution into the ear ( she absolutely HATES that part and gives a big struggle) then masage the base of the ear to work it in ( this also calms her down because it feels good i guess)
Then take a facecloth or the corner of a towel and wipe out the entire ear. with the towel around your finger (with a bit of solution on it if you want) reach as far as you can into the canal to clean out the wax.

This is the method i have found works best, you will definately get a struggle from him but its worth it to keep him from getting an ear infection. Also, dirty ears are a major souce of the Basset's unpleasent smell.

Good luck with it!

2hounds

Ok I'm no expert, but I have heard others on here say that you should absolutely never use a q-tip in a dog's ear. Can any of you chime in on this?

~Heather

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Mommy to Gibbs and kitty kitty Eva

Dear sweet Lily (ATB ) you will never be forgotten.

Daisy'sLady

I use them for the early part of the ear where the cartlidge is, in the spots where it is hard to clean with a towel and finger..... not into the ear canal. There is certainly no risk in that.

Nugget's_mama

Hello all! I feel compelled to announce this is my first post in case I mess something up with this along the way! After reading the bathing posts, I'm a little worried that I might be doing more harm than good. Nugget is almost a year old and she is our first basset and our first dog in my adult life! We've had cats for many years. Anyway...we live in the country but do not have a fenced yard so Nugget is a house basset with supervised trips to the yard and walks on a leash. I bathe Nugget in our bathtub once a week with a doggie moisturizing shampoo. She doesn't mind baths at all and this particular shampoo doesn't seem to give her dry skin and it seems to get rid of loose hair. Her coat is so shiny and soft. We rarely notice the "hound" odor. Another point is that we live in Georgia where it is warm and humid! Since she seems to be doing well with weekly baths, is that ok or are we going to have skin trouble later because of the frequent bathing??

Terry

Moe's getting his bath today, in a couple of minutes. I'm sitting here, stalling, because it's a back-breaking and messy process that requires me to clean the whole bathroom afterwards.

We used to bathe him once every month or two, and that worked fine as far as doggie smell went. After five years he developed a condition that resulted in many cysts (there's no reason to think that your dog will have the same problem). These would get infected and/or burst and required many courses of antibiotics and three surgeries over two years. Our vet suggested using a special shampoo that may help prevent a certain type of cyst. He told us to bathe him once a week with it, so now he gets a weekly bath. Not a problem for Moe... he LIKES baths.

For Moe's ears we use cotton pads, not balls. And I buy an ear-cleaning solution called "Oticlens" from our vet. Mainly because his ears get 'yeasty' and, after several ear-infections, our vet recommended it. Someone here has a recipe for a homemade solution that is a very effective ear-cleaner. Perhaps they'll share the recipe again?

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Moe and Terry
"Don't worry, be happy"