Depends on the dog and alot on location. We live in the woods on 10 acres near a small town. My 2 dobies I try to use the dremil once a week and they still look like bear claws. They spend hours a day with me running the property. We have gained some ground with the dremil over clippers. My GSD I try to get burn outs in the drive while playing ball to wear his down. I have cut his and used the dremil on him just to have him use to it, he is 9 months old.

Interesting, it seems most people bathe only when needed. The only time I think of bathing him is after cleaning the car (every 2wks). The back seat is basically his and it is a chore cleaning cloth upholstered seats. I should get seat covers.

I have a friend who "rinses" (no shampoo, just water)her dog everyday after running in the park and bathes at least once a week. Her husband is the OCD (obsessive compulsive)type and insist on it. I mentioned that it's not good for the dogs coat, but he insisted the after bath "lotion" they use restores the oils. Being an OC and know-it-all type I just dropped it.

Nail Clipping
He has both front and rear dew claws and I only clip those when they get too long and start curling around. Other than that his nails stay short just from running around.

Ears
I occassionally (not frequently) clean w/a blue violet solution. After switching to a raw diet he had massive ear discharge and 2wks of the blue violet solution cleared it up.

Teeth
Once a month or so. Raw diet w/lots of bones keeps them clean and he gets a beef neck/soup bone nightly. Though there is some plaque behind his canines which I have to get a scaler for.

The subatious glands below the hair follicles secrete oils necessery to keep the GSD coat water tight. bathing the dog more than twice a year can result in a loss of some of these important oils... And could lead to rumatic problems later in the dogs life.

If the dogs coat smells then get some velvet coat deoderent to make the coat smell nice and also make the coat shine. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

During summer time I have bathed my dog probably every 2 weeks. During the winter time I will not bathe my dog.

I never clip his back nails, his front nails every 2-4 weeks depending on how irritating the clicking noise on the sidewalk gets <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I wash mine once a year. In between, I use Miracle Groom if they get something on them. Leaves all the natural hair oil in and doesnt bother their skin at all. Helps get the extra coat out though. I dremmel the nails, I dont cut them. I dremmal the front nails maybe once a month on one of my dogs. The others wear there's down themselves, all I do is make sure they are even. I dont have to do back nails on any of them.

Ian

Because my working dog is always right on top of me, and he gets into all kind of nasty stuff on the street...every 4-6 weeks in summer and 6-8 weeks in winter.

Howard

I bathe my GSD one - two times a year...I use a few sprays an organic coat spray that has tea tree oil/lavender/etc. daily when brushing during the winter to keep her smelling fresh. Toenails (fronts only need it) once every two weeks or so as I like to keep them nice and trimmed for agility. My Cairn Terrier goes to the groomer every 3 months (she tends to get very stinky as she is a mostly outside dog...)

People think I'm weird n treating my dog badly because I don't bathe my dog every 2 weeks, I see them funny looks I get when I try to explain a GSD's coat is pretty much self maintaining <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Now, I should brush him more often I'll admit - but omg the hair never ends, if I miss a week it doesn't seem to make a difference <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

People think I'm weird n treating my dog badly because I don't bathe my dog every 2 weeks, I see them funny looks I get when I try to explain a GSD's coat is pretty much self maintaining <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I guess I should cut down on his bathing. Mike what do you mean when you say GSD's coat is self-maintaining? Are there other dog type coats that are not self-maintaining? My wife insists that I bathe him as often as I can for hygienic purposes.