# How often do you shower Hav?



## Milo805 (Mar 7, 2012)

We have been giving our havanese a shower every other day to keep him clean and smell good at all time, we use the oatmeal shampoo and conditioner bought from Petsmart. How about y'all?


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## Ruthi (Nov 10, 2011)

Hmmm, I would think that every other day is a bit much, and possibly end up causing problems. I bathe mine once a week or week and half She never really smells, unless she gets into something.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

ya, I think that is way to much... and a SHOWER?? interesting, never heard that before!! Does your pup really, really LOVE to be clean!?? 
Every 7-10 is a good length between baths, unless your pup REALLY gets dirty often...


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## Milo805 (Mar 7, 2012)

yes we literally shower the dog, not bath. LOL Just had to cover his nose that's about it. Our pup don't get out unless he need to potty, he isn't dirty, but he has this fishy smell after 2 days, my kids won't get too close to him when he started to smell like that.  Not sure if it has anything to do with his diet, we feed him grain-free food from Wellness Core and Blue Buffalo Freedom. No raw meat or fish or anything like that...


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

My pup would divorce me if I tried to wash him that often. I aim for once a week, but usually it's more like 2.


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## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

Lizzie gets bathed about every week and a half maybe 2 weeks. She gets that fishy smell, too. She does get fish oil everyday, but I know the smell you are talking about. I always attributed it to being outside. You know how kids get that smell when they play outside?She goes out to potty and 2 walks a day. It was really bad this summer when we were at the lake and I blamed it on Lake Michigan ( I won't go in), but it happened at home, too. 

I do think that every other day is to much, but I don't know what to tell you if he smells. I would try stretching it out to a week and see how it goes.


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

Whimsy gets a bath every 10 days or so. I have never smelled any fishy odor to her at all. I can't imagine the work involved with giving her a bath and blow drying her every other day. You and your pup must have alot of patience!!


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

misstray said:


> My pup would divorce me if I tried to wash him that often. I aim for once a week, but usually it's more like 2.


Ha I'd be divorced too! Once a week for Timmy that's the most torture I can put him through.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

with a shower, I sure hope you are being careful of his ears, these havs get ear infections really, really easily...


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Yea.....Showering is going to get old...once that hair gets longer! Are you drying them off each time? 

My boys are older now...3yr and 2 yr...just gave them their bath...it has been a month (first time for month)! When they were young, it was more often because they were so active.

I love this breed because they do NOT smell like other dogs.


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

My dog gets groomed every 5 weeks. the only thing I wash in between groomings are his paws. He's not smelly, I always clean under the hood, brush daily etc. but I don't wash him and never have since he was a puppy. He's also the type of dog who does not dig or roll in anything and even when outside, just walks and sniffs so he's never dirty or dusty!


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## RickR (Feb 15, 2007)

Bess and Max get bathed every two weeks.


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## Graciep0o (Apr 23, 2010)

Oliver gets washed every two weeks too and we give him a shower too because he's too big to bit into any of our sinks. We just take down the shower head and rinse him off that way - no worries about his ears because we can hold them down when we rinse his head.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I was surprised to hear about the shower too. I bathe my troops somewhere between one and two weeks, usually 7 to 10 days. The last bath for the three took me five hours to complete and I was exhausted at the end. I couldn't imagine doing it every other day. I've also heard it isn't necessarily the best for their coats.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

I use the hand-held shower head to wash my guys in the bath tub. It rinses out shampoo and conditioner really well. Sometimes I put it on massage which they like on their backs.


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## Grindstone50 (Feb 13, 2012)

Milo805 said:


> We have been giving our havanese a shower every other day to keep him clean and smell good at all time, we use the oatmeal shampoo and conditioner bought from Petsmart. How about y'all?


The fishy smell could be yeast infection in his ears. May want to think about that. My newest one came to me as an adult. She smelled aweful!! After a bath, still the same. She was being treated by the previous owner, for an ear infection. Then I took her to my own vet, and she said it was not an infection, but a yeast issue. It took a LONG time to get it cleared up. AND some of the ear meds cause a gooey mess of the ears and ear flaps. Took Dawn liquid soap and lots of times repeated to get her cleaned up.
BUT, my point is the smell may be yeast.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

misstray said:


> My pup would divorce me if I tried to wash him that often. I aim for once a week, but usually it's more like 2.


I also aim for 1x a week, but sometimes it's every week and a half.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Your Hav should not smell fishey unless as others say it is a medical issue or food. Every other day is a bit much as our dogs do not have oily skin. My new dog had a smell when she came, I washed her many times, it turns out to be her eyes run and that gets in her facial hair, so I now wash her face several times a day.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

every two weeks here too. A fishy smell could be anal glands. Has a vet ever checked his anal glands? How old is he? A puppy especially a havanese puppy that smells so that children don't want to be near him would signal something wrong to me. perhaps you should take him to a vet for a checkup. Breath can contribute to their overall smell. So I might brush his teeth every day and try fewer showers. Good luck. keep us posted.


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## Diann (Apr 25, 2011)

My puppies get a bath about every two weeks. When I had one, it was about every week. Now, I spread it over a two day period...one a day.  I've also taken Lucy in the shower. Only did it once though because she kept looking up at me and getting water in her face. I was afraid she'd get water in her lungs. 

The smell? Yea, I agree with the others and think there may be a medical cause or something in the food. I feed Blue Buffalo Rice and Chicken Small Breed Puppy Food and have never noticed a smell. In fact, my husband and I have both commented on how good the dogs seem to smell, even when they have that outdoor musky smell. Now, I will say that since I have two now, the "spit smell" is kind of gross! Why can't they play without mouthing each other. 

One thing that I did notice when we got Charlie was that his urine smelled much stronger than Lucy's. He'd been eating a different kind of food at the breeder so I don't know if that was it, if it was because he was a boy and had different hormones, or if it was just because he is a different dog. I don't notice it so much now though. I do have to wash his belly with a wet wipe at least every three to four days though just to freshen him up between baths. 

Girls are so much cleaner! 

Congratulations on acquiring a Havanese. They are adorable and little clowns.


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

I haven't the vaguest notion why your dog might smell fishy, but regardless, I think bathing or showering more often than once a week is probably hazardous to your dog's health (some have mentioned possible reasons for this). I think if it were me, I'd ask about the smell, starting with the breeder (if known), then groomers, then the dog's veterinarian. None of these can necessarily inform you fully; still, I like to ask!

If my Camellia didn't REQUIRE a weekly bath, I'd be more likely to bathe once a month, not once a week, even. (I keep Camellia in a puppy-clip, and might work differently if she were in full coat.)

Food might have something to do with it, though. I fed Camellia on grain-free food for a time, and finally, checking things out with my veterinarian, who is a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine, decided to go for a food considerably lower in protein - therefore, more carbohydrates than grain-free food has. So I'm currently feeding Natural Balance original Ultra kibble, and using the canned version (chicken) to give Camellia her antihistamines, three times a day.

She has quite severe environmental allergies, and I'm using a weekly shampoo and twice-weekly spray to combat those.

Thu, 8 Mar 2012 21:04:07 (PST)


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

Now that I've caught up reading the thread, I agree with the idea of getting a vet check-up, in case your pup has a yeast infection.

Please keep us posted! Hope you would reduce the number of showers!

Thu, 8 Mar 2012 21:19:03 (PST)


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## Milo805 (Mar 7, 2012)

My pup is a bit over 4 months old, the fishy smell came from his body, we took him to the vet two days ago for vaccination and check up, doc said he is healthy and no health problem, I double check his ear...nothing out of the ordinary, no oily residue or anything yucky like that.



StarrLhasa said:


> I use the hand-held shower head to wash my guys in the bath tub. It rinses out shampoo and conditioner really well. Sometimes I put it on massage which they like on their backs.


Yup the shower head with extension, that's what I use to shower my pup in the bath tub, he would stand and put his front paws on the side of the tub while I rinse, shampoo and conditioner him. Dry him with towel first, then blow dry and brush/comb his hair, usually takes about 30~40min from start to finish. :biggrin1:



Lizzie'sMom said:


> but I know the smell you are talking about. I always attributed it to being outside. You know how kids get that smell when they play outside?


Yes that's exactly how he smell, like my kids after they came back from playing outside...fishy stuff uke:


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## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

You might be used to the shampoo smell on your pup. I really like how Lizzie smells-I cannot describe it though. BUT we have had the fishy smell on occasion. Are you in a warmer climate? I noticed it more in the summer, although she had it yesterday and got a bath. I have super sensitive smelling (my husband calls it a curse) and I might be interpreting doggy odor as fishy.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Is the smell from the skin or the mouth?


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## Milo805 (Mar 7, 2012)

skin, he doesn't has bad breath


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Usually mine get a bath every two weeks. If I'm lucky, sometimes I can push it to 3wks.


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## Milo805 (Mar 7, 2012)

Here is Milo, I gave him some boiled chicken thigh along with Wellness Core Low fat + Blue Buffalo Freedom for Puppy since yesterday, and when he fart everybody in the room ran out like mad bat outta hell... :yield:


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## rlewis (Sep 20, 2011)

Once a week, however Kobe would love every other day. He loves his bath!!


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