Hey guys very new and I’d like to get everyone’s opinions on shampoo. Brand and how often.
I personally went out and got isle of dogs copper no.17 for my red Doberman and I found it made him darker instead of bringing out his red. 😕 anyways thank you.
I personally don't bath my healthy dobes at all (well, very little—like once or twice a year) unless they have gotten into something particularly stinky or nasty. The glow and shine of a dobe's coat comes from a proper diet and good general health (though there are differences in their coats depending on their color.)
If you do decide to bath your dog, make sure to use cool or cold water and don't ever actually scrub at the coat. And rinse, rinse, rinse to make sure you get absolutely all of the soap off—a vinegar and water rinse will help make sure the soap is out.
I also use Chubbs bars. I like bar shampoo because it's so much easier to use. It cleans my dogs nicely and rinses well. Doesn't dry them out. My dogs don't get bathed that often, though.
I've also used Espana Silk products. I like the waterless shampoo for a quick clean up and the whitening/brightening shampoo for my black dogs.
Our Dogs, Bella 1/2 Dobie 1/2 Lab who has silky luxurious fur and Loki, a 100% Fawn Isabella Doberman, both get Pert. Yes lime green bottle human shampoo conditioner in 1. I got this tip some time ago from 'gunslinger' on Gentle Dob. It really works nice, is easy to use, and cheap. Never had any reason to try anything else! Bella gets a bath when she rolls in something stinky maybe every 10 weeks. Loki gets bathed a little more often, he has naturally dryer skin, with a lot less, shorter, and weaker fur. We are trying to build up his fur with salmon oil and good diet internally and use coconut oil or olive oil directly on his fur too. They both get cooling 'nice hoses' in the warmer months, just water.
My go to for Hoss is 3 parts cool water 1 part vinegar.....2 .....1 gallon milk jugs covers him good then he shakes it off and we take a sniffery walk.
Great astringent and maintains a natural PH balance for Hoss.
The vinegar smell goes away within a few minutes as he drys off.
I rarely shampoo also. When I do, I use diluted Allergroom shampoo. This was recommended to me by my first dobe's mentor for ear posting. She was a professional groomer and doberman owner.
What is the medicated shampoo? Manufacturer? Some medicated shampoos work better than others--and if he wears a collar-what kind is it? If it's fabric it should be washed frequently. Some dogs react to the metal in metal collars (but they should be washed too) and if leather--it should be cleaned with saddle soap or any good leather cleaner regularly.
Sounds like it might be a low level staph infection as MeadowCat said. You really shouldn't need to bath him monthly to control the "bumps" (which really sound like staph).
Also when bathing don't scrub him--short haired, single coated dogs like Dobes are never that dirty--a soft sponge or a soft wash cloth--to apply the shampoo--don't rub back and forth--just massage the shampoo in the direction the hair lies--and rinse very well.
Use cooler rather than very warm water--the dog won't like it but his skin will and scrubbing at the coat and really warm water will open the hair follicles and sometimes that will cause a case of folliculitis (infection of the hair follicle)--which also can result in dandruff and dry looking skin.
A final rinse in cool water with vinegar added also will do two thing--it does a good job of making sure you've gotten all of the soap off of his skin and it's really good to provide the proper pH at skin level. Yes, he'll smell like a salad until he dries but once dry the Dobe as salad odor goes away. I use a mix of about a gallon of water to one or two cups of plain white vinegarl
Good luck--dilute dogs (blue and fawn) sometimes have more problems with skin issues that black and red dogs. My fawn dog didn't really but it's not uncommon.
In addition to the quote that MeadowCat kindly posted above--when it comes to shampoo I have a couple that I use routinely.
I use one of the Equess (horse product--show horses often are bathed daily when being shown)--a lot of their products are available in the general pet stores and most farm and feed stores.
The other is one I get at the vet clinic where I work (several different manufactures of this) a shampoo that is either 2% or 4% chlorhexadine--a disinfectant--I use this if there is any reason to think the dog may have something going on with his skin.
If I'm showing a dog, that dog gets bathed before ever show or every circuit. If I'm not (or showing in performance only) my dogs might get bathed two or three times a year (or if they succeed in finding something really stinky to roll in).
Generally I can rinse a dog with a hose--not really a bath or take a damp towel and wipe him down to take off dust and loose hair and that's as much as he needs.
Loki gets dry pimple like bumps at his front neck from his collars. I wipe them with half white vinegar and half water, then with Dawn dish soap and then use coconut oil or olive oil 2 or so treatments spread out over the course of 2 days. By the time its ready to train or hike again those bumps are really looking good. If only he could be a lazy dog!! I can't wait until his training reaches a level where the bumps won't appear. Being a fawn owner, I am hyper vigilant about any imperfections on his coat.
Wow, my dogs wear collars (with tags) pretty much 24/7/365, and I've never had one have a reaction like that. Their collars have ranged from inexpensive discount store nylon collars to custom leather, with a variety of hardware.
I think I will try chlorhexadine shampoo, to try to make the bumps go away completely. But with his neck its delicate skin, super fawny fur, , collars and collar action while out or training, or a combo of everything. Walgreens has antiseptic skin cleanser 4% chlorhexadine, its 5-6 bucks for 8 oz.
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