• First Basenji's

    We all know that Basenjis are a relatively clean breed. I do appreciate all kinds of dogs, but shudder to think about living with the breeds that drool excessively or tend to gravitate towards mud puddles…

    Anyway, I'm just curious -- how often do you bathe your Basenji? What's the longest you have ever gone without bathing him/her/them?

    Bowpi hasn't had a single bath since we adopted her over a year ago. She hasn't needed one at all! And short of her being slobbered on by a pack of drooling Neapolitan mastiffs, I don't foresee a bath in her future, other than to see what her reaction might be since we don't even know if she'll freak out at the touch of water...


  • I don't "regularly" bathe mine – pretty much only when she gets muddy (which mostly is in the spring when the ground is defrosting)


  • I only give baths if they are muddy,wet from running and or "swimming" after ducks… or before a show.

    Sometime with my old guys it had been 2yrs or more between baths....

  • Houston

    Pippin has received a few baths already…because he got muddy or the neighbor's dog drooled and slobbered all over him ( really dislike that neigbor dog..)..but if it wasn't for that he would not have gotten any either.

    Otis got one total while we had him for a year and half..


  • We only bathe them before a show, or if they have gotten into something gross. I don't think Querk has had a bath in years, but he doesn't get into *stuff either. Bella ends up having a bath every few months 'cause she doesn't mind getting dirty. Sometimes I will give one a bath if they are having a bad shed…it seems to help the hair come out...but we don't do a lot of baths here...I mean the dogs 😉


  • i bathe the pups whenever i feel like it. usually about once a month or so, but thats often b/c we are going on a therapy visit. Digital's fur tend to irratate my skin if it's been more than 2-3 weeks since he's had a bath and since, especially at therapy visits, i'd pick him up a lot, he had to have a bath before we went. But now that he goes to hydrotherapy once a week, the baths have decreased. Jet had a bath a little over a month ago to help with shedding. Of couse I also enjoy giving my pups a bath.


  • Yep, rare bathing here too. I can't remember the last bath for Arwen and Cara hasn't had but one bath since I got her. I do routinely wipe with baby wipes though to remove pollen. And I wipe their feet off when it is wet out.


  • I used to have to give my r/w male multiple baths in the Spring because he would shed all his Winter fur. It got pretty bad once he hit about 13.

    My female tri LOVES to get wet/muddy/dirty but I usually only give her 2 baths a year. Once in Spring (when it warms up) and once at the end of the Summer.

    My male tri LOVES to roll in anything gross. He gets lots of neck baths!!!:)


  • We gave Maxx a bath once or twice a year. Usually one of the baths was during his annual shedding to help get rid of a lot of the loose hair. We'd also give him a bath if his white parts started to look dingy.

    So far, we haven't given Blaze a bath (he'll be four months old on the 23rd), although we have wiped him off with a damp microfiber towel.


  • When I first got my B, I would bath her every couple of weeks just to get her used to it, for the times down the road when she would really need it such as getting muddy or whatever. Nowadays she hardly gets one but she is now very "comfy" in a nice bathtub filled with warm water…she will actually sit her but down in the tub with tail relaxed and not just stand there tense and hoping it will be over soon!


  • Kipawa has had 2 full baths, both when he has been mud soaked from not caring where he is running. Other than that, I will wipe his paws if a walk has gotten them grimy, or just do a quick wipe on his body with a lightly damp cloth if a dog has drooled on him. He is blessed with a lovely shiny coat that I don't want to ruin.


  • Shaye has gotten two full baths in two and a half years since she was a baby. When her paws and legs get muddy at the dog parks, we spray them off on the way out, and she's fine by the time we get home. Gemma has more fur, and has had more baths, but she's a mix. She's had maybe 5 baths in two years. If we take them into salt water, we always spray them down really well with clear water just to get the sand and salt off their skin.

  • First Basenji's

    Walter, that's pretty amazing about your B just sitting in the tub!

    Bowpi luckily does not seem to be a stink-roller, nor has she shown any allergies (knock on wood!). Bowdu the Shiba has become more and more prone to rolling though, and over the summer he was getting 2x weekly medicated baths/soaks for his allergies and pododermatitis… it was really time consuming!

    So I'm glad that Bowpi does not seem to need frequent bathing at all. Giving her a dip to help with shedding sounds like a good idea though.


  • Well.. I dont know if its the tropics or the fact that Santo Domingo is very polluted city, but Ayo gets a bath, about every month. He gets filthy to the point where the white on his coat, his legs and neck and belly get gray. When I bathe him the water comes out black, its disgusting and i know that its not good to bathe too much, but its is very very humid hear and muggy and we really dont have that much of a dry skin problem.. I cant bear having him get on my bed when he is that dirty!!!.. He really dislikes the bath, definetly prefers hot water!!


  • @Walter:

    Nowadays she hardly gets one but she is now very "comfy" in a nice bathtub filled with warm water…she will actually sit her but down in the tub with tail relaxed and not just stand there tense and hoping it will be over soon!

    Scarlett, I AM IMPRESSED! 🙂


  • Thanks curlytails! It is a sight to see for sure…but on bottom of tub with a slight relaxed tail wag. If I wasn't paranoid about dropping the camera I would have a pic of it to post! 😃


  • I wipe my b's down with baby wipes, when they need it. They don't mind that as much as they would a bath.


  • Mine had several during crate training as both girls tended to roll in their poop the first couple times in a crate, fortunately for all of us, we seem to be beyond that now.


  • We bathe them more in the summer when the white fur turns dark gray, from dog-park dirt that won't come off with a baby-wipe. And when Nicky rolls in something dead.
    Ed is not a roller, but I usually bathe them at the same time. They like being clean and don't really mind baths, but we would never have to bathe them if not for dirt and dead fish!


  • @MacPack:

    …we would never have to bathe them if not for dirt and dead fish!

    Dirt and dead fish… what a lovely combination. :D:eek:

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