• Just a quick question…how often do you all bathe your basenjis? We got ours in February and we have yet to bathe her. She isn't dirty, doesn't shed or smell, so I dont' feel the need but I feel weird never washing her. IS it ok to never bathe your dog as long as they look/smell clean?


  • I wash my kids when they are dirty… If they go to the park and it's muddy or get "slimed/goo'd" by another dog's saliva. Too much washing dries their coats out. I don't know that there's anything wrong with NOT washing. Good for you! Our rescue Miles is a stinkier little man than our prim and proper little girl, Lexi. 🙂


  • The dogs we show get a bath the night before they leave for the show. The others, like BDawg, when they're dirty, get rolling in something.


  • Ours are bathed when they get dirty also. Wait till you try to bathe a basenji
    they all feel they are made of sugar and will melt. None of ours like it, but funny thing our little girl will run thru the hose outside but a bath is a no no in her book.


  • Same here. Bathe when dirty from dog park, or bathe before going to a dog shoe.


  • although, mine don't seem to object much to bathing. I wash them right in the bathtub. but i have to get in with them. stand and hold them between my legs. I don't even have to hold tayda, she'll just stand there.

    Always after bathing is the B500!!!


  • Same as most everybody, only when they are going to a show, or are dirty..so for our retired or semi-retired dogs, bathing is very rare. I always wash them after they come home from the boarding kennel too…yuck....


  • Thank you, I guess I won't worry about it then 🙂 I am glad, it seems like it will be a hard thing to do since she won't sit still most likely.


  • Jazzy is really good in the bath, once I get her in the tub. THAT is the tricky part with her. She sees me walk toward the bathroom with "the stuff" {shampoo, towel, treats [she gets a teeny treat for each stage of the bath – in the tub; wet down; soap up; rinse off; out of the tub}} and she takes off to hide somewhere.

    Keoki has only had one bath, and that was a day after I brought him home cuz he smelled a little...uriney... after peeing all over in his kennel that first night. He did okay but tried to jump out of the tub on several occasions. I think he'll do fine.

    I usually wash Jazzy when she looks "less than clean" to me. I know it's really subjective, but her whites aren't their whitest, and her red seems more brown to me. More baths in summer than in winter -- she doesn't get really dirty curling up by the pellet stove. And every bath is followed by the B-500 -- summer is nicer because then it takes place outside.

    I also bathe her when out of town visitors are coming. I like them to meet/see her at her most beautiful!

    Gypsy, my golden mix, also has always done a crazy run after her baths through the years, so it must just be a way of A}drying off and B} celebrating release from the torture chamber that doubles as a bath tub.


  • Yeah, i think that's how it is with most breeds. I have a bernese mix and he let us give him a bath as a puppy, but never since. He will jump an try to run when he sees a tub with water. He's too strong for my mom or sisters to even try to hold him down for the bath.


  • HA! i gave my horse a bath the same day i gave stormie a bath…the horse was much easier!!! i have to drag fender to the tub, but he only tries to jump out a little bit. on average i wind up bathing him once a month.


  • I only give mine a bath before shows and now that they are all retired (with the youngest live here with us being 12)… maybe at most twice a year and that is only usually to help losen the dead hair when they are blowing coat... Most of mine I have to chase with the exception of Maggii... she always knew that baths means shows and she loved showing so as soon as I would head to the bathroom with the doggy bath stuff, she would run ahead and jump in the tub!!! Still does...


  • I was only bathing Senji a few times a year. It was always a big production and at least a 2 person job. He hates to be picked up, so I have to muzzle him so that I don't get bitten. Once he's in the tub, he's OK. I use the sink next to the washing machine, so it's a little high up. I've had to bathe him more often lately since he developed a skin infection. It caused a lot of shedding and dandruff. A basenji breeder that lives near me said that she sometimes wipes the dogs down with towels soaked in a diluted vinegar solution. Has anyone heard of this?


  • Have never heard of that (vinegar)…. have you been to the Vet to determine the cause of the skin infection?... Have you had a full thyroid panel done?..... before I would go to a home solution, I would make sure.... of what it could be or what is causing it... could be food... could be mites... and it is totally possible that the more bathing of him is making it worse... and this time of year Basenjis typically blow coat.. so it could just be that that is causing the shedding and dandruff... also, could be lacking stuff in his food... you should try adding Omega 3 to his food...

    Also, your problem of picking him up should be addressed... there are lots of things that you can do to work with him to get him over this.... you should work on this.. as if there was a real emerency that you had to pick him up, or someone else... you need to prevent someone from getting bit by him...

    You can make it a game... do things like first get him to accept you just picking up one foot at a time... and then rewarding him... then two feet... then just your arms around him like you were going to pick him up.... and so on.... While he might always "grump".. (and my male has done this for 15 1/2 years.. but we just call that "boy dog noises)... he has never offered to bite...


  • Glenhaven H/S shampoo

    i got a prescription shampoo for fender from the vet. mary k cut his tail a little too close before showing him. he got razor burn. it smells nice (like coconuts), and is gentle. (i think it was $15 for 18oz)


  • Hmmm….after boarding kennel....after skunking...other than that, unless she rolls in poop...it's very rare.


  • Same here, Bella gets bathed maybe once every two months or so… unless she went to boarding, gets really dirty, or plays with her doggy friends and gets "slimed". Oh, yes... the Basenji 500 always follows the bath!!!:D


  • Dash is good for baths. My boyfriend used to hold him while he was in the shower but Dash hated that so I just put him in the tub. He doesn't seem to "love" it but he tolerates it.

    elana86, I would be so sad not to be able to pick up Dash. We pick him up and carry him like a baby. For what it's worth, I agree with Tanza about addressing the biting issue.


  • @tanza:

    Have never heard of that (vinegar)…. have you been to the Vet to determine the cause of the skin infection?... Have you had a full thyroid panel done?..... before I would go to a home solution, I would make sure.... of what it could be or what is causing it... could be food... could be mites... and it is totally possible that the more bathing of him is making it worse... and this time of year Basenjis typically blow coat.. so it could just be that that is causing the shedding and dandruff... also, could be lacking stuff in his food... you should try adding Omega 3 to his food...

    Also, your problem of picking him up should be addressed... there are lots of things that you can do to work with him to get him over this.... you should work on this.. as if there was a real emerency that you had to pick him up, or someone else... you need to prevent someone from getting bit by him...

    You can make it a game... do things like first get him to accept you just picking up one foot at a time... and then rewarding him... then two feet... then just your arms around him like you were going to pick him up.... and so on.... While he might always "grump".. (and my male has done this for 15 1/2 years.. but we just call that "boy dog noises)... he has never offered to bite...

    The vet said that Senji's skin infection was bacterial. He put him on antibiotics for 3 weeks and it cleared up. As for him not liking to be picked up…he's always been like that. He's a little bit better now, but he definitely gives me a grrrr or a hmmmph when I need to pick him up for something. It might be related to the fact that he was run over by a car when he was 3. I think he may be somewhat arthritic from that, and it's uncomfortable for him to be picked up.


  • I use baby butt whipes to whipe our pup down. Usually we have to do this once a week because he starts to get a little dirty. I also use a conditioner spray for his coat to help with the itch anytime he starts to scratch.

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