Bathing A Maltese, How Often? Edited To Add:

[Veanna]

Hi guys, I'm hoping some groomers or Maltese owners may be able to help me

My OH and I are picking up our Maltese puppy this weekend, very excited! We have been doing heaps of research but a lot of the information we find is contradicting other information. I have grooming brushes all ready to go, crate set up, loads of toys, etc. etc.

Having grown up with toy poodles I am no stranger to grooming but I am to the Maltese breed as little Loki will be our first. My question is how often should we bath him? I have been on various websites and they range from once a week to 4

He will be going to a professional groomer to be clipped and hydrobathed when need be but I can't find consistant info on how often to bath him for general maintenance.

Also is there any shampoo or conditioner that people reccomend? I have read somewhere about a shampoo and conditioner designed specifically for the maltese coat but can't remember what it was

Thanks in advance for any replies! This is new territory for me and we couldn't be happier

ETA: Also does anyone in Adelaide have a reccomendation of a good groomer in the Northern suburbs? I haven't had much experience with groomers here other than the one that does my paren'ts poodle. And I don't think he does a very neat job

Edited October 4, 2007 by veanna

[Poodle wrangler]

I haven't had a Maltese before, but would guess that a bath at the groomer's would be sufficient if it was every 4-6 weeks and pup didn't get especially dirty.

I only bath our poodles about monthly (pre-clip) and they go to beach, bushwalk, indoor-outdoor dogs.

What does your breeder suggest?

[oakway]

You can bath dogs every day if you wish. Some dogs have to be bathed every

day because of skin complaints.

Just make sure that you use a quality shampoo and conditioner in conjunction

with a moisturizer. If the dog is outside a lot a sunscreen would not go astray.

[BC]

It depends on what the living conditions of the dog are.

If it is inside, and you are sending it to the groomers every 4-6 weeks, then that should be fine as long as you brush it every 1-2 days. I find the best to make sure there are no knots etc in a malt coat is a metal comb. This gets down to the skin and finds every knot. Unless you layer brush the entire dog with a pin or slicker brush, you will find most brushes will just brush to top of the coat and not to the skin so just be mindful of this.

Good luck

[Clyde]

Try not to bathe him/her too much. So many people over wash their dogs (myself included ). Use a good quality soap free shampoo such as Aloveen, The Aloveen Leave In Conditioner is also great to rub in to your dog to help prevent knots, acts as a deoderiser and is also a good dirt repellant. A good brush every couple of days should eliminate most of the dirt. The more often you wash your dog the faster the oils are replaced regardless of the shampoo used, thus the dog becomes smellier more quickly. I have Malts which come in for a bath every week and then Malts that come in every six weeks and I swear they smell the same when their bath time comes around. They aren't a smelly breed IMO, but then that could just be preference as I find the Poodle smell quite overpowering

I second BC on the metal comb!

[Veanna]

Thank you everyone. I thought once a week seemed too often. We have a metal comb, a slicker brush and a pin brush. He will mostly be inside with romps outside with us and beach visits etc. once he has finished his vaccs.

Poodle Wrangler, we don't have a breeder to ask. The person (friend of my cousin's) that has the litter took on the dam (who was being given away) with no idea that she was pregnant. When she called the previous owners they said the the bitch may have mated with their friend's male maltese

Cousin's friend (who has the bitch and litter) has offered us one of the puppies(we have been looking for the right small dog for us). I have encouraged her to have the bitch desexed and to do up something saying that puppy buyers should desex their puppies.

The little guy will be brushed and combed through every day (having seen some terribly matted dogs I'm paranoid about a single one ).

Thank you so much for your replies, I have written the suggestions down for any in between grooming session baths he might need

Thanks again!

[GoldiesRgr8Poodles2]

When your pup gets messy and smelly. When i got my poodle I was wash her rear end almost everyday because she was so messy (consiquently found out it was medical) But her first real bath was for about 3 weeks after I got her but i wanted her to get use to it. My goldie went neary a month before his. I have clients that have there dogs washed once a week, fourtnight, month, 8 weeks. It depends on you and your puppy. Most people wash there small dogs more often because they are inside and on your lap so you dont want a smelly dog. But i let my two who are inside dogs get pretty filthy before their bath. They smell terrible to me but no one else can smell it. My stinky babies.

[Veanna]

Thanks goldiesRgreat, we will see how we go. He will be out and about with us nearly everywhere so he may be a grubby little puppy

Aww it's ok that your two are stinky, they make up for it in cuteness hehe