Hi eveyone,
this might seem a funny question, but how often can you give your Husky a Bath ?.

I suppose it depends on whether you are considering showing them or not as obviously they need to be bathed and groomed prior to a show but if not I would say don't do it too often as it can damage the natural oils in their coat. Personally I would only bathe them once or twice a year - the only exception to this would be if they had rolled in something particularly smelly!!! Huskies have the type of coat that repels a lot of dirt but I think regular brushing is a must to keep their coats soft and glossy.

I think to keep from interfering with their natural weatherproofed coat they should not be washed more frequently than every 6-8 weeks. Of course if you're showing or your sibe gets dirty then it wouldn't hurt to bathe more frequently but many sibe owners get away with once or twice a year. Personally I bathe my sibe every 6-8 weeks or as needed.

A better question would be whether your dog is a "indoor" dog or an "outdoor" dog. That factors in with the regularity that you give it a bath.

For the record though, mine is primarily indoors and gets a bath twice a year.

Hi he is an out-door Husky !!!.

We got Sierra and Jack in Feb and March of this year and they both got a bath the day they came home with us to make sure they were clean, Sierra smelled a bit cause she went swiming in a lake a few days before we got her we were told and Jack because he was living out side at the rescue. they got their second bath just last sunday after our hike and i realized it had been like 6 months since they got their first bath. i would give them a bath if in fact they smelled from rolling in something but other wise i think the 6 month thing works for them. we are going camping in 2 weeks and we will see how clean they stay and might be getting another one at that time.

Huskies hardly require any bathing , or very little.
All mine get a bath every 6 months.
Husky have 2 coats...an undercoat that is the thick and soft coat that provides all the heat in colder climes ...this contains lots of oils to keep the skin not only clean but healthy.
Then they have the guard coat..this is the courser top coat ...this coat is water repellent.
Bathing too frequently will not only strip the undercoat of the essential oils needed to keep the undercoat soft and insulating but it always strip the top coat of its waterproof qualities which will result in the undercoat becoming dry , brittle and less insulating.
Husky fur has this amazing trick of self cleaning ( next time he gets muddy paws..leave them for a day and they will be white in the morning ) so the need for frequent bathing is not only pointless can be harmful in the long run.

When bathing for shows we use a very very mild shampoo available from vets to ensure that no damage is done to the skin and fur.
We also only use the unpurfumed kind as these are less harsh.

None show dogs...once or twice a year is suffice.


( This thread has been moved to help and advice )

I must not have a husky, mine requires more than bi-annual grooming. lol

On average every other month, give or take a few weeks. I don't think I've ever been able to go more than 3 months without a bath. I also give him a blowout every few weeks with the high velocity dryer and you would not believe all the crap that comes out of his coat in between baths...even I find it hard to believe after seeing it with my own eyes. And the crazy thing is I only get the crap out of his coat by blowing or bath, no amount of brushing removes it and you can't see it b/c it's white. I'm thinking since he's always rolling in the grass, dirt, whatever it lodges itself in his undercoat. Believe me, when I researched the breed I looked forward to only bathing twice a year but with mine, I can't go that long. I'd also read in my research prior to getting a sibe that they clean themselves kinda like cats, not mine...maybe I got a dud.

I don't know, I've never caught him cleaning himself aside from the occasional lick yet I do find large amounts of his fur in his stool every now and then...

If he has white stuff in his fur thats dry dead skin. A bit like dandruff
Try changing the shampoo to something much milder or it could escalate to excema and trust me thats the last thing you want.
Only use shampoo every other bathe...on the time that you dont use shampoo a good rub will get rid of it for you.
If he is startin to smell in between baths ...thats the dead skin.

I've been waiting since Sunday for that "amazing trick". Turns out it doesn't work with tree sap. This will be the sled dogs' first bath of 2009.

Sinatra acts more like a pig than a cat. lol
He "wallows" in the mud or dirt behind our home.
I label Sintra as a half/half dog. He spends the days outside and evenings / nights inside.
Typically after 6-8 weeks he is too dirty (smelly) for my wife to allow him entry in our home.

Sinatra also has mild alergies, and washing him with Selsen Blue (or non-medicated dandruff shampoo) lowers his sneezing for about a week.

Harrise try some cooking oil on the coat to get rid of the sticky tree sap.

I wonder if Husky skin is somewhat like our lips (yes, it's a strange analogy but it actually makes sense) in that if you never use ChapStick you're lips will hardly every get chapped because ChapStick wasn't part of our environment for millions of years. But once you start using ChapStick your lips become accustomed to the moisture and going any time without ChapStick they become chapped. This is why many of the "experts" are against even starting to use ChapStick.

What I'm trying to get at is maybe since you've bathed Dakota more often than is needed since he was a puppy his skin is reacting (or getting chapped) to the conditions that aren't natural to the breed.

From my understanding, the oils in the skin are a big part of why they can go so long without baths and why their fur is able to be such a good barrier to the snow (obviously there is a variance of their oils to "water dogs"). Washing your dog that often is hindering the oils from forming a protective barrier on the fur and outer layer of skin.

Thoughts?

Just thought of this after reading the flea/ticks thread. Do you think that the medication that he is taking is causing his skin to dry out? With humans there are quite a few medications that will cause your skin to dry. Did your doctor check for any allergies?