Smelly Puppy--how often to bathe?

[Kristen and Chewbacca (Chewy)]

We've had Chewy for only one week, and already our house has a really strong doggy smell (like we have 5 big Rottweilers living here) even with daily cleaning. I bathed him once already and it has helped temporarily. How often do you bathe your doodles? I'm also wondering if his scent won't be so strong as he gets older--I think it's mostly coming from his breath. What has been your experience?

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

He has smelly breathe? From what? He isn't old enough to have tartar that causes bad breathe. If anything, he may still have puppy breathe? That will diminish with time. And obviously, a bath isn't going to help that.
I bathe Enz when she needs it. As a young pup she'd manage to get onto all kinds of great stuff....rolling in rabbit and pelican poo were her favs. She's get a bathe sometimes twice a week! I even remember a 4 time week! As long as the skin doesn't appear to dry out, your fine. You can always you baby shampoo and could even use that every day. When I bred Goldens, my babies got baths every single day...no one likes to love and cuddle a puppy that smells like pee! ;)

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Just thinking....check in Chewy's mouth and make sure he has no infections. This is something that would make a puppy's breathe smell bad. If he broke a tooth or has an impacted tooth, that could be the cause.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I love puppy breath!  I remember the day I noticed Beau only had a faint scent of puppy breath and the poof it was gone!  Some people love it, others do not.  It does not last forever.  In the meantime, you could put a little doggy toothpaste on your finger and gently rub his teeth and gums.  This would be a good idea anyway, so he will be used to having his teeth brushed.  I am not a proponent of bathing little puppies, because if not done properly you dry out their skin and the you create another problem - itching skin.  Good luck.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Me too, Linda! I love puppy breath! I was so sad when Enzo " outgrew" it!

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

I think it should be an aromatherapy fragrance! LOL  ...good for the blues.

[Julia Janzen]

LOL  This cracked me up!  There is NOTHING like puppy breath is there?  Love it!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

BTW Kristen - Chewy is such a cutie and welcome to DK.

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

When I got my first dog as a puppy I didn't get why people loved puppy breath. To me it smelled like pee. LOL. Now I get it. It just comes with the cuteness of a new puppy and that's why people love it. I don't have to bathe Nimbus that much. Sometimes I can even make it 2 weeks or more. And he doesn't have a doggy smell at all. He's now 11 months old. I thought they were all like that because they have hair not fur.

[Susan and Bentley]

we never had that problem.  I was told not to bath Bentley too much, he already has dry skin.  He only gets bathed every 6 weeks by the groomer.  We only bathe him if he gets really dirty.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I've never had that problem, but I do have a soapless shampoo for Ragley so that her skin doesn't dry out no matter how many baths I give her. 

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

That seems really odd.  Finn had puppy breath but no coat odor at all, unless he sat in pee, rolled in deer poo, or threw up.  I bathed him as often as needed with an organic puppy shampoo, so most of the time our house smelled like peppermint :)

I miss the sweet smell of a puppy, but if you're getting a really strong dog odor, I'd have him checked.  Is it possible he's getting into something? Has a tooth infection or a gastric problem?  Or is out sniffing around where other dogs have done their business and getting a smelly muzzle?

[Kristen and Chewbacca (Chewy)]

Thank you so much for your responses. His breath smells like the food he eats (Annamaet Salcha), but it is pretty strong--this is our first dog, so maybe we have to get used to it. And when he licks himself, the smell transfers to his coat and us. I'm using Cloud Star shampoo and conditioner--it's pretty mild and he smells REALLY good for about 5 minutes. I'll get some toothpaste and call the vet just in case.