Cold weather and baths

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#1
Im soon to get a Fila and I would like to know if giving him a bath will cause him to be cold in the winter. I have seen a golden retriever swim in ice water half the day and be just fine, but he was never bathed. After a skunk encounter he was given a bath. The next day he couldnt make it five feet in the water before coming back shivering.

My Fila will be a working dog outdoors a lot but sleep indoors. I dont plan on grooming him like a show dog but I want him to be comfortable yet not smell so bad as to alert my girlfriend that he has been sitting on the couch with me (my girlfriend is going to take awhile to come around to the idea of living in the dogs house)

Jake
 
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#2
My dogs are bathed once a month, including in the winter. In the winter they are bathed indoors and I do my best to dry them off completely and not let them outdoors if their fur is still damp.

Labs and Goldens have waterproof coats - they can go into freezing waters without feeling a thing. My lab has gone swimming in the middle of winter - just jumped into the creek, broke the ice and swam around while getting a drink. That water must've been below zero!! :rolleyes: Silly doggie
 
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#3
You'll find your Fila doesn't take much more than a quick brush. Ours work - 60-70 head of Angus cattle - and the only time they really stink is when they've found something LOVELY to roll in :rolleyes: Bimmer, our GSD/wolf mix, has taught them to go wash off in the wading pool before coming in if they're muddy :) If the weather is cold, and they really, really have to be cleaned, just jump in the tub or shower with your dog and keep him/her inside for several hours until totally dry. Trust me, your Fila is going to be spending a lot of time with you . . . it's what they do.

You will absolutely want to have your pup with you during every possible waking moment. That's how the human/Fila bond is formed. And don't be surprised if your Fila really takes up with your girlfriend. They tend to gravitate to women, like so many molosser guardian breeds.

Oh, and if your Fila has a run in with a skunk late at night - too late to wrangle in the shower - a judicious and careful spritz of Febreeze will work wonders until you can bathe your Fila the next day . . . I'll let you guess how I found THAT little tidbit of useful info . . .

Shiva's the only one who has ever gotten stinky though; Buffy, and now Kharma (and especially Bimmer) don't even bother the skunks! They've got more sense - probably because Shiva's half show dog :rolleyes:
 

smkie

pointer/labrador/terrier
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#4
cold weather baths in my house..fill up the tub with nice warm water, soap up, lots of towels for drying..then off to the space heater where they down stay with a towel on top..(monitored of course) or if there isn't time, a blow dry..they love the space heater and will even turn themselves over to "dry" the other side. Mr.Shaffer had his first bath that way and thinks of his baths as a very special treat ever since..i wash dogs at least once a week if not twice (Victor is a sweaty little kid)
 

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