Lab Owners *LOOK HERE!!!!*

So I will admit im not a Lab expert in terms of care but im learning. For those who don't know how I got Sawyer and want to lecture me about not knowing too much about the breed before getting him. I didn't actively seek him out but I wasent going to leave him with my abusive neighbors at 9 weeks old.

Anyways when I first brought him home he was FILTHY and I mean FILTHY. So of course I bathed him. Fast forward a week later and he's run through his own poo lol so he got anouther bath. Fast forward a couple days and he vomits in his crate so he got a bath. Mind you these are just general ranges but in other time he got quite a few baths as a little guy. And some even at about 6 months.ish.

Well come to find out on a Lab forum that its not really a good thing to bath a Lab more then the bare minimum because of their coat. Needless to say I felt like a big idiot because honestly I didn't even consider it being different with a Lab than the Cocker Spaniels. Even though their coats are very different :doh:.

So im just wondering about my fellow Lab owners here. How often do you bath your dog? And how long do you think it will take Sawyers coat to recover? I havent bathed him with dog shampoo since probley about August. Also anouther question for my fellow Lab owners. Do you beleive it does benefit their coats not to bath them?

Chevy gets a real bath with soap about 2-3 times a year. During the spring and mud seasons I just use water if I need to clean her up. Chevy hasn't had a bath since August and her coat is nice and shiny. It looks and feels very healthy. I definately think it hurts thier coat if you use soap frequently. I can feel a big difference in Chevy's coat right afterwards compared to just before, although they say if you use a tearless shampoo it makes a big difference and doesn't strip as many oils from the hair. I have also noticed that if you bath with soap frequently or aren't careful and leave some shampoo behind, their skin becomes quite agitated and itchy.

Virgo gets bathed a bit more than she probably should, but she's also got the "nice" habit of rolling in stinky stuff when we're out in the woods. There is a noticeable difference in her coat and her skin does get flaky, dry and itchy, so I try not to do it too much, but sometimes you just have to! LOL!

Even though my Sawyer isn't a Lab, I can tell a difference in his coat between baths as well. He used to get bathed every 2 weeks or so (went to daycare at the time and always got very gross in that time).

I don't have a lab, but I have a retriever and I've been told not to bathe him much because of his coat. When he got his adult coat, I didn't bathe him for about 7 months. Rain and moisture used to bead off of his fur, which was really cool. Walk in from the rain, he'd shake and be mostly dry. He started getting this filmy layer that got all over my fingers when I pet him, so I bathed him and since then, whatever was repelling the water hasn't returned.

Hopefully his coat just changed and it isn't because I washed something off permanently.

mary is part lab and gets bathed weekly. If i dind't she would stink us out of the house. I rub my creme rinse in and she doens't get flakey. I could see the need for an oily coat if the dog was a hunter and was going into rain and cold lakes for hunting tests or experiences but she is not. SHe sleeps on my bed and lays on my furnititure and i don't want it smelling like doggy bo.

During swimming season, Jack never gets bathed.

The rest of the year, I don't have a set number of times I bath him--I just go by stinkage--if he starts smelling too "doggy" then I have him bathed. Honestly, I don't do it very often though. He had one last in November, and I can't remember how long it had been before that. I'm not even certain he'll get another one before spring...

Allie gets bathed whenever she comes home muddy. I'd say she's probably had about 10 baths over the last year and a half.

I'm not sure if it ruins their coat or not....her coat as just very recently filled out as we've finally got her allergy problem solved. I'd think, however, since their coats are meant to be weather resistant, that constantly stripping oils from their skin would do more harm then good.