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Hello! I have a 12 week old border collie that is masked and the rest of her body is white which is turning out to be ticked allover. She has a longer coat and I was wondering what anyone else uses to make her coat nice and shiny. When we do bath her she is washed with Burt's bees dogs shampoo. I'm looking for something natural that I can use that won't make her greasy haven't looked into anything on the internet and knew how many of bc parents are on her and thought maybe you'd have recommendations on something or if I should just leave her alone lol. I don't want to use anything all the time because I don't want to ruin the oil balance her coat already produces. Thank you in advance for any advice.

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1) I literally can't remember the last time I bathed my 11+ year old border collie -- maybe 2-3 times in his life. People are always telling me how good he smells, and assuming he was just bathed. My 5+ year old lurcher had a bath once.

 

Border collies don't need to be bathed very often unless they're out rolling in something nasty. They have beautifully self cleaning coats on their own. If they've gotten muddy after a good run in the woods, I might rinse them off with clear water, but I'll bet I've had the same bottle of home made dog shampoo for 15 or more years. . . . and I've used very little of it.

 

Bathing removes the natural sebum (oils) from a dog's fur and skin and is one of the biggest reasons behind poor diet for dry, flaky skin.

 

I know someone who spins and weaves dog fur. She's commented to me that the best quality fur comes from dogs who aren't bathed. She can tell just by working with the fur if it's a dog who gets bathed, and will often discard fur from dogs who are bathed often. She loves getting my dogs' natural unwashed fur.

 

2) You bathed her (possibly more than once) at the age of 12 weeks? Good doG, that's too young to be bathing a puppy.

 

3) I give my dogs fish oil (salmon oil, but human fish oil gel caps are great, too. Just make sure they've been purified to remove mercury) and the occasional raw egg (once or twice a week) and my dogs' coats are fabulous. I also feed a raw diet, but fish oil supplementation and a raw egg now and again are still good for kibble fed dogs.

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Unless she rolls in something disgusting, (which some dogs looooove to do) I doubt if she needs to be bathed all that much. Of the border collies I've had, 3 only needed baths when they did the 'roll in something smelly'. The 4th had allergic seborrhea, which produced an oily, smelly coat that needed regular medicated bathing.

 

I'd just leave her alone. It's been so long since I've used anything on Gibbs I don't know what I'd use if he needed it.

 

Ruth and Gibbs

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GL and I were posting at the same time. Gibbs gets salmon oil, too. He does get the occasional rinse from an outside hose when he's muddy, but I don't think I've used soap on him in over a year. And his coat is soft, shiny, and floating alllll over my house right now.

 

Ruth and Gibbs

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That's great advice. Thank you gentle lake and urge to herd. we have only bathed her twice and it was because she loves loves loves the mud But now that you both have pointed out washing her wouldn't be good. It makes as much sense as to why I do not wash my hair every day due to it drying out. So duh I could kick myself​ for not thinking about it. Other time we just rinse her off with clear water which works fine so we will just keep doing that. I didnt want anything like a conditioner so her fur wouldnt stop producing natural oils same with humans hair if they condition to often. So the salmon oil is an awesome idea. Thank you both I truly appreciate the helpful advice

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Of our four dogs, the only one who gets anything like regular washes is our white face. He has maybe one or two baths a year, and only when he starts looking grey instead of white. I do not think I have washed the others in, um, actually I can't remember when. Well over a year at least. Muddy puppies dry off and the mud flakes and falls off - BCs have a natural teflon coat!

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Mostly what they all said.

I probably bathe my BCs more often than most - at least once a year or so! LOL.

 

That said, we do hike a lot where there's mud. My house isn't spotless, but I'd prefer not to see muddy footprints across my floors/carpets. So....mine get "hosed off" a lot when we get home. Its hard when the water/temps are cold, and I'd be leery of using much cold water on a young pup (they don't control their body temp as easily as an older dog). Sometimes I'll run water in the bathtub just up to their hocks (ankles), and make them swish around in it for a bit - no soap. That usually works just fine!

 

BTW, unless I missed it elsewhere, anyone asking advice here on a young pup is required to post at least one picture! :D

 

diane

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I don'the bathe but I do hose off mud. I will use a mild dog shampoo for a spot clean if there's something too stinky that just hosing won't remove adequately.

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PS - Hot and cold frost-proof spigots are one of the best things we've installed. Using mild-temperature water means I can hose guilt-free all year tound.

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Thanks for all the replies! I will never wash her again lol. I did some research on top of all your comments and your completely right!.

And Diane Allen I have soooo many pictures of her but I don't know how to load them it always tells me my pictures are to big :( she is a beauty I'll definitely post if you can give me pointers on a website to load them to so I can attach them or whatnot

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I bathe my dogs a couple of times a month, which apparently makes me a huge outlier! They stay in hotels a lot, sleep on the bed, and they work sheep in often icky conditions. I use Mane n Tail diluted one part shampoo to three parts water. We have hot water plumbed to the outside, and a booster bath. If it makes me seem like a little less of a loser, I never blow dry them LOL! Skin is fine, coat is shiny and soft. :P

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Thank you! I'm quite excited to see her coat progress into adulthood. She had only to spots on her nose when we got her and now she has spot allover her muzzle, legs and back. My husband didn't believe me she would be ticked so I did some research and watched her grow for a few weeks and in no time at all sure enough to she was getting her spots her skin underneath is pink with black spots allover.

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Same as the others (except airbear ;) ). Generally don't wash and if they get a bit muddy, will spot clean with water from a hose. I have one that will find sloppy cow poop and then will stop, drop and roll. (My neighbor's cows escape onto our property every so often.) One day last week, she had TWO shampoo baths, but luckily, I only had to wash the head, neck, chest and shoulder area. Two days after that, another dog 'found' a skunk at 10:30 at night. I was NOT happy to be bathing a dog at 11 pm on a Saturday night. BTW, the H2O2 + baking soda + dish detergent formula found on the internet for removing skunk smell works great!

 

I think that you will find the puppy coat gets dirtier than an adult coat. So you will not have to worry about bathing as much once her adult coat comes in.

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I'll speak up just so airbear doesn't feel totally alone ;)

 

I too bathe my dogs a couple of times a month. The also sleep on beds, lounge on furniture and stay in hotels regularly and we have red clay in our area plus I really like a dog that smells "baby fresh". I use Crazy Dog, Baby Dog shampoo - it smells like baby powder. I have an indoor professional size dog tub - one of my best purchases ever! Their skin is in great condition and their coats are soft and silky (esp. after a bath).

 

I will also go so far as to admit the occasional blow drying :P

 

Chandra

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I'll speak up just so airbear doesn't feel totally alone ;)

 

Thank you! We weirdos have to stick together. I probably shouldn't mention that one of my thrice-monthly-washed dogs is a bare-skinned smoothy with no undercoat whatsoever! :D

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Thank you! We weirdos have to stick together. I probably shouldn't mention that one of my thrice-monthly-washed dogs is a bare-skinned smoothy with no undercoat whatsoever! :D

 

I don't do as often as you, but my Border Collie gets bathed about once a month, I then usually use a power dryer on him to kick out as much undercoat as I can, and also get a good, deep, down to the skin brush out and undercoat removal and foot trim. Mine actually does smell a little over time, especially the hairy butt which starts to get a wet doggy smell after a few weeks. I have owned 5 Border Collies over the years and I only 1 of them never smelled like a dog, and she had a thin coat. I think sometimes (not always) people don't notice or have a less sensitive nose than mine because people tell me oh they never wash them because their dogs never smell, and when i am around their dogs they do smell like wet dog or anal glad-y.

 

Yes, mine sleep on my bed and couch and travel.

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