How Often Should You Wash a Labrador Retriever

What is the simple answer to “How Often Should You Wash a Labrador Retriever”?

Many people ask me, how often should I wash my lab? Since this blog is aiming on the average Labrador Retriever owner then the answer is: Not very much. In fact, read that “As little as possible”. Why?

The reason is Labradors have an oil in their coat. That oil helps them repel the cold water and protect them from some other factors like sun burn. That is one of the reasons Labs can withstand extremely high temperature oscillation. Constantly washing them with a soap makes them loose that coat oil. The results can be dry coat or skin.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bathe your Lab at all. And if your Lab has some skin issues please skip this article and consult with your local vet for further actions.

There is no specific need to wash your Lab except to make him look more pretty and refreshing. Some dog get more stinky then others, just like we all do. I’ve been reading about dogs who never took a bath in their life and still had no problems with bad smell. However, my Lab gets his bath once every few months. I am using regular dog shampoo, or you can also use a baby shampoo.

As a Labrador owner, I know how much they love the water. In any form. And when I say water, I also include mud puddles. But don’t worry, that is completely fine. Just hose off the mud without using the soap and dry your Lab with towel.

I bet your Lab loves to swim in Ocean? Yeah, so does mine and that is cool. Just wash him off with fresh water to avoid the dry skin problems. Do not use the shampoo for that.

So, How Often Should You Wash a Labrador Retriever?

If you really want to wash your Lab more then once a month, you can use soap free dog shampoo to prevent the dry skin. Other way, I do not recommend doing that very often as they are just fine without it.

NOTE: Unless recommended by your vet, do NOT bathe your dog more then once a week.