HELP! Bailey's Skin Irritated!

angel81chick

Member
Jan 25, 2007
693
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Hi All,

I have been searching for a good shampoo/ conditioner to use on Bailey. From what I have read, Shih Tzu's have known to have sensitive skin. He gets a full grooming once a month and just one bath in between.

Is this too much?

Also, anyone have any recommendations for a shampoo/ conditioner?

TIA from Bailey and owner :smile:
 
Whether his current bathing regimen is too much depends on how much activity he does. If his skin is sensitive and seems to be getting irritated from his current regimen, cut out the bath between groomings. You can always just spot treat muddy or dirty paws. You may want to try an oatmeal shampoo or you can always use Johnson's baby shampoo. Generally, the less products you use, the better.
 
I think it is too much. A pet's skin is much more sensitive than human skin and it has to regain the natural balance after every bath. Once a month is more than enough and never use human shampoo.
 
Try tea tree oil .. (make sure it doesnt get eaten or licked of) to wash, It helps sensitive skin and rashes.

Ive got a pitty and she gets rashes from a lot of things and thank god it has calmed down now..
 
A lot of dogs suffer from contact allergies and their skin can become rashy and irritated at certain times of the year simply from the pollen in the air and stuff they may roll on in the grass.

There are a lot of different shampoos that are gentle and designed for irritated skin like Malaseb. You should talk to your vet during the next visit and ask for recommendations.

The little hound in my avatar has a skin condition and for a while we were bathing him twice a week with Selsun Blue, which is a wonder-shampoo for anyone with dermatitis-like conditions. That together with the Malaseb pretty much cleared up his skin problems and now we bath him maybe once or twice a month. But hounds have really greasy skin.

Anyhow, I'd suggest talking to your vet about it.

One thing I've read is that shampoos that contain "natural" ingredients like oats--as IcansPotaFake32 pointed out--or lavendar or other herbs can sometimes be very irritating to the skin of both dogs and humans. The simpler the shampoo the better.
 
We use a shampoo called "Fresh 'N' Clean" to bathe our shih tzus, (been raising them for 30 years), and generally it works well for all of them. You can get it at most pet stores. However, as someone said above, too much bathing is harsh for a dog's skin, because it removes the oils that are present to protect it naturally. For the 'doggy' smell, and the in-between grooming appts., try rubbing a little corn starch into the coat and then brushing it out. It does help a lot with the smell.
 
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Great! The "doggy" smell is exactly why I bathe him myself usually, as he tends to get so dirty from his walks (or runs through grass and anything else he gets into :rolleyes:)

I will talk to the Vet, and I will definitely check out some of the recommendations today after work.

I am thinking his skin might be too irritated from whatever he is picking up on his walks, but we'll see.

Thanks again everyone! He is my first dog, so I am a bit clueless even though I thought I researched enough!
 
i agree...asking the vet for his opinion cant hurt. and they also sell dry dog shampoo for in between washings that might combat the smell without irritating his skin. you could look into that too. but as others mentioned, id try to keep bathing down to once monthly
 
I love that you care so much about Bailey and I'm sure you do an amazing job with him.

Your vet can check him out and then you will know if he has allergies or just sensitive skin and you can go from there.
 
On top of a good shampoo you may try adding canned pumpkin to Bailey's food for a couple of weeks. Our dog had some skin issues when we first adopted her and we added a spoonful of pumpkin to her food twice a day and she started to clear up quickly.

May also look at the food ingredients as well, never know what could be causing the flare up.

Good luck!