Being a first time berner mom I have a question, how frequently do you bathe a berner???

Our breeder recomended 4-5 times a year but that seems like too few baths...

We live in Athens Greece and it gets pretty nasty and hot in the summer (its only May and its already up in the high 80's and low 90's) so we wet our puppy just using water several times a day and also we brush her every day to relieve her of all the excess fur.

Oh and she just loves to roll around all day playing in the yard with our Dobbie and then looks like she has the entire back yard stuck to her fur.....

I would love to bath her 1-2 times a month (if not more) is that too much for her skin???

If you bathe her too much her skin will dry out. She will get dandruff and even worse, if she stars scratching at it, it may become infected.

As long as you are brushing frequently, a dog should only need to be bathed a few times per year. Brushing gets out the extra fur and not only will help the dog stay cool but will help the natural oils of the coat to balance out (not sure how to explain it).

I would say 4-5 times per year is good advice. Just brush any grass off her or get any other debris (dirt, other dog's slobber, anything she may have rolled in ) off with a face cloth and a bit of puppy shampoo.

Thanks for the advice, I was sort of hoping Berners could handle more bathing than other dogs because their fur is like a dirt magnet (well at least puppy fur is). What about just water to cool her off in the heat? Is that ok?

It's more the soap that is used that dries the skin out.... I find that it doesn't matter how mild it is.

Water is good, but then you will have "wet dog" smell. lol

A good brushing maybe a couple times/week will keep the coat virtually oil free and therefore free of most odours.

I was lucky to have our berner at the puppy stage in the winter time... no mud/dirt to play in! lol I know what you mean though, that fur is like wool and it attracts everything.

Nubia is brushed daily. I use the "Furminator" and it works like a dream on her. Our summers are so hot that I want to help her rid of any excess coat she might have so she can keep cool, wetting her down helps her alot too so we are learning to live with her "eau de wet doggie" scent

After she is brushed she looks like the perfect fluff, for about 5 minutes.... then is rolling around with the Dobbie who slobbers all over her and looks like she has never been bathed or brushed in her life... I am not complaining, to be honest I get such a kick out of watching them play!

Haha that's so cute....

Just be careful with the Furminator... it is so sharp, that brushing every day can actually split their hair and eventually make their coat not so nice, and it can also irritate the skin. I would only use furminator once/week.

I just have a regular comb and rake that I use for Toa. It's gentle but still gets the undercoat nicely. Not saying you have to go buy something else, just follow the instructions on the furminator and don't use it every day....

Oh Yeah! The FURMINATOR !!!! We are big fans too! But we only use it a couple times a year. Just for the BIG sheds. It works fantastic!

Ollie is nearly 3 and has never been bathed, he has a healthy shiny coat and plenty of brushing I use a Les pooch brush it has a pin brush one side a and a demmater the other. Berners have self cleaning coats and should not need to much bathing.

Be careful with just wetting the top of his coat in the hot weather either soak him completely or put a wet towel or sheet down for him to lie on otherwise just wetting the surface can lead them to burn underneath the fur a bit like sunburn.

Originally Posted by Lynn

Ollie is nearly 3 and has never been bathed, he has a healthy shiny coat and plenty of brushing I use a Les pooch brush it has a pin brush one side a and a demmater the other. Berners have self cleaning coats and should not need to much bathing.

Be careful with just wetting the top of his coat in the hot weather either soak him completely or put a wet towel or sheet down for him to lie on otherwise just wetting the surface can lead them to burn underneath the fur a bit like sunburn.

Thanks for the advise! I had no idea they could sunburn When we wet her we do make sure she is soaked all the way through simply to get her as cool as possible but now I will be extra careful. Although she avoids the sun and usually just hangs out on the patio (nice and shady) during the day. Unlike the crazy Dobbie that actually sits and bakes in the sun... I just can figure him out

I think the reason she gets so dirty is our climate, Greece is very dry and once spring is gone (which means late April at best) there is a lot of dust in the air since anything that is not someones yard (thus being watered daily) just dries up and turns to brown weeds. There is no moisture in the air to keep dirt and dust on the ground. When we bathed her about 4 weeks ago the water that ran off her was brown!! Kinda gross... Anyway, we will stick to the rules and brush brush brush. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Nubia's mom

Thanks for the advise! I had no idea they could sunburn When we wet her we do make sure she is soaked all the way through simply to get her as cool as possible but now I will be extra careful. Although she avoids the sun and usually just hangs out on the patio (nice and shady) during the day. Unlike the crazy Dobbie that actually sits and bakes in the sun... I just can figure him out

I think the reason she gets so dirty is our climate, Greece is very dry and once spring is gone (which means late April at best) there is a lot of dust in the air since anything that is not someones yard (thus being watered daily) just dries up and turns to brown weeds. There is no moisture in the air to keep dirt and dust on the ground. When we bathed her about 4 weeks ago the water that ran off her was brown!! Kinda gross... Anyway, we will stick to the rules and brush brush brush. Thanks again.

Berners seem to be very intelligent when it comes to the heat Ollie is the same he will stay out of the sun. I think with the only wetting the surface of the coat it attracts the heat especially as they are mostly black and then the sun burns through a bit like watering plants in the full sun, if you soak her completely that is fine she obviously enjoys it.

I wouldn't think a bath once or twice a year would hurt if you have problems with the dust. breeders bath a lot more too make their dogs look good, but it does wash a lot of the natural oils away and dries the coat.