I’m having an argument with my mom about the family poodle. The dog smells and I want to give her a bath. She says that it will dry out her skin and make her itch. That a poodle only needs to be bathed once a month for grooming. I remember reading how poodles need to be bathed once a week, but I can’t find that anywhere on the web. Can someone give me information on this? How often do you need to groom/bathe a poodle?
I used to have a poodle. The only time that she would usually get a bath was when she was groomed. We did however, give her a bath if she smelled or needed it and it didn’t dry out her skin. If you are worried about it I am sure you can go to a pet store and find a shampoo formulated so that it won’t dry out your dog’s skin. Otherwise I am sure that you can call your local groomer and ask him/her.
Well what my family did was to let our dog drink some of my mom’s perfume. We didnt ever find out if it worked or not because sadly, for some strange reason, Fluffy dies a few days later. 
I have a Portuguese Water Dog, a very close cousin to the Poodle. She gets a bath about once a week, but she’s the exception rather than the rule – my doggie is white, while most Porties are black or brown, so it doesn’t take much for her to look dirty. Most Portie owners I know bathe their dogs every other week to every month.
After a shampoo, my dog gets a specially formulated conditioner to keep her coat tangle-free, and her skin moist.
Disclaimer - I Am Not A Poodle - Disclaimer
My vet gave me to understand that the reason you don’t wash dogs too much with shampoo is less to do with drying out their skin and more to do with erasing the dog’s scent. It seems that dogs get distressed when they don’t smell right anymore.