Dog Bathing Troubles

DiamondPuppy0809 · April 2012

Molly isn't fond of baths. Being a pit bull/rhodie mix, she's very strong. I have to pick her up and place her into the tub. Her collar must always stay on, no exceptions, otherwise I can't restrain her from leaning too far over the tub or jumping out. Today was bath day. I had to actually get into the bath tub with her just to wash the right side of her body, she was too afraid to let me turn her around. Oh lord. This wasn't fun! And then she shook off all the water onto me and the entire bathroom. The worst part? This was the easiest time I've ever had bathing her! xD As soon as this dog is being doused in water, she turns into the dog from Marley and Me. She misbehaves, whines, groans, attempts to escape. Everything! She's impossible. It makes her really stressed as well, so I really try to avoid it. Anyone else have dog bathing horror stories? Please share.

Alabama · April 2012

I don't recall any of our dogs being "afraid" of the bath, though some didn't like it. Usually, to make it easier on myself, once the get too big for me to pick up, I just wash them with the hose outside. Our dog Alex is quite the character. He doesn't like to bathe alone. He'll go in the tub for a bath, but I have to keep a hand on him or continuously tell him to stay or he jumps out and heaven help if I leave the bathroom door open because then all the living room furniture gets wet as well. But, if I put Michaela in for her bath, I can't let him in the house because he'll jump right in with her or lay at the closed bathroom door and whine to be let in. She loves it, but I don't. Trying to wash a 6 year old's hair with a dog trying to get in the middle makes a mess.

TiffaneeTerrorific · April 2012

My dog Roadrunner is deathly afraid of baths. All we have to do is say the word "Bath" and he starts shaking uncontrollably..Luckily he is a small 30 lb-ish dog and so he is not to hard to handle. Although, he does like to still shake and all that good stuff as well lol.

DiamondPuppy0809 · April 2012

I've never heard of a dog that doesn't like to bath alone, xD. 30 lbs is no big deal to lift into the bath tub and bathe, lucky! I wish Molly was either not afraid of baths or a smaller dog. It wouldn't be as difficult. Another issue was that because she hates baths so much, she was really dirty. There were specks of dirt all over her fur (she's mostly an outdoor dog, being indoors makes her hot and nervous) and by 10 minutes into the bath, I was rinsing her with dirty water. Normally I hose her down but it's still a bit too chilly for that. Hopefully next week I can do that and get rid of all the extra dirt that's still in her fur. I went out and bought a new, better quality shampoo for her as well so that she'll become super clean! =D

Tink4576585 · April 2012

I had two chihuahuas who didn't like baths either, every time I would say time for a bath, one of them would put her head down and her tail between her legs and the other one would immediately lay down on her bed and act like she's sleeping. LOL

lovefrompaige · April 2012

What I did to my dogs is I would make the water warm (comfortable) and then I would massage them... I would give them the Spa Treatment. My basset hound actually fell over cause she was so comfortable lmao I figure if I can make that part pleasant, the rest of the time they'll be totally relaxed. I even did it to my neighbor's pit bull. He said that Rocky is impossible to wash.. My mom was bragging about me so I said I would give him a try.. we took him into their bathtub and the second I started massaging his ears and shoulders all the way down to his spine, he was totally calm. Now I haven't tried it on any other dogs, but I don't think it would hurt to try? (: Just pretend your dog is at the spa and you have to treat them like a king/queen lol Then reward them afterwards. ^^ Hopefully that'll help? haha

Frostbight8 · April 2012

Haha, I don't think Pook hates the bath, but she certainly doesn't make it easy. XD The only time we run the tub is when we bathe her. So when she hears it, she'll decide it's playtime and run around so we can't catch her. Then in the tub, she protests the entire time. "Arrrrrr." "Hrmmm." "-dramatic sigh-" Odd things like that. Even though she makes sure we know she doesn't approve, she'll let us do what needs to be done. As a long-haired dog who loves outside, she's been in the tub pretty frequently since she was a puppy. Whether it's to wash away the dirt from digging, or defrost snowballs that cling to her fur. XD

Adrianna32 · April 2012

My dogs rarely ever get dirty. They enjoy being clean, the only time they ever get a bath is before a show, and none of them give me problems. I guess they know that the faster they get in the faster they get out. My rats, however, scream bloody murder and claw their way out. They are worse then any dog and louder then screaming children. -...- Thank goodness they would never bite me. All I can suggest is the reward system.. or those massages. I give my dog calming massages during stressful situations, they always make things better.

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Dog Bathing Troubles

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