I Need To Convince My Dog To Take A Bath

[chloebear]

Holly (4 mth's), I am wanting to give her a bath but she is afraid of water. We are in a rural location so Hydro not an option, any advice on how to overcome this without just tying her to post and bathing her.

[Kaos Central]

try treats in the bath without the water....make it fun....talk to her....when she is ok take her out and add water, dont make it too deep elbow height is good make is just warm to you....introduce the dog back to the bathroom and encourage her....put her in the bath....sometimes a treat here will help her focus....when she is calm start wetting her down....go slowly....at the end when you get her out give her a treat....dont pull the plug until she is out of the room....the noise it makes sometimes frightens dogs...good luck.

[Sarah L]

A good way to help your pup to get used to bathing is to start with a wet sponge and some treats. Use the wet sponge as if you are just pating your pup running it in the one diretion like you do with your hand. Run the sponge down the pups back and then reward with a treat if the pup does not shy away. Also let the pup smell the sponge first and reward it for smelling the sponge. Do this everyday for about 3 days , then try just squeezing the water gentle onto your dogs back rewarding the pup everytime. Once the pup will accept the water being squeezed from the sponge you can start increasing the water flow slowly from which ever you are going to use eg buckets or hose ect... take your time and the pup should end up enjoying being bathed the rewards make it a pleasent time and give a good assosiation to water. Hope this has been of help to best of luck. ;)

[Ashanali]

Make it a treat and associate it with something good.

My Ronin used to draw blood trying to scramble out of baths. He has climbed out of over the top of a hydrobath trailer in the past.

I started bathing him in the bathtub inside the house, using warm water and one of the plastic hoses you buy from a hardware for about $5. I made sure I only bathed him before we were going somewhere (dog show, dog park) doesn't matter where you go, as long as it is something they love doing. I talked to him the whole time and made it more of a relaxing massage than a rapid wash. When the bath is finished, I let him shake (what's a little water on the walls, you can wipe them down.) and I made drying him fun also, he loves nothing more than rubbing his head into the towel.

Now I have to be careful to keep the doors shut or he walks into the bathroom and sits and waits to hop in the bath. ;)

A little bit of persistence and patience is good. No matter how frustrating they are, don't lose your cool because they will just end up hating the bath even more.

[dogsforall]

make it fun and relaxing and they will soon enjoy it

i have one girl who wants a bath so much that if i'm in the shower and leave the bathroom door open she will come in and nose the sliding screen open and hop in the shower with me ;)

but most will learn to enjoy it over time or at least tolerate it so no-one gets hurt

just take your time and stay calm and happy and lots of treats

good luck ;)

[percyk]

once again dont give up

its important that the dog realises that resisting is useless

so id use the sponge idea like pinnacle suggest

and make sure each session is short

i had the same trouble with a pup who didnt like being brushed

i know that had i given up i woulda probably had to have him groomed under sedation cos he does need regular brushing

i perservered

i gave him short bursts with a soft brush ...as u would with the sound of water and the feel of it

but always let him go on ur terms

not just cos hes struggling

use the same principle as u would a dog who scratches to come in

dont let it in when its scratching...do it in the second that he has stopped

so when ur pooch has relaxed even for a tad...thats when u praise and let her go

timing is so important..end on a positive...be the boss ..dont let her get away with her fears

dont talk soothingly either...this can reinforce their fear

say nothing

hold her firmly

i have also heard not to give treats...this is from my sister in law who is attending classes with her staffy who is afraid of the car...

i have heard a variety of methods of how to treat a dog that is afraid and struggling but i really do believe u dont go holding their hand as u would to reassure a timid child

one of mine was afraid of the vacuum ..i just went ahead and vacuumed but didnt go right up to his face...just little steps

this dog was also afraid of the floating decoy duck

i took it from the pool and sneaked up on him

and slowly introduced it to him out of the water then put it back in as he watched then took it out again..took a few times but hes fine now

good luck