Need Help With My Doggie!!

[tigerlily46514]

Meward---- i have one of those shower heads which can be hand-held. No idea how ppl can wash a dog without one....no idea at all how one could do that!! Must be hard indeed, if your dog has thick fur like my dog has...

I use whatever brand of tearless puppy shampoo is on sale, but i always go for tearless or tear-free.
If the stuff is not irritating to an eye, it must be gentle. Plus, it helps ME not get sore eyes either, when my dog "shakes". and i always always use fragrance-y conditioner, too. Even human kind.

My dog has awesome glorious coat, and he gets probably 5 or 6 baths a year, (none in wintertime unless there is no choice). Bathing dogs does not harm the dog or his coat, and they do get used to it.
well, at least with tearfree puppy shampoo, it does not harm their fur.
at all.
the dog fur feels better, and he doesn't shed at all. My dog is odorless anyway, but i bathe him to reduce his shedding,
and if he is going someplace special, he is so soft and so extra shiney for weeks after a bath.

Sometimes, after he's been in the lake, i also bathe him afterwards, depends.

I gave him a flea&tick bath once, and that did mess up his fur for a lil while, it was dry for several days afterwards. Same for skunk mixture, messes up his fur for several days afterwards.

Rdog, i've been so busy emailing with you, i hadn't even realized you hadn't been posting lately! Wish you would, i always love your posts!

btw, Rdog, sure wish you'd start a new thread on your dog art work....(hint..hint..)

 

[TiflovesBCs]

I tend to use a plastic jug to wash them. Never got round to getting one of those showeheads you attach to the bath.

 

[Raider_25]

no the hose is a very bad idea and i only use it if i need to cool him down on a hot day or just to rinse him.. he really hates the hose.. i turn the hose on slowly so that only a little water comes out and still he wont come near it.. im starting to wonder that before we got him did they use to punish him with a hose, and he still remembers it??

so i use the bath.. he still doesnt like it, but the bath goes better..

 

[tigerlily46514]

Nah, Raider, i bet your dog was never abused by a hose, i bet he just dislikes it. Many dogs dislike the hose, especially if they weren't exposed to it as baby dogs.

My dog also disliked the hose so much,
but, he's used to it now. Buddy used to dislike baths, too, but, he's used to them now, too.

My dog can NOT tolerate heat well, not at all...he can't walk very far in the heat, at all, just becomes breathless and almost prostrate.......yet, if he doesn't get his walks, he gets antsy.

so in hot weather, i always hose him down prior to the walk, sometimes daily or twice daily, he gets hosed down.

At first, my dog would run and hide if he saw me turning on the hose.
I put him on leash, calmly walked him over to the hose, luring him with treats the first time or two,
and then i stepped on the leash, so i had both hands free,
and hosed him down, from the neck down (never ever his head)
praising him all the time, nonstop calm praise, and then,
we took off for our walk. My dog lives for praise, it's more than treats for him, just lives for praise.

In less than a month of doing this, i no longer have to leash him. He comes over willingly, and no longer seems to think he will die if i hose him down prior to his walk. Now i think he associates being hosed, with going on his walks.

 

[Raider_25]

i just wish my dog will be like that.. i must just walk near the hose then he walks i the oposite direction.. maybe someday hey!

 

[tigerlily46514]

well, it took a while, it took a while, and i DID praise him nonstop, in calm voice, nonstop, telling him what a good boy he was, while hosing him down, so he'd know this was not punishment, even though in his lil mind, it seemed like a punishment.

and he also knew, sooon as we are done, we are going for a walk. He made that association in his mind--"I get wet, i get a walk. Great."

Dogs can and do get used to things if they get enough chances to get used to them. Just like baths, many dogs strongly dislike baths, but, if they get enough baths, they seem to get used to the idea sooner or later, and don't disagree quite as strongly as they did for those first few baths.

 

[Anneke]

My dog hates the hose too. He does not like the shower either, but he will stay in. Never get this, because he loves water. But when it comes from a hose or shower, he hates it
Jinx doesn't like the shower either, but I think that is because our showerhead is very powerfull and it may be too strong for her. I always keep it up high, so it is less powerfull.
When I put the tap on, she will play with the water, she loves that!