So last night we got a dog. A big dog. (The shelter said he was a Catahoulan Leopard Dog, if you can trust them.) I’ve never had a big dog - I’ve only had Westies, which run about 16 pounds. 16 pounds of stubborn, granted, but you can pick stubborn up.
He needs a bath. He leaves your hands stinky. I ran one, stopped the water before bringing him, etc - and he figured out “holy crap that crazy lady wants me to take a bath!” and I could hardly get him through the bathroom door. I tried to lead him into the tub, and he wasn’t having that, and I tried to pick him up, and he sank down to the ground (I’m not sure if I could pick him up right now anyway, since I’ve got this terrible cold and I’ve been feeling really weak.)
I may try one of those dry shampoos or wipes, but at any rate this dog will at some point need a bath in the bathtub. How do you do it?
I think you’re looking at a long-term training project where you praise the dog for entering the bathroom, praise the dog for standing in the tub, praise the dog for allowing you to wet his paws, etc.
Outdoors, with a hose? I don’t how, really, since he’s apparently not yet trained to obey you.
We adopted a full-grown Weimaraner years ago who for some reason was terrified of water. Fortunately he was obedience trained, and we had a shower stall with a door that could be latched shut. My husband would get the dog in there, close the door, and they would shower off together.
We’re still figuring out what he knows. He comes quite reliably when you whistle, he sits unless he’s really excited, he knows he isn’t supposed to bother you when you’re eating. We thought he didn’t know “lie down” but it turned out he does if you “sit” first. It seems that “get in the goddamned bath” is not one of the things he has been taught.
That’s the way I’d do it. He stinks now, so I’d just get it done any way I could, before his scent wrecks the entire house, then wait till later to tackle the long term thing.
Actually, I’d probably skip the long term acclimation all together since my dogs get annual baths, and we’d basically be starting from scratch every time.
You could pay someone else to do it. My aunt is a professional dog groomer and I used to be her bather and brusher. With large dogs you need either one incredibly strong person or two moderately strong people to lift the dog and physically place it in the tub. They are usually pretty docile once actually in the tub. You can drop him off at the groomer’s and come back in a few hours to a squeaky clean, happy doggy.
Peanut butter. Give him a big hunk of peanut butter and he’ll be way too preoccupied at licking it off the roof of his mouth to object to the bath.
We did have one dog who’d refuse to take a bath under normal conditions but would happily lie down in the tub for us if he were tired out. Take your dog for a long run first.
What olives said. It sounds like he needs a scrub, not just a spray with the hose. (olives, I have an aunt who is a groomer too, and I’ve worked for her. Does every groomer recruit a niece?)
At least this one time if they can get him really really clean, then you can work on washing him at home later. I’m not trying to drum up business for groomers, honest, but a large uncooperative stinky dog who is new to the household? Yeah, I think I’d work on the home bathing later, but would want him clean now.
Bribe him with something special. KFC works wonders on reluctant doggies. Lead him into the tub with the chicken and allow him to politely nibble it while he is in the tub. FTR, we bathe our dogs by a pitcher and leave the tap running. Many dogs don’t like to get into a full bath but will tolerate a scrub and pitcher bath just fine.
Just be prepared to be soaked to the skin. Our Rott/pit enjoys baths WAY too much, and jumps around, sharing the love with the bather. Luckily, we don’t bathe her very often, or the bathroom floor would rot out. Basically, we get her into the bathroom with six inches of water already drawn, and try to keep her physically in the tub while soaping and rinsing. Rubbing her with towels turns into a tug of war. Don’t use good towels.
Having him on a leash might help, even if you’re not holding the leash tight (yes you definitely need two people). I’ve heard that some dogs just feel more safe when they’re on a leash.
That being said…my big dog (80lbs+) likes baths. She gets in just fine and lets me get her wet just fine. But, at some point during a bath she decides she is done having a bath and starts struggling to get out. There is absolutely no way that a person (and I’m a big, strong person) on their knees can keep a big wet dog from trying to scramble out of a tub. It’s miserable and messy and you end up being reluctant to bathe the dog again any time soon.
I urge you to take him to the groomer’s, at least this first time.
For the future, consider a booster tub. It’s on legs so the dog is at your height (no kneeling!) It’s got a built-in harness so the dog can’t get away. It’s got a non-skid bottom. It’s got a handy place to keep your soap, and comes with a spray attachment for the hose that can be switched on and off right at the attachment.
I’ve got mine set up in the basement and extended the drain so it goes right into the washtub drain. I put a $10 “astroturf” rug underneath it so I don’t slip. I use a short garden hose so I can run warm water (my dog prefers cool water and my brother’s dog prefers warm water). You can, of course, also set it up outdoors.
At $179 (plus a bit of shipping), the thing paid for itself within a year (I was paying about $30 for a bath). Now I can let Dolly get dirty any time and not feel like it’s going to be a pain in the ass to get her clean. Since it’s inside, I can also bathe her when it’s rainy or cold out.
Dolly was sort of afraid of it at first, but she runs right up into it now. LOVES it. My brother’s little dog is afraid of it, but I can put her on a leash and walk her up the ramp, and then transfer her right to the built-in collar. We usually wash the dogs as a set of two - one to wash one side and the other to give kisses and hugs, then we switch.
Anyway, that’s my lifesaver product recommendation for the day.
I have two dogs so large they can stand up and put their paws on my shoulders. How do I bathe them? Brute force. If I, a 110 lb girl can wrangle them into the tub, so can anybody Some advice though–have all your stuff laid out beforehand. LOTS OF TOWELS, shampoo, brush, whatever else you’re using, etc. Clear out any hampers, rugs, portable heaters, cabinets, etc. Anything that can be re-homed for an hour needs to go. Don’t fill the tub. Get the dog into the bathroom and into the tub while it is dry. Run the water about high enough to cover his paws, and use a hand shower or wand to spray him down. Lather rinse repeat. If he jumps out, put him back in. Yes, it will wreck your bathroom. Yes, you will be soaking wet and smell like dirty dog. But he has to learn that baths are inevitable and you won’t budge.
Yep, that’s what I did with my dog too, though she was in the 50-60 pound range (it was a bigger issue when I was a very small for my age middle schooler). Princess hated hated hated water, but eventually she’d need to be bathed on a warm day, so keeping her on a short leash and hosing her down with water to wet her fur was step one. Step two was to lather on doggie shampoo on the wet, shivering dog. Step three was to let her have the full length of her leash and let her run around while hosing off the shampoo. It’s a very wet proccess for both dog and owner. On rare occasions I did enlist some help, but that just meant two soaked people instead of one.
Newfoundland owner checking in. The only time Angus was ever bathed in the bathroom was day one in the house, 4 months old MAX. And he almost destroyed the place, and us.
Outdoors, with the hose, plus a seriously industrial professional blower/dryer.
We have a big dog who doesn’t like the bath, but who we can now bathe simply because he’s learned that we will always block his escape route if we can and haul him back into the tub if we can’t, so he just stands there and looks pitiful. We had another big dog who never stopped fighting the bath, so we just washed him on a leash outside with the hose. Strangely, that seemed to bother him less than the tub – I think the dead end on top of the water was just too scary for him. (He was an anxiety-ridden shelter dog.)
