I don’t even understand why you would bother with trying to get him into the bathroom unless you have no hose.
We bathed our two large greyhounds outside with the hose. Wet them down, scrub with shampoo, rinse. Of course they were very docile and never tried to escape the bath. They would just do the “Oh my god, I’m wet! My legs can no longer support me!” thing that I’ve seen so many greyhounds do when they get a bath.
If your dog is a runner, you should have one person for the leash and one person be the bather. Or just tie or chain the dog to a sturdy object.
I’ll say it again- wear the dog out beforehand. Take him for a long run or get a friend’s dog to help tire him out. Tired dogs are a million times easier to bathe.
Offer to wash a friend’s pickup truck if you can borrow it to go only to the coin-op car wash and back. Get dog in back with treat, tie dog to various cleats/tie-downs. Go to coin-op car wash, wash dog and truck at same time. Return with clean doggie. Give doggie another treat. Doggie associates pickup with treats, fun getting wet with you, all are happy.
This. We used to have 2 weimaraners, one was 80 lbs, the other 120. Big dogs, and I’m not particularly large myself. However, I could pick them up long enough to get them in a bath if I had to, and if I had to they knew the process was going to be more uncomfortable for them than if they just got into the tub as ordered. You really should get a hand shower attachment, though. Bathing dogs by putting them in a tub of water is a pain.
Also, don’t bother with fancy dog shampoos. Standard human shampoo, the cheap kind, has always worked fine for every dog we’ve ever had.
Just a quick note about the human shampoo… exercise some caution here. I thought the same thing, that I could use human shampoo on my dog. Three days later, she had a rash all over her body, and was keeping us up at night “thumping” as she scratched herself raw. It took two vet visits, two rounds of steroids and and antibiotic to resolve it. She’d had an allergic reaction to something in the shampoo…
So, after almost $300 in vet bills, the gentle dog shampoo seems a lot more worth it.
I think you guys have a very good point about taking him to the groomer for Bath One (although I like the truck idea - the thing is, I have a cold, which is also why I didn’t want to hose him down outside.)
Would you believe he likes my boyfriend better than me after I’ve been the one convincing him to get a dog? “I don’t want a dog!” “That’s what you said about cats one, two, and three, and they’re the apple of your eyes!” “Yeah, but I don’t want a dog.” One day after dog has moved in: “I think you might have accidentally bought me a dog. Who’s a good boy?”
When we get a new doggie, they go to the groomer for bath #1.
After that, it’s the hose outside. We cannot seem to bathe a dog inside without getting the entire bathroom, including the ceiling, wet. Cleanup’s a breeze outside, and they seem to dislike it less - maybe because they’re not sealed up in a small space.
My dogs (pit bulls, not huge but very strong) love the bath. What’s not to love? Undivided human attention, lots of treats, not one but two good rub-downs, followed by a mighty fine treat.
I get a nice meaty bone from the pet store and put it on a shelf in the tub, fill the tub up a bit, and lure them in. (ETA - one at a time!) Lots and lots and lots of praise and treats. I wear shorts and climb in, I only get wet if they manage to shake. They don’t love running water so I scoop it over them with a bowl. They get the bone as soon as I finish towelling them off.
The hardest part is getting the 70lb one OUT of the tub, he loves it in there so much - I had to use the bone to lure him back out again.
The newer dog has only experienced this once, but she has taken a great interest in the bathtub ever since. They both try to get back in the tub when finished their bones, and sometimes at non-bath-time they sniff around in there, just in case.
I’ve done the hose outside, and I’ve done the brute-force method. But luckily, my dog(s)* is/were so good, I could order them into the tub and they’d go, while giving me that pitiful puppy-dog face.
*the current dog, Jasmine–64 lb. black-mouth curr mix, and the former dog, Ladybug (75 lb. lab mix), RIP (God, she was the best dog.)
Cowgirl, years ago, I had a chow mix and a spitz mix, and I’d bathe the spitz first, then the chow. The spitz would cower and shiver and act like I was killing her. Then I’d let her out of the tub and put the chow in, and she’d run around chasing the water spray and trying to bite it.:rolleyes:
Please do not, under any circumstances, use a high pressure sprayer on your dog (or any other flesh bearing thing). The backyard garden hose is fine, but the kind of psi you get from a coin op wash (at least the kind we have around here) can seriously injure or kill your dog.
There may be a mobile groomer in your area, there used to be one in mine. She had a van that somehow had all the gear incl water/power for shampoo and blowdry.
There it is. Get him good and tired. Then brush him out, and take him for *another *walk, just to be safe.
My Catahoula mix (she tops out at 45 lbs., so not *that *big of a dog) loves the bath. She was pretty reluctant the first few times, but her last bath a few months ago had her leaping into the tub to get going. She pretty much resigned herself to her fate, and probably remembered how much fun she had running around the house showing off her shiny coat to everyone.
Aside: Doesn’t the catahoula seem to be the new catch-all when trying to pin down a breed? Anything unexplained that has brindle or patches seems to get classified as a catahoula. All I know is that Tilly has a brindle coat, webbed feet, and loves trying to climb trees.
Yeah, if I saw Captain on the street I’d think maybe he was a pit bull/shepherd cross, although on his “shepherd” parts he does have big darker spots. He certainly doesn’t seem to have the temperament characteristics of a Catahoula, although of course individuals would vary - he’s not territorial or dominant or any of that. He just wants to be liked. He gets his feelings hurt when the cats hiss at him.
He’s pretty big - his paw fills my whole hand up. He’s very dense (in every possible way, heh) - very heavy and strong for his size. I’d say he’s, um, maybe German Shepherd size? But much more solid.
Haha. That is my situation. The funny part is, my 90 pound lab loves to swim, but hates baths. He’s only had about 4 or 5 ever, but he can somehow sense that they are coming. I have to pick him up and carry him up the stairs and put him in the tub.
