My dog hates water in general. He will not swim unless he is pushed in or falls in. He refuses to go outside in rain or snow, so occasionally must be dragged out. Mention a bath or motion him towards the bathroom and he’ll look for somewhere else to be.
I can lure him in with food, because he’s a sucker for food. Put some peanut butter on the shower wall and he hesitantly goes in on his own.
He’s a 100lbs short hair dog. I occasionally take him to the groomer just to not go through the hassle myself. For me to bath him: prepare to take a shower myself, lure him into to bathtub, get in with him and close the curtain. I kinda sit on the curtain on the tub wall. I spray him down. Soap him up, then spray him down again. He usually just stands there pouting when the process begins. If the curtain is open on either end he might try to make an escape. Once he’s clean, let him jump out. I proceed to shower myself while he soaks my bathroom shaking off water. I then get out and try to dry him off with a towel. Fighting/tug of war with towels is a favorite game so it’s a little difficult with me making him let go of my tower wrapped hand multiple times. He’ll finish drying himself off by rolling in my bed…
He works hard developing his funk and doesn’t give it up easy.
I have tried to figure this out, because my dog has strange preferences. He doesn’t mnd being wet at all and will jump into any body of water. Lake full of goose poop, no problem. Giant mud puddle, let’s go! Walking in the rain dosen’t faze him and in fact he seems to quite like it.
He will not walk through a sprinkler and he hates baths. Now I don’t have to chase him down, but he gives me a look like: Oh. No. Are we really gonna do this? Really? Well okay but I’m a sulk. Kind of stoic, well-if-you-must. But then afterward he’s all happy, just like if he’d been swimming in the nasty lake. (But smells better.)
Lucky for him, he only gets abut four baths a year. I have had dogs that needed baths much more frequently.
When I was a kid, one of our dogs really hated the bath, but was pretty damn enthusiastic about the shower. My dad was the one who figured that out, and when I was a bit older I got to do it. The ideal temperature was a bit on the bracing side for me, but Sheena loved it. I still miss that wee black dog - out of all the ones we had, she was mine.
We had a couple of collies around that time too, and they were mostly outside dogs. Their frequent adventures in exploring foul smells were largely dealt with by the garden hose. They didn’t seem to mind.
If you think dogs hate baths, try it with a cat.
Cat’s are easier though, they fit in the washing machine.
In retrospect, maybe I should have offered them a rubber ducky for bath time.
When my last dog was alive, I’d put on my swimsuit and get in the tub with her and close the curtain. Then I’d start at her feet and work my way up her legs using one of those shower hoses. The water would be set on low. I’d work my way up her legs then her back, and finally her neck. I’d do her face with a cloth.
She wasn’t thrilled, but she tolerated it. She never tried to escape since she interpreted the shower curtain as a wall.
I had to stop using the shower since all that hair clogged the pipes.
I would guess much the same reason many children hate baths. The hassle of it all.