How to bathe a dog who doesn’t enjoy water?

[Kickity-Flippity]

Rocky does not like water as far as I’m concerned, the woman we adopted him from said that we only needed to wash him when he got dirty but whenever we try, he starts whining and rolling around to try and get the water off of him. Any tips?

 

[MyDogBitz]

He seems awfully young for a full-blown bath IMO. When they're very little their skin and coat are sensitive. I would concentrate on getting him used to grooming and handling first, bathing will come a lot easier if you do that.

Wipe his ears, brush his fur, wipe his paws, start putting the nail clippers on his nails and act like you're cutting them. If you're delicate enough, you could even trim the very edges of his nails.

Honestly, I would do this at least once a day for the next several weeks. Then start to space the sessions out to every few days. This will pay off in a huge way down the road.

Then I would revisit a proper bath when he's about 4 months old or so. He might fight you still, but he'll be used to handling and the experience will be far less traumatic for him.

My dog is nine months old and he's had a total of three baths. However, I brush him and clean his ears often. He doesn't stink. Brushing along with a good diet goes a long way in that regard.

Awesome puppy. Good luck!!

 

[Kickity-Flippity]

He seems awfully young for a full-blown bath IMO. When they're very little their skin and coat are sensitive. I would concentrate on getting him used to grooming and handling first, bathing will come a lot easier if you do that.

Wipe his ears, brush his fur, wipe his paws, start putting the nail clippers on his nails and act like you're cutting them. If you're delicate enough, you could even trim the very edges of his nails.

Honestly, I would do this at least once a day for the next several weeks. Then start to space the sessions out to every few days. This will pay off in a huge way down the road.

Then I would revisit a proper bath when he's about 4 months old or so. He might fight you still, but he'll be used to handling and the experience will be far less traumatic for him.

My dog is nine months old and he's had a total of three baths. However, I brush him and clean his ears often. He doesn't stink. Brushing along with a good diet goes a long way in that regard.

Awesome puppy. Good luck!!

Rahhh! Thank you!!!

 

[EnraaGygas]

My boy Chase HATED his first bath (due to a mud puddle incident at 12 weeks we were a little earlier than I would've liked) and I really thought that he would continue to despise water and baths. He screamed and cried, kept trying to get out, it was a mess.

But we kept it positive the next time and rewarded him SO WELL afterwards and now he just kinda...sulks through it but lets me do it. It's not a fight at all.

I have a stand up shower, so he gets in, puts his head on my shoulder and just lets it happen, then afterwards he gets a big reward and has a blast with zoomies. He likes that it's more WE'RE having a bath lol

 

[nVeeGreen]

My Navee hated water before she turned one, but after her first time in the pool that very next summer, she was hooked! She doesn't get traditional bathtub or shower baths, but we just lather her up outside during summer here in Phoenix and give her a good rinse off with the hose.

But what's funny now is that she HATES walking on the wet backyard rocks after a monsoon rain, or even if its just a light drizzle. Getting soaked from the hose is so much fun, but raindrops are a no-go. Maybe take Rocky swimming or playing in the sprinklers and see if she warms up to it eventually? How does he do in the rain?

 

[Kickity-Flippity]

My Navee hated water before she turned one, but after her first time in the pool that very next summer, she was hooked! She doesn't get traditional bathtub or shower baths, but we just lather her up outside during summer here in Phoenix and give her a good rinse off with the hose.

But what's funny now is that she HATES walking on the wet backyard rocks after a monsoon rain, or even if its just a light drizzle. Getting soaked from the hose is so much fun, but raindrops are a no-go. Maybe take Rocky swimming or playing in the sprinklers and see if she warms up to it eventually? How does he do in the rain?

Hard to tell, he almost will never go into rain unless his toy is there or one of us are walking into it

 

[murph]

Rocky does not like water as far as I’m concerned, the woman we adopted him from said that we only needed to wash him when he got dirty but whenever we try, he starts whining and rolling around to try and get the water off of him. Any tips?

I just make her do it. And she's 100 lbs and I'm 110 lbs. I just tell her that my species has been domesticating her species for 40,000 years and I'll be damned if my dog is dirty.