# Baths



## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

When I first got Neek I did give him a bath. Now almost a YR later, on 2nd try, he doesnt want anything to do with bathtub. Ive tried throwing pieces of food in, etc he gets the food then gets out fast again or else will just put front paws in and stand there and refuse to get in all the way. This is so frustrating!:help:
I also had to muzzle him to cut his nails. 
If you have any ideas on coaxing him into taking a bath Id sure appreciate it. I try to stay calm ut I do end up pretty mad LOL


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

I had to give Frag the sink or swim option; I picked him up at 65lbs and dropped him in. He freaked out for a while, but everytime he showed possible calming, I treated him, and gradually worked up to getting the water running. We did this just last week everyday, and by the last day (after a muddy dog park day) he was able to get a full bath without protest.

Of course, it ALWAYS helps if they're worn out. My advice; take the dog to the park or for a nice run for a couple hours/miles beforehand.


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## JOSHUA SAMPSON (Feb 21, 2010)

Sashmom said:


> When I first got Neek I did give him a bath. Now almost a YR later, on 2nd try, he doesnt want anything to do with bathtub. ................I also had to muzzle him to cut his nails. If you have any ideas on coaxing him into taking a bath Id sure appreciate it. I try to stay calm ut I do end up pretty mad LOL



1 year between bath's, muzzle him to clip nails. WHOA that set off every bell and whistle in the book. was he trying to bite you? 

If you cant pick him up and PLACE him in the tub then you guys have some SERIOUS work to do. i'm sorry to be frank but you haven't worked with him enough. 

you should have him so socialized to you that he will let you do almost anything with him (IE touching ears, feet, anus if you have too,) my puppy is still not completely able to make it 8 hours at a time in his crate (while at work) so every once in a while he has an accident and i have to give him another bath. first week it was almost daily, now it's much less frequent. but we're still working on it. My older female doesn't worry about anything i do i just tell her to play dead and grab a foot and start clipping. Sshe doesnt like bath time but i put her in there and she takes it she might start to climb out covered in suds but i tell her no and she stays. 

this is good animal husbandry and assist's with vet visits.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i lather my dog up and rinse him with
the garden hose. he loves being sprayed with
the hose. this summer we're having a hot water
lined attached to the water line that
the hose is connected to. even though 
it's summer having some warm water should feel
better on the dog besides with warm water
getting the shampoo out is easier.

we use a dremel on our dogs nails. starting
in puppy class everyone played with
the dremel with their pup. the dremel would be on
and people just touched their pups with it. every
now and then someone would hold a puppy and someone
else would barely touch a nail with the dremel. lots of times
we would rub the pups with the body of the dremel. the pups
were always treated while we played with the dremel with them

when my pup was eating at home we use to rub his body
with the dremel. we played with him and the dremel together
in some form everyday. 

now when we do our dogs nails he'll just lay there
or sit there.


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## JOSHUA SAMPSON (Feb 21, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> this summer we're having a hot water
> lined attached to the water line that
> the hose is connected to.


I've been wanting to do that. 
I also use the dremel on my dogs nails.


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

Sashmom said:


> When I first got Neek I did give him a bath. Now almost a YR later, on 2nd try, he doesnt want anything to do with bathtub. Ive tried throwing pieces of food in, etc he gets the food then gets out fast again or else will just put front paws in and stand there and refuse to get in all the way. This is so frustrating!:help:
> I also had to muzzle him to cut his nails.
> If you have any ideas on coaxing him into taking a bath Id sure appreciate it. I try to stay calm ut I do end up pretty mad LOL


first off, it sounds like Neek is not used to being handled. You are going to have to build on this. Touching his ears, feet, tail, etc.. all the while praising and treating. You should have started this as a puppy and then continued with it. This will take time, patience and work.

Once you can handle Neek then you can try bath. For a week or however long it takes just work on getting Neek into the tub (no water) and praise and treat like crazy. Then move onto just running water and getting his feet wet. Then getting him wet, then full bath. Take small steps.

Sure you could just muzzle him and throw him in the tub hold him down and force him to take a bath but it will do nothing to help him trust you and every bath or nail trim in the future is going to be a fight.

My dog is 9months old and has had 2 or 3 baths, a bunch of rinse offs but once a week I take him into the bath and either get his feet wet or give him a rinse off just so there aren't problems in the future.

If you just absolutely can't get him into the tub if possible put him in a more open area like a doggy pool and try it that way. I know some dogs have issues with being confined in tubs.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

Well, first off, I did not get Neek as a puppy. He was almost 4 yr old and about 90# GSD when we brought him home. 
I do work with him alot, we are very bonded but he is just stubborn about things he doesnt want to do. I had no choice with his nails, I had tried and tried, held his paws, tried to get him used to that and it went on for weeks....I had no choice. yes, at one point he had my whole hand in his mouth. He has a soft mouth but i think it was his way of telling me: I dont like this! 
Im not sure if I could pick him up nd put him in tub, he is big boy. And also, since GSD's have sensitive skin I dont like to bathe him too much, maybe twice a yr would be good. He itches alot, not sure what thats about. 
He loves to eatpeople food, so that is why I bring treats in. Its how i taught my other GSD, Sash to take baths. He was a breeze compared to Neek. I could cut his nails, give him baths, etc but I got him as a puppy ad started young. The rescue dog is a whole different story. When we got hm he smelled very good, like he had just had a bath and his nails weree short. Im not sure if his former owners too him to groomers. 
I will use some of your suggestions and see how it works. thanks!


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

You should never feed your dog people food. It's not good for them and that could cause them to start begging. Bad idea, everyday researchers are finding that more and more different kinds of people food can seriously harm your pets.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

LaRen616 said:


> You should never feed your dog people food. It's not good for them and that could cause them to start begging. Bad idea, everyday researchers are finding that more and more different kinds of people food can seriously harm your pets.


He gets small pieces of cheese, beef and chicken...bad for him???
He also likes raw carrots....
Alot of dog foods have same ingredients. dont know how these would be 
bad for him. He is very healthy looking!


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Sashmom, I would consider taking him to a well recommended groomer and remove the conflict for you entirely until he is more accustomed to being handled. When I got Nina (ANNOUNCEMENT - I GOT HER AT 7) she was very bitey when handled. She got her nails trimmed at the vet, then I called all local vet offices asking for groomer recommendations for a big, black GSD who was not socialized and all gave the same name. 

This groomer is awesome, I got to stay (which sometimes makes them worse but she was okay with it) and she had no problems grooming her (she's amazing). Nina eventually ended up loving going there, whining and pulling to get in, and when she got sick and needed handling I was able to do it easily, though I always had the vets or groomer do her nails because I wanted to keep our relationship happy. 

She always got people food, from pretzels when I was taking care of her pyoderma, to cheeseburgers (just meat and cheese) after her grooming. Nothing from the bad list. No onion and chocolate sandwiches.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Sashmom said:


> When I first got Neek I did give him a bath. Now almost a YR later, on 2nd try, he doesnt want anything to do with bathtub. Ive tried throwing pieces of food in, etc he gets the food then gets out fast again or else will just put front paws in and stand there and refuse to get in all the way. This is so frustrating!:help:


 
Don't you just hate it when our dogs forget to read the manual? :hammer: I have the same problem with my pup when attempting to use the blow dryer. Can't stand a wet dog running through the house. I just take baby steps - beginning with turning it on while I'm brushing him. When he is still I take the pressure away (turning the dryer off) and we're done. The next time I'll do it a bit longer..etc. Maybe if you get in the bath tub with him (no water) both of you sit down and feed him (treats). When he gets to the point where he jumps in looking for treats (has no pressure) then add some water - you get in, he gets in feed him treats. Keep this up, little by little. Make it part of your daily routine. Therefore, through out the year he'll be using the bath tub regularly, even with out taking a bath.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

Jean, there is a groomers right up the road. I a thinking of taking him there. 
I really didnt get his nails short enough, I just tried to show him that it isnt me torturing him and it would be OK. 
His nails were very short when I got him. looked very nice. I told him he couldnt go around with his nails so long, didnt look good LOL
Lilie: the strange thing is when we first got him I gave him a bath! He didnt mind the dryer either. My other GSD absolutely hated it, he would run LOL


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i feed my dog raw ground beef, cooked boneless and skinless
chicken breast, chicken livers, raw chicken backs, quinoa,
oats, rice, veggies, fruit, sometimes turkey (breast meat).
yesterday for dinner we had boneless beef ribs. our dog
loved it. his ribs had no seasoning on them.

as far as begging. my dog is trained so he doesn't beg. i have a feeling
that people that feed raw are feeding food that humans could use.



LaRen616 said:


> You should never feed your dog people food. It's not good for them and that could cause them to start begging. Bad idea, everyday researchers are finding that more and more different kinds of people food can seriously harm your pets.


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## JOSHUA SAMPSON (Feb 21, 2010)

LaRen616 said:


> You should never feed your dog people food. It's not good for them and that could cause them to start begging. Bad idea, everyday researchers are finding that more and more different kinds of people food can seriously harm your pets.


myth

I feed raw BARF including table scraps and such. as far as begging goes you have to teach them not to beg, all dogs beg it's in their nature. there are some foods that are toxic todiogs such as grapes/rasins and a few others. you just have to be aware of what is and is not, it's part of knowing how to do the barf diet.

as far as his itching is concerned I have heard of a lot of people going to the BARF diet to "cure" food allergies resulting in lots of itching (in some cases scratching their hides raw) it seems to work. in australia apparently a lot of dogs including working dogs have never started getting kibble. it only started in america after WW1 and 2 and caught on as an easy feed. It's mostly byproducts you wouldnt even use to bake bread now. more than a fad lots of people are going to it.

ok no more soapbox for me tonight gotta finish mudding the basement.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

SASHMOM:

we had a Grey Hound that wouldn't let us near her feet.
we took her to a groomer and she sat there with no
leash or muzzle and she let the groomer do whatever she wanted.


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## Vinnie (Sep 4, 2001)

I very rarely bath my dogs. It’s not as necessary as some people make it sound. In fact, bathing too frequently strips a dog’s scalp of the natural oils. Weekly grooming (brushing) seems to work best for my dogs. My vet comments every time we visit how nice my dog’s coats look.

I agree with Jean here. If your dog really needs the bath (is smelly), start out using a groomer. They’ve got all sorts of fancy contraptions built just for dogs. And they do a great job with the nails. It's funny how well most dogs respond to a good groomer. 

Keep playing with your dogs feet when you’re home to get him use to you touching them. Because my dogs are older now I lay on the floor with them when I clip the nails. This way I’m not pulling their legs up in the air and making them uncomfortable. That just makes clipping unpleasant for them and then they don’t want to cooperate.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Sashmom said:


> When I first got Neek I did give him a bath. Now almost a YR later, on 2nd try, he doesnt want anything to do with bathtub. Ive tried throwing pieces of food in, etc he gets the food then gets out fast again or else will just put front paws in and stand there and refuse to get in all the way. This is so frustrating!:help:
> I also had to muzzle him to cut his nails.
> If you have any ideas on coaxing him into taking a bath Id sure appreciate it. I try to stay calm ut I do end up pretty mad LOL



Check out the advice I gave in this thread:

Fear of Bathtub

If the dog absolutely needs a bath now I would see if you can find a self-wash place and take him there. Try NOT to force the issue at home or you set yourself back ... WAAAAY back.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

LaRen616 said:


> You should never feed your dog people food. It's not good for them and that could cause them to start begging. Bad idea, everyday researchers are finding that more and more different kinds of people food can seriously harm your pets.


Guess those 'researchers' passed by my house.

All my dogs eat IS people food. Raw yes but with the occasional leftover pizza crust or raisin-less oatmeal cookie thrown in for fun.

Begging is a behavior that has NOTHING to do with what the dog is fed.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Vinnie said:


> I very rarely bath my dogs. It’s not as necessary as some people make it sound. In fact, bathing too frequently strips a dog’s scalp of the natural oils. Weekly grooming (brushing) seems to work best for my dogs.


I'll second what Vinnie said with a caveat - I RINSE my guys almost daily right now. We have Mud Central at the entrance to our field so every time the dogs come in the house they get lead into our downstairs shower and rinsed with plain water.


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## Josiebear (Oct 16, 2006)

For those that are having a hard time getting their dogs in the bathtub for a bath i recommend you to watch this

I tried it with Josie and it WORKS!!


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

Thanks Josie, I will go and watch the videos. I dont like to force him, that is why we have left bathroom twice lol 
He will then really hate it. I dont understand why the first time he didnt mind though. 

I agree with rest of you.....Neek gets a cup of kibble in AM and this AM he had gr sirloin, raw mixed in.  He looves raw veggies, too.

My prob with going all raw: VERY small kitchen, no outside patio and small house, where do they eat all of their raw food, might get pretty messy here lol I am planning on going to get him a nice big raw bone. I can usually only get it at the meat mkt. 

My husband went out an bought Advantix flea this time. I will have to read and see if it is water proof. it comes in set of 4 so thats a good thing.


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