[JHurtt]

Wow, there are just so many good ideas here! I just got my Yorkie pup, Lilly, a week ago and therefore have wanted to give her some time settling in before bathing her (she was washed just before I got her last Friday anyways). My poor girl has been through a lot in the last two weeks as she originally came from Germany, then lived in Delaware for a little over a week, and is now with us. While she is settling in really well and seems to be very happy, I just didn't want to add anymore stress right away. My oldest however, is my bathing buddy. He is a 1 year old Japanese Chin / Poodle mix named Gizmo. When we first got him, he was a tiny 3 pounds and I noticed that he was scared of taking baths, so one day I decided that after I did all of my own washing, I would just hold him in the shower and wash him that way. Well, he didn't mind that at all and so that is how I continued to bath him. Of course after being pampered like that, he decided that normal baths by himself were just out of the question and who am I to tell him no, right? So, now every 2 weeks or so after I take my shower, you will find me holding a 14 pound dog in the shower and washing him down. I simply point the shower head down quite a bit, so that it is only hitting at the front of the shower. Gizmo will stand at the back of the shower and let me lather him up, and then I just hold him under the water to rinse him real good. While I don't know the name off hand of the shampoo I use, it is the stuff that the groomers at Petsmart use. I took Gizzy there to get his hair cut one time (he goes every 3 months or so) and while I didn't like the haircut they gave him (and have never gone back because of it), I noticed that his hair was very soft and he smelled really good for almost a full week. Well, that sold me and I went quickly running back to get some for myself. It is a little pricey, but well worth it!