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Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  I would stop talking to her and reinforcing her nerves with the soothing. She's associating her fighting/resisting actions with your kind talking/soothing and thinking that is good to do. Just calmly and quietly go about putting her in the water, using your calm hands to hold her gently as you apply the water and dipping some over her briefly, remove her, dry her and then talk praise and love to her. Do this once morning and night for a few days so that she gets the idea a bath can be quick in and out and nothing more. If you work, do it a couple of times in the evening - just in and out so that the bath is not seen by her to be a long horrific water all over her face and body experience. Just the quick, repetitious tiny, short baths will begin to inure her to the whole experience and before long, she will come to expect it. Just be quiet and calm, using calm hands as you apply the water with cupped hands and then out and done. I use only my hands when I apply water to Tibbe's head and face area in the bath so that he never gets a huge mass over his nose at once and he is now the calmest dog in the bath you have ever seen, whereas he fought me like a bobcat at first. It takes a lot of repetitions but it is better than scaring the dog and eventually they settle and accept the experience as something that is part of life. You can get a dog to accept almost anything if you gradually work up to it a short little bit at a time. |
Wow great perspective, thats why I love this place! Thanks so much for the advice and I am definitely going to try this! It makes sense and duh for me....I was doing it backwards. I have had many, many, dogs and never ever had this problem with any! Thanks again!
