I need your best bath tips to calm Eva down... and save my arms It's after midnight and my arms are still aching from trying to keep Eva in her bath. I can't believe how strong she is and every now and then fights for her life to escape the bath. Help... My only thought is to put a harness on her and try to wash around though she will still be able to stand up on her hind legs. She is shockingly powerful it seems. |
Tia hated baths in the beginning.I found talking soothingly to her and giving her treats really helped. I brought a baby bath and now she jumps in and actually enjoys it lol |
Had a friend with the same problem. I never had a problem with Nolee's bath time. All I do is not put the stopper in the tub. I let the water run and not fill up in the tub. I use a cup to wet him, turn off the water, soap and bathe him, turn back on the water to rinse. Maybe this will help Eva not be so scared! Best of Luck! |
I bathe Sydney in the sink. I put a plastic mat down so she doesn't slip. I use the sprayer, but I put the sprayer up against her skin so it doesn't splash her. While she doesn't care for it, she stays put. Talking nicely also helps. Washing her in the sink versus the tub also saves my back from pain. I also have more control over her. |
Callie used to really hate baths and she loves them now but one thing i do notice is the water coming fast out of the bath tub faucet still kind of startles her so I make it come out slower. We also have some bath toys, i tell her how good shes is and sometimes sing to her. |
I usually fill the tub before they are in the bathroom so the noise doesn't scare them. I then have a rubber mat in the tub to keep them from slipping. I use a cup to pour the water over them. Then I got a tip from a grooming video...do the head last. Once their heads are wet, they will shake. Before that, they usually don't. Good luck! Oh, and I realized that Hot Rod ddin't like the feel of one rubber mat I had, it had suction cups to keep it down and I guess he didn't like the feel of it on his pads as he kept walking off of it. I finally got one that you would put in the kitchen sink and he was fine. I just picked those up from the Dollar Tree. Good luck. |
I don't know if this helps or not, but with Mazee I found that it helped when I first got her to have hubby help also. He would feed her treats while I washed her and kept telling her how good she was. She associated the treats with the bath being a good thing. I also use the kitchen sink, with a soft sprayer, so the water doesn't scare her. She also does better if I face her away from me, she doesn't try to get up out of the sink that way. My sink is on my kitchen bar area, so she isn't facing the wall but my dining room, I think this helps also. I save her head for last also..that does seem to stop the "shake all the water off NOW" thing..LOL Hopefully you will get some good hints to help calm Eva down. good luck! |
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Jackie & my :littleangSophie :aimeeyork |
I bathe all of mine every Sunday, in the kitchen sink. It sounds to me like she is just frightened, not that she hates the bath. |
You have to think of what's frightening her, slipping around in the tub, loud noise of water, water temperature too hot, too cold, although most people get it way too hot. I use a plastic tub in the kitchen sink so Joey doesn't slip around, I test the water with my forearm, puppies especially cannot deal with hot water, and it should feel tepid, or lukewarm. If she's too big for the sink, I would get a baby bathtub and place that in the larger bathtub, make the experience as pleasant as possible. An arm spray attachment for showerhead would work well, and again test water before spraying. I cover Joey's ears folding the flaps of his ears down with one hand and spray with the other. I warm up a towel, and afterwards he veggies out in a warm towel covered head to toe. I think this is his favorite part. :) |
All great suggestions from everyone, but until she calms down, put a halter on her and a leash. In the sink or the tub, loop the leash around the soap dish / handle, or a plumbing fixture closest to the inside of the sink or tub and you hold the other end. When she jumps or pulls to get out, you pull the leash gently and it pulls her back into the tub or sink, and it will eliminate the scratching and most of the battle. Sometimes they think the leash is operated by the tub ghost and they quit trying to get out all together. Also, check all the basics. Water temperature should be warm, avoid too warm or too cool. If she has sensitive skin, temp adjustments may help. Using a cup or sponge to apply water is the calmest way to wet and rinse. If using a sprayer, adjust the volume so the water comes out slower. And anything else you can think of. All dogs are different, you will have to try different ways to get the job done and keep her calm at the same time. Maybe a massage while shampooing and/or conditioning. And you need to be relaxed and calm also. My newest is so funny. As soon as her feet hit the tub or the sink, she jumps out so fast I can barely see it happen. So I keep a hand on her at all times. Once we get started, she's perfect, it's just when I first put her in. :confused: |
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Here are a few things that I did when mine were getting use to bath time: Gather all your supplies together, open them so you are not fumbling around. I use to use an empty shampoo bottle and add a little shampoo and warm water to make the shampoo suds up easier. Use the sink and sprayer. Put a hand towel or mat in the bottom on the sick so she doesn't slide around Keep her harness on so that you are able to keep control of her and ALWAYS keep on hand on her while bathing. Talk to her in a very calm voice and work continually and with a purpose. Praise and give treats while bathing. Start with the face and a washcloth. Wet it and do the face first. Use a tearless shampoo on this area. You can then use the sprayer against the skin to make her wet starting at the top of the head~keep one hand on her all the time and keep moving :thumbup: Use the shampoo and water mixture and then rinse close to the body again. Condition the same way as the shampoo~mixed with a little water and then rinse. The real trick is to keep one hand on her at all time and just move quickly from step to step, praising and giving treats as you go. Do not yell or get excited no matter how much she tries to fight you. Just stay firm and praise and treat. Eventually you will not need to use the harness with lots of praise and treats. :p After the bath, I usually let mine have the zoomies for about 15 minutes while I set up the top of my dryer for their little grooming session. I take their towel that I used to dry them from their bath, place that down on top of the dryer with all my supplies. Once again using the one hand holding on at all times and working with the other while treat and praise. This works well for me and it also will carry over to the groomers when they go. IMO when you own any dog that needs to be groomed regularly they need to be taught from any early again what behavior is expected during grooming. It has worked very well for me and my groomer loves it when they come because they are very well behaved :D |
I will definitely get something to line the bottom, probably a rubber mat. It is a very deep white acrylic sink that is textured slightly on the bottom so it isn't slippery, I think she doesn't like the drain plug so that will get covered by the mat. As for treats we do that, sometimes she takes them sometimes she won't. I use a pull out sprayer on the soft spray, I do head last(though I like the idea of doing the head first, reason being she never gets a proper face wash because by the end I don't want to keep stressing her out, also she actually likes when i fuss with her face and clean her eyes and ears, she usually falls asleep). I mix her shampoo in a cup full of water and just poor it all over her then rub her down then rinse. Sometimes I have filled the sink and began with just placing her in. She is then soaked instantly and i drain the water, pour on the soap, scrub and rinse. It is much faster and she does tolerate it better but it takes a lot of water to fill the sink and I feel wasteful because she is so small and the water is only in there for 30 secs. I like the idea of the harness attached with a leash to the tap. She has pretty good leash manners so this may help. Thanks for the suggestions, I will try some of these for sure and hope for the best. |
The rubber mat in the bottom will help immensely. Also, we leave Shadow's head till last and lately I've been using a very wet facecloth and that seems to be less bothersome to her. She really dislikes water running over her head and face so the cloth does the trick as long as you don't mind going over and over a few dozen times! LOL |
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Some dogs have fear of standing in water. I plug the sink but let the water gradually fill up so their feet can soak a bit, but then pull the plug prior to the final rinse with a sprayer... |
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