Bathing Tricks of the Trade!
 

Just wondering how all of you bathe your little babies. As much as I love Millie clean, I have to admit I dread bathing her every Sunday. It is such a production! I bathe her in my garden tub, but she is so tiny (3 lbs), that I have to reach so far over the ledge to clean her properly. My knees and arms are killing me, and I just try to hurry up and finish! It makes the whole process worse on her I think (as if she doesn't already hate the bath enough). I don't like bathing her in my sink, and I've looked at the small tubs you can buy, but it seems either too big to fit properly in my sink, or just a plain box that seems more of a hassle than the real tub. Help please!! I want to feel comfortable when bathing her to make her comfortable, but mainly so I can properly clean her and make her fresh!!

And today is her birthday! :) Two years old....Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl!!!!

:Birthday3

Happy Birthday!

I take Morgan in the shower with me every weekend. I find its the easiest way. I hate bending over the side of the tub when I'm just washing her and I usually end up getting wet so i figure why not just get in the tub with her. I wash her hair first, then mine, then condition her, and then condition mine. Works great. While I am finishing up I put her outside the tub so she can roll around on some towels to dry off. Lastly I blow dry and brush her hair, then do the same for myself. :D

Millie says thank you! :)

That seems like it works really well for you, but was Morgan not terrified at first? With the water coming down so fast...We have a separate shower and tub, so our shower isn't very big. I may have to try it next weekend though...if I can get her to like it, it seems like it would be so much easier!! And I could get her cleaner. Thanks!

This is exactly what I do. It is definitely the easiest way to give Toby a bath. What's funny is once I get out of the shower he knows it's time to get blow dried and stands by the toilet (he sits on the toilet seat to get blow dried.) These pups are so smart!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Millie. I bathe Sammy in the kitchen sink. He's 5.5 pounds and the sink is just the right size for him and no bending for me!

I bathe mine little ones on the kitchen sink it tkes me about an hour and 1/2 for the two of them. I blow them them also. It seems to work the best for me since the sink also has a sprayer to rinse them well.

Linda, Sassy and Patti

I always bathe mine in the kitchen sink. I disinfect it first with ajax and bleach the bath em in there. No bending over. I then towel dry and let them air dry. In the winter, same but I blow dry on low with an ionic drier.

I do too!!
I dont do my dishes in the sink I put dishes in the dishwasher and even if I did do them in the sink, I would just bleach the sink after Moshe. I state this because my Mother in Law (God love her) says it's disgusting to bath him and Bella in the sink.

Morgan was never scared of the shower. She stands at the end of the tub so the water isn't hitting her. I have a detachable shower head and she knows when i take it down that its her turn. She'll walk to the other end of the tub where the shower head is so I can wash and rinse her, and then she'll walk back to the other side when I put the shower head back up.

After the bath and towel dry she will run back to my room and stand by the closet because she knows the blow dryer is in there. She LOVES the blow dryer so that is her favorite part of the process.

I bathe the smaller kids in the kitchen sink. Sophie Kate, my foster girl is bigger at 11lbs and with her I use the utility room sink. I could bathe her in my kitchen sink but it's not as deep as the utility sink. I have bathed her in the bathtub but bending over in that position for that long causes too much back strain.

For anyone wondering, like moshes_human....I disinfect the sink (both before and after).

Tibbe is the only dog I have ever had that loved his bath. I usually just bathe him in the bath and use a small cup to rinse the soap off him so that he doesn't get a huge lot of water dumped over his head at once - takes longer but it is worth it as Tibbe stands quietly and seems to be very relaxed. I have stopped talking to him during the bath as there are those that say our chattering away to a nervous dog can add to the excitement rather than create relaxation and just use my hands to do the talking, soaping and massaging his tiny muscles, keeping it a quiet, non-exciting time. We went from an all out fight at bathtime when I first got him at 9 mos. of age to a perfectly enjoyable time for him now. He even twirls around in a circle in anticipation when I say "Bath" and turns around backward so I can pick him up more easily when it is bathtime. I hope before long you can work out a routine for your baby as baths are not always pleasant for dogs.

By the way, Happy Birthday, Miss Millie!!!

I have always used the kitchen sink and vege sprayer,but I REALLY like the shower idea.

Happy Birthday!!

I tried the shower with my Jilly but she was so terrified by the experience, I only did that once. I have not tried it with my Tibbe as now that he loves his sink bath so much, I'm afraid for some reason he might start to fear water or something. I am just so grateful to have a dog that like his bath!

I bathe Levi in my bathroom sink. He does MUCH better in a sink than in a tub. I wash, rinse, condition, rinse his body and leave his face and ears completely dry. He cannot stand to have water on his face or near his ears. Then we towel dry his body, use ear wipes on his ears, and wash his face using a baby washcloth.

Warm water works well here. If it is not warm enough, he hates it. When the water is nice and warm, he absolutely loves it. Same with the hair dryer. Of course, I am careful not to get too close with it, but he hated it until I turned the heat higher. I hope this helps!

Kacee gets bathed in the tub. I just use the shower handle extension. She hates baths. She knows when Sunday evening is here and she'll usually wants outside and then won't come back in. Of course, I won't leave her alone out there, so the chase is on! Never a dull moment here.:D

Happy Birthday Millie!
:bigbdaypa
I bathe mine in my bath tub with my handheld sprayer.
I like the shower idea..may try that.

I bathe ZoE in a tub in the kitchen sink. I remodeled the kitchen last year, in this itty-bitty cottage I bought after my kids both went away to college, and to gain the space for a dishwasher I put in a smaller sink cabinet with a large single sink, instead of the usual double bowl kind found in most kitchens. I love it for dog baths! Perfect height, perfect size :)

(*just in case your remodeling and thinking along these lines, it's horrible for handwashing dishes...no place to stack & rinse anything.)

Kaji gets a tub bath. I do shower with him when I'm in a hurry and I need to get both of us done quick.

We use a utility sink when bathing.......no bending over! There is a cabinet above the utility sink where we store everything - towels, shampoos, conditioners, nail clippers, etc. (The utility sink is in the laundry room.) The grooming table/area is in our dog room
where the stand dryer is setup.

Our newest - Annie - is the most difficult - does okay with a bath, but hates nails and the drying/brushing/grooming part! But the other three do not fight the proces, but am not sure they enjoy/like the process.

I just realized I forgot you said it was her birthday today!

Happy, Happy Birthday Millie!

I use the kitchen sink as well. Ours is double sided so I use the bigger side and the spicket comes off and has a buttom to turn the water into a "spray", so this is perfect! I put one of her designated bathing towels down in the sink before I put her in it so she doesn't slip and slide. After we're done, I disenfect the sink with a spray bleach cleaner, I spray it completely down then let it sit for a few minutes while I dry her. Then I go back and spray it down with scalding hot water. If you really don't feel comfortable with her touching the sink, have to tried just a regular plastic square bucket that's mean for dish washing and shaped to fit a sink or a sink bathing tub for babies (I bathed my son in the sink with one of these when he was a baby and our appartment only had a shower stall)? The sink is just sooo much easier than bending over the tub (it's easier on my back to bathe Alice than it is my son;)) and as long as you clean it well afterwards it's fine.:D

I throw Teegy in the bathtub.
he looks at me like I just threw his favourite toy in the bin.
he puts up with it but looooooooooooooooooooooves getting blow dried.
I don't bathe him weekly only because I don't want to strip the natural oils from his hair, I've asked several times why most folks tend to bathe them weekly but haven't seen an answer yet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I was Dex in the shower with me or kitchen sink.

Dudley-get washed outside in the summertime, poolside with a sprayer. Winter time it's in the tub w/ me (he doesn't like the shower).
We just remodled our kitchen and i got a single bowl deep sink with a faucet where the sprayer detaches from the nozzle so it's SUPER EASY. I put a bath mat on the bottom of the sink so he doesn't slip :p

Happy Birthday!


I use the kitchen sink.... easier on my back and when we remodeled I picked out a 9 inch deep model just for that reason...

But I used to use the tub, till one day I turned on the hot water for my bath and went downstairs for something (never bathed with the dog except one time he jumped in while I was in the tub), and I heard this shreiking...WTH... OMG the DOG!

Flew up the stairs and into the bathroom and there he was... in a tub of hot water up to his chest! The water was so hot when I first tried to grab him I instinctively pulled my hands back out of the water!

Didn't think anymore about that and just reached in and got him out.... then he's still screaming and I'm thinking cold water.... but I couldn't fit him under the faucet in the sink, so I saw the toilet and threw open the lid and plopped him in there (thank God it was clean!)

After a few seconds he stopped screaming so I yanked him out of the toilet to see what damage had been done.... couldn't see anything but off to the vet we went. He ended up being fine, just very tired from the whole ordeal. I could not believe he didn't have any burns... vet said my quick thinking saved him. (and my stupidity almost killed him!)

Now I use the kitchen sink! :D

Same here, it is just so easy this way. I just wash the sink out afterwards. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Kitchen sink for Taycie too! Works great! Clean it out with a little comet or bleach after.. works great!

I bathe Gracie in the kitchen sink. I took a bath mat with suction cups and cut it to fit the sink, then cut a hole over the drain so the water can drain out. The mat keeps Gracie from slipping and makes it safer and more comfortable for her.

Has anyone thought about using a baby bathtub from the baby dept.? Just wondering?