Bath time: In the tub or with the hose?

Take an old wash cloth and loosely wrap around the shower head.  Pour COKE on it.  Yes, Coca Cola -- one of the reasons Coke really isn't good for you.  It will eat the corrosion around the shower head.  Apply it several times and work at it and you'll get it off. 

 Emma has been bathed outside, several times, after rolling in frog poo or dead, decaying animals. She HATES it. She shivers, and cries, and acts pathetic.

Fill up her splash pool with a hose, and she's THERE! Freezing water with ice chunks in it? THERE! Hose for a bath? Saddest dog ever. 

So, I bathe her inside, as long as she isn't horrifying. Ena could never have an outside bath. Somebody would call the Animal Cops. Seriously. She's a screamer.

We do/have done all three. 

For regular baths every 3-4 months, or for dog show prep, or for some other special reason (dog was sick in crate and got covered, dog has staph and needs medicated bath, etc) we use the walk-in station at the pet store.  They have all the supplies and clean up.  They have the high power dryer that I need, especially for show prep in order to remove the loose undercoat and back blow them so they are fluffy.  Coke got a hotspot so I also prefer to blow dry him completely if I need to wash the double coated areas of his body.

Previously, our outdoor faucet did not work, so if the dogs got muddy or sat in poo, I would put them in the bath and get in there with them and just wash the underside or whatever parts were dirty.

Our faucet was fixed on Saturday and already I've hosed down the dogs twice.  The water is bitter cold but they don't seem to mind.  It's been hot and humid so it probably felt good.  Our yard is a mud pit and our house has offwhite carpet, so two days in a row I've hosed down their legs and undersides.  Now I'm only letting them go out to potty one at a time, otherwise they start chasing each other through the mud.

River only gets two baths per year one in the Fall and one in the Spring and that ususally holds him.   We use a groomer but for those inbetween baths like this past Saturday we use the hose.  He dosen't like it but he tolerates it and I the water from the well does get a bit cold but that isn't the part he fusses about its the spray he don't like.

 We do both here - in the summer I do it outside in the kiddie pool - he doesn't like the spray but the hose with no attachement is fine. 

He is great about doing it in the tub now too - he just hops in and waits it out.  He won't shake until I tell him its OK which I do when he is wrapped in towels LOL.  Of course his coat is so short, hair isn't a problem - the only problem with inside baths is the post bath inside zoomie

calliecritturs

Take an old wash cloth and loosely wrap around the shower head.  Pour COKE on it.  Yes, Coca Cola -- one of the reasons Coke really isn't good for you.  It will eat the corrosion around the shower head.  Apply it several times and work at it and you'll get it off. 

You know, I've always known that about Coke, but it never dawns on me to do that! Thank you Callie, I will definatly try it!

kpwlee

 We do both here - in the summer I do it outside in the kiddie pool - he doesn't like the spray but the hose with no attachement is fine. 

He is great about doing it in the tub now too - he just hops in and waits it out.  He won't shake until I tell him its OK which I do when he is wrapped in towels LOL.  Of course his coat is so short, hair isn't a problem - the only problem with inside baths is the post bath inside zoomie

Karen, you must have a big bathtub? I can't imagine Bugsy monster in the tub! Lily does the post bath zoomies too and it always includes slamming into the back of the couch and getting the furniture wet! She also does this after swimming, mostly just rolling around though.

Thanks everyone for your ideas and tips. It is 80 degrees today, so depending on how warm it is when I get out of work I may try the hose with her, or even just seeing how she reacts to it.

My boys don't need baths often (unless they've gotten into something...like the other day when Harry rolled in mud and had it all stuck in his coat), but usually I do them in the tub.  Yes, the hand-held shower head is the best for that...I'm lucky that we have one.

But recently, since we had our yard re-done, and the new grass hasn't grown in fully yet, I'm hosing their feet off every single day after they're done playing in the yard.  Their feet get muddy and I don't want it tracked all over the house.  Sammy...tolerates it.  Harry loves the hose.  He bites at the water stream like a mad man.  It's pretty hilarious.  Sunday it was so hot out, I squirted them all over with the water, not just their feet.  Harry was in heaven, and Sammy just looked at me like, "Mom, it's a good thing I love you!" LOL.

My cairn actually does not mind a hose bath outside when it is hot.  If I have to bathe him in the winter (seldom) I either take him into the shower or put him in the tub.  The latter two are way more hassle than the hose outside.

The dreaded bath time.Myrt and Frosty hate taking a bath.I miss my old dog Hoggy at bath time.She would jump in the tub for me and when I was done I would shut the sliding door and she would shake off.Hoggy did this on her own the very first time.No training her to do it.

I would not get the stock tank. I got one for outside baths and I found picking up a big dog that did not want to go in the tank was not a happy task.

Omaha Vaccine sells a kit that attaches to the bath room sink facuet.

Frosty loves his kiddie pool and they both like being squrited with the hose.

We do both as we live in a cold climate.  Summer time we use a kiddy pool and the hose.  If the water seems to cold we run a hose from the basement and have it luck warm.  In the winter we use a large utitlity sink in our basement.

I don't even have an outside water source. So it's inside baths for everyone...in the tub for the wee dogs, and Aesop goes to the do it yourself dog wash so I can use their forced air dryer

I bathe my dogs in the basement washtubs.  We have a double washtub and my husband cut out the center divider and it works great!  It's long and the sides are high.  I attached a shower-type sprayer and it's wonderful.  I bought cheap rubber matts for the floor and it all works out really well.  The dogs don't mind it at all.