# A spring project--bath facility for the dogs



## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Lately I've been washing the dogs' feet when we come home from the dog park. I just put a couple inches of warm water in the tub, put them in one at a time, and rinse their paws and about six inches above. It's _amazing_ to me how much gunk and dirt comes off! Makes me realize we have been living with this stuff in our house for a while. (I can cope with the dirt from my backyard, but the dirt that hundreds of dogs have peed and pooped on... :no: ). However, with the warm weather coming, I'd much rather be doing this outdoors.

I'm going to do some work on the house in a month or so. One item will be to extend the hot water pipe out to the spigot by the back door. I started looking around at "dog bathtubs" and found they are quite pricey. I figured a good sized tub or bucket would work quite well. Last year I used a small dog pool but that's cumbersome and holds more water than I need for a daily paw wash. So I found this online last night and went and got it today. I think it'll be perfect! I can use it for baths as well as paw washes. I'm going to put some "grip strips" (like are used in bathtubs and showers) on the bottom. 
Large Mixing Tub-887102A at The Home Depot 

It's funny how accomplishing something small and simple can make you feel good! LOL.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

I just bought a little thing at home depot that screws into my kitchen sink faucet then I put one end of my outdoor hose in through the kitchen window and screw it to my faucet. That way I can fill the baby pool with warm water and give them a bath out there. The whole thing takes me less than 5 minutes to put together.
I don't do it in the winter but I do all summer. Even on the hottest days the water from the hose is too ice cold to spray on my dogs IMO so I use warm water.


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## Mayve (Aug 21, 2012)

I think that would be awesome. I have been wracking my brains to come up with a solution to muddy paws, stinky dog from the dog park and if she decides she is a swimmer, rinsing the lake out of her before I bring her in.....I will be very curious to see how this all works out....


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Mayve said:


> I think that would be awesome. I have been wracking my brains to come up with a solution to muddy paws, stinky dog from the dog park and if she decides she is a swimmer, rinsing the lake out of her before I bring her in.....I will be very curious to see how this all works out....


I will keep you posted! 

Joyce, I might try what you've suggested... The only problem is the hose won't go through my window...so it would have to go out the door...and I think then the dogs would run into the house before I got the paws washed, or worse, dried ... hmmmm ... will need to think the logistics of this through. But thanks for the idea.


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## Mavrk (Mar 11, 2011)

OutWest said:


> I will keep you posted!
> 
> Joyce, I might try what you've suggested... The only problem is the hose won't go through my window...so it would have to go out the door...and I think then the dogs would run into the house before I got the paws washed, or worse, dried ... hmmmm ... will need to think the logistics of this through. But thanks for the idea.


Given that you live in San Mateo county, I wouldn't worry about needing warm water (especially for the feet). It is not like the colder states where it might be needed. Even in winter it really isn't cold enough to worry about washing the feet in cold water. I live near San Jose so I can relate.

Might need to have somewhere to clip the dogs so they don't run and get dirty while you do the next one.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Mavrk said:


> Given that you live in San Mateo county, I wouldn't worry about needing warm water (especially for the feet). It is not like the colder states where it might be needed. Even in winter it really isn't cold enough to worry about washing the feet in cold water. I live near San Jose so I can relate.
> 
> Might need to have somewhere to clip the dogs so they don't run and get dirty while you do the next one.


I was thinking about that.... Thought I might get a dog clip put onto the wall near the back door. 

I'm not too worried about the temperature for feet washing, but if I can wash them outdoors even in cold weather, that would be nice. My bathroom gets really trashed, washing three of them.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Last year we had a plumber add a hot-water hose spigot out back next to the cold...then we added a "Y" shaped hose thingy to mix the hot and cold before it reaches the hose and leads to the tub......less than 100.00 and VERY handy...


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

LibertyME said:


> Last year we had a plumber add a hot-water hose spigot out back next to the cold...then we added a "Y" shaped hose thingy to mix the hot and cold before it reaches the hose and leads to the tub......less than 100.00 and VERY handy...


Yep! That's exactly what I'm going to do. I think it will be great. And help keep my bathroom clean...


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

*It worked...*

So today we tried out the new tub. It rained here yesterday and the dog park was fairly muddy and I decided I didn't even want to walk them through the house to the bathroom!

So I got everyone into the back yard, filled the tub with about two-three inches of water and rinsed everbodys paws. 

Mr. Tucker, spoiled and delicate child that he is did NOT want to put his feet into the cold water. He's always the _first_ to hop into the bathtub, but he had no desire to put his tootsie-toes into this water! I lifted him and put him in, laughing all the way. I need to get the hot water extension put in, soon.

However, I call the scheme a great success! It was easy (well, except for lifting a large make Golden... ) and straightforward. I had the gates up in the kitchen so as soon as I was done with one, I popped him/her in there. Hooray for no more dog park mud in my house!!!


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