# Bathtime?!



## Golden_girl (Oct 29, 2007)

Ok.....I have a 1.5 year old Golden. Nice and playful young baby boy. With him being a playful, young male he tends to get into dirty situations...that's ok, he is a dog. The problem is that he won't take a bath for anything. Not even my mum's pancakes (and that's saying something). How do I get him to take a bath. Any tricks? Last time I gave him a bath, I got wetter than him. Especially with Christmas and Christmas parties around the corner I am starting to get desperate.....


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Put him in the tub, and MAKE him hold still  I haven't met one yet I couldn't bathe. If there's a way to tie him, try that, too. I give them a rubber mat to stand on, too, but if I have a *really* obnoxious one I actually remove the mat as they slip around if they try to struggle and I find it actually helps an obnoxious dog learn to stand still. It is very rare though I find one that won't stand still if I hold him gently, look him in the eyes, and say "NO! Knock it off!" then I give a nice bathe, massage them, use warm water- they learn to love it in my experience! And they love to be dried off, then run about!

Out of doors is another matter, it is harder to control them that way. I never bathe dogs outside except at the dog park and mine are trained to stand for it.


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

*Do you have a stalled shower?*

I put mine in and use a Shower hose. This way, my dogs don't scratch the enamel of my bathtubs.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I pay someone to groom mine! I did all the bathing when Shadow was a pup. I just remember getting wet. I know I used to drain the tub and then close the shower doors so he could "shake" all that excess water off.


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## Griffyn'sMom (Mar 22, 2007)

Just muster up all your patience and keep trying. It sounds like he's not had many baths in his life. My Jake - who was so wonderful with everything else was a booger when he was young - and that was 20 years ago before the days of the really good flea products so he HAD to have pretty frequent flea baths. By the time he was an old man, he would lay down in the tub and enjoy it. The hardest part was getting him up and to the other side or he'd have a half bath. :doh: :

Keep at it and don't take NO for an answer - YOU are the boss.


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## jason0618 (Sep 17, 2007)

I had to just let Ellie know that she was getting a bath whether she liked it or not. She fought it, and once she realized that I was there to make her feel better, and not drown her, she calmed right down. no problems anymore. Major ones, anyway.


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## Celeigh (Nov 29, 2007)

I set up a playpen outside over one of the patio drains and hook the hose up to the laundry room sink for warm water to wash our goldens. We both get plenty wet, but the water is warm and it doesn't matter if the water gets everywhere. The promise of towel time at the end is also a huge incentive! He loves getting dried off and then gets to carry the towel around and pull it over his head then try to escape.


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## kellange123 (Apr 13, 2007)

Just keep trying, eventually he'll get it.


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## meandmooshoo (Dec 1, 2007)

Our golden is three now, but when she was a pup, I started taking her IN the shower with me (we don't have a bathtub). At that time, because she was so small, I held her and made it a soothing, calm experience. She had no problems with it. As she grew, I simply walked her into the shower with me. I think the fact that she's not alone in the shower makes it more palatable to her. To this day, I still wash her (all 80 pounds of her) that way. It's silly, perhaps, but it works, and since we are behind a closed shower curtain, that inevitable "shake the water off" ritual at the end of her bath doesn't leave the bathroom walls covered in water!!!


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## Golden_girl (Oct 29, 2007)

*Thanks*

Gee.....all such good ideas....I'm going to wash him this weekend and am SOOO going to try all the ideas you guys proposed. Thanks :wave:


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## lovealways_jami (Apr 17, 2007)

Wanna hear something crazy, I get in with Diesel (Of course I shower afterwards)...but fully clothed I will stand in there with him.... this makes him happy Im sure. I know it sounds yucky, but to me hes like a kid. (you know how you will wipe your kids nose with your shirt, or let them hand feed you their slobbery food leftovers because they are so persistent to get it in your mouth that you just give?) Maybe Im just a weird mom... I dont know


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