Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Bathing...

42 replies

twoofakind · 04/04/2013 18:06

I have 2 kids and hate the thought of them using the same bath as my Lab, how do you bath your dogs, it would be a lot easier to do it outside with the hose, but not very nice for him....cold water and cold weather...im not mean!

I cant afford to get him washed anywhere, he malts everywhere and I have de- shedded him a few times but oh my, his hairs are even found in my babies nappies!! xx

OP posts:
fanoftheinvisibleman · 04/04/2013 19:21

In the bath. I clean it afterwards so doesn't bother me in the slightest.

needastrongone · 04/04/2013 19:28

I am afraid that I AM mean Smile

Our dog gets washed off under the water butt after a walk if he needs it, regardless of temperature. He moans a bit but tough! Most of our friend use the hose pipe outside.

When we do bath him, we use the bath and I clean it afterwards with standard anti bacterial cleaner.

Hope that helps.

needastrongone · 04/04/2013 19:29

He's 5 months btw and I've done this since we had him!

BeerTricksPotter · 04/04/2013 19:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Floralnomad · 04/04/2013 19:46

It doesn't cost that much to get them bathed but otherwise a bucket of warm water is fine .

Original poster
twoofakind · 04/04/2013 20:33

Thanks for your help....its hard work getting him in and out of the bath, im only 5'!!

And when your skint and trying to save money it is a lot of money! xx

OP posts:
Slavetothechild · 04/04/2013 21:14

We have a huge number of dogs and all bathed in our bath , always have been. Bit of bathroom cleaner and all ok again. Thinking about it the dogs are sometimes cleaner than my kids !!!!! ;)

Slavetothechild · 04/04/2013 21:14

Oh and use a bath mat so he doesn't slip

TwllBach · 04/04/2013 21:18

Mine goes in the bath. I put a towel down so she doesn't slip and then shower her with the attachment.

Also, I used to lift her in but then I hurt my back and couldn't face it so trained her to jump in and out. Is that an option for you?

Original poster
twoofakind · 04/04/2013 21:44

Yeah, last couple of times Ive bathed him Ive got him to jump in and out....but he almost hits his nose on the side everytime, and I don't want him to hurt himself! Im soft! xx

OP posts:
ThunderboltKid · 05/04/2013 18:31

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn at poster's request

ruby1234 · 05/04/2013 18:52

We bath ours in the bath.

A friend of ours (her DH is a plumber) has an outside HOT tap with a hose on it they use for washing off their dogs.

Must say I am very jealous of this, and next time I have a plumber at home will get one myself.

Original poster
twoofakind · 05/04/2013 20:56

Well I wondered if you could get an hot tap....im jealous too! I don't know a plumber though! :(

xx

OP posts:
gymmummy64 · 05/04/2013 21:36

I've read this with great interest and am in awe of all you bathers!

What tricks am I missing? How on earth do you do it? My one and only attempt to bath Gymdog went exactly as I thought it would. He shook several times before the mud was fully off so I had mud all over (and I really mean all over) the bathroom. So we had dirty water on the mirror, on the ceiling, on the bath towels, on the ironing pile, all over the floor... He then decided he'd had enough of bathing and got out of the bath trailing mud and water all over the kitchen floor (downstairs bathroom) and the lounge and soaking me in the process. Whilst I was distracted trying to mop the worst of the water on the kitchen floor (like an ice rink when wet) he got onto the sofa. Nice. I have never attempted to bath him since.

so what did I do wrong? My bathing routine was as follows: I eventually persuaded him to stand in the empty bath (hard), put the shower on tepid and started to rub down his muddy and whiffy areas with the water and my hands - legs, tummy and back of the neck. I was gentle, I was nice, I talked to him a lot. I had a big fluffy towel ready to wrap him lovingly in, but we never got that far.

Maybe you're all going to tell me you don't bath muddy dogs, just smelly ones, but I still wouldn't want doggy water all over every single surface in the bathroom. How do you stop the shake??

gymmummy64 · 05/04/2013 21:38

I missed out that my dog is labrador sized

TwllBach · 05/04/2013 21:46
Grin I think it helps that my bathroom is the size of a postage stamp and the walls and floor are tiled.

I remove all towels/toilet roll/bath mats before she gets in the bath to avoid them getting splattered.

She gets in and stands on the hand towel. The first time she didn't have anything to stand on and panicked because she couldn't stand/walk without slipping Sad I use the shower attachment to get her wet, then shampoo, then rinse.

Then I spread the big dog towel on the floor for her to jump out on to and sort of use it to shield myself and the bathroom from the worst of the doggy shake Grin then I rub her down thoroughly.

If she's really lucky, DP will dry her with the hair dryer. It's either that or she will plonk herself in front of a radiator for a while.

MoaningMingeWhingesAgain · 05/04/2013 21:50

I only bath a stinky filthy dog.

Run bath medium full of warmish water. Entice dog upstairs.

Plonk dog in bath and wash immediately

Get dog to jump out, throw a large towel over it and duck while they have a good shake

Rub dog dry as much as they will put up with

Send dog back downstairs to shake all over the rest of the house.

gymmummy64 · 05/04/2013 21:53

Twll shampoo??? good grief this is way beyond anything I had aimed for! My bathroom is sort of commemorative stamp sized so not big at all.

Soooo, how big is your dog? Envy

TwllBach · 05/04/2013 21:54

Ooooh moaning I wish I could give mine a proper bath in water as opposed to a shower but she's petrifed of getting her dainty little paws wet.

gymmummy64 · 05/04/2013 22:01

Moaning I need way more details! How do you 'plonk'? Is your dog small? With a medium bath, how much of your dog is covered? To be honest I had always thought putting my dog in a bath meant one with no water rather than one with water.... Is this my mistake?!

NotMostPeople · 05/04/2013 22:03

Outside hot tap. It's the best thing ever.

fanoftheinvisibleman · 05/04/2013 22:06

I have only had to do it twice as luckily his wiry terrier hair is usually clean by the time you get home even if really muddy. It just drops off.

But I do similar to moaning. Put water in bath and lob him in and shampoo whilst he is stood in the water. I fill it so it is about 2/3 up his legs.

Slavetothechild · 05/04/2013 23:57

Mine are all shampooed twice and then conditioned. They then have to be brushed out and blow dried !!!!!! Each one done every two weeks :) they are trained as babies though so it makes it easier

MoaningMingeWhingesAgain · 06/04/2013 00:08

I have a small dog, a terrier mutt around 8/9kg, and a border collie. Same procedure for both. Lift them in. I'm only five ft and a fag end, I couldn't manage any bigger than the collie TBH.

Main tips are to shut the bathroom door.

Have the bath run already. I may have been known to use the bath water that the children have just been washed in, on occasion.

Have the shampoo to hand. And a jug to tip the water over them with.

Get the dog very wet, shampoo and rinse. Go back and wash the dirtiest bits again. Rinse some more.

Expect them to leap out if you take your hands off them at any point.

A medium bath is about how much water I would put in for the children, as opposed to a massive bath of of boiling hot water for me Grin

Then just clean the bath as usual with flash or similar after they are out.

thegriffon · 06/04/2013 11:25

I've never even considered bathing my lab, I think he'd hate warm water. We live near a river and he swims every day, even in freezing weather. He just gets towel dried when we get home. Luckily he never rolls in stinky stuff prefers to eat it instead.