How do you wash your dog? Lab cross...

[PlinkPlonkFizz]

I'm curious as to how you wash your dog, and actually, how often too? Obviously in the case of rolling in poo, she gets washed that day!

It is easiest for me to lead-walk her to our shower using meat treats, encourage her into shower with more meat, strip off to my knickers, use warmish water with the shower head detached and lather her up just using my hands to wash her face, rather than spraying her head or face with the water. Then another bit of meat as I towel-dry her, smelly lump that she is 🥰

All this goes ok (yes the bathroom needs a bit of mopping afterwards!) but DH wants to bring her to a dog wash. I think this will upset her as she's quite nervous. She seems to trust me in the shower and I think she likes the rubs.

What do you do?

Our dog gets put in the bath but he is smaller than a labrador.

My neighbour has an outdoor dog shower - hot and cold taps with a mixer shower attachment, so her large Golden Retriever gets washed in the garden

Very rarely, and in summer we do it outside under the hose.

Other than that, pretty much as you described. We wash her now and then if she’s been swimming and smells a bit doggy, or when she’s found something delightful (to her) to roll in. The rotting sheep was a classic 🤢. Otherwise we just leave her be, I don’t think it’s good for them to be washed too much.

I’ve got a lab cross. If she needs a proper shower, then I do as you describe except I don’t strip off and get in, just stand outside. She hates it, to be honest, but we don’t do it much!

I get in the shower with him. Wash him then get the worst wet off and let him out the shower to the bathroom covered in dog towels.

I then wash the shower and finally myself.

@EmmaGrundyForPM an outdoor dog shower is next level 😁

@Bekindbekind your routine sounds very similar to ours. Rotting sheep must have really tested your love.

My neighbour has an outdoor dog shower - hot and cold taps with a mixer shower attachment,

Living the dream!

This is how my husband does it . It's a double shower , there is plenty room don't see any need for outside help .🤷🏻‍♀️

I have a massive butler sink so mine goes in that. He's not a lab though

I take her for a walk by the river and throw a stick in a few times 😆.
None of my dogs have ever been washed (except after incidents with fox poo, and only then if a river doesn't solve it).
No way could I encourage her to get in a bath or shower for any amount of sausages, and this is a water obsessed dog who finds a swimming spot at every opportunity.

Do you not get drenched trying to lather her up?

@RudeElfTheRainDear 😳😳😳😳😳😳 confessions from me - I just dressed and didn't bother with my own shower as I'd showered already.

I have a mastiff.

He gets bathed as and when required. Common examples are coming back from kennels or if he rolls in shit.

He steps into the bathtub 😳 I put "dog towels" down, in the bathtub and the floor so he doesn't slip. He gets hosed down with the mixer tap shower head, shampooing, rinse, repeat till clean. Helped out of the bathtub and towel dried.

Then I have to clean the bathroom afterwards.

He's a very good boy though, does exactly as told, is compliant, loves people, strangers and other dogs, no fuss whatsoever. Dream of a dog.

Exactly! I think my DH always likes getting a particular service or product. He's not too good at accepting we do a perfectly fine job.

@CaptainBarbosa you have a good system there.

Our beagle goes in the bath - hose him with the shower attachment, turn it off, lather him up, rinse and dry the worst with a towel, then into his dressing gown.

I don't get wet and it only takes about five minutes but we've done it like this since we got him so he's very used to it.

Mine used to have a bath but he wails the whole time in there so now he has a shower with me in the wet room 😂 I hose him down, lather him up (we use Dirty Beastie shampoo, it smells gorgeous) and then rinse him off, then he sits and waits patiently for me to have my own shower. Then he gets a nice, snuggly blowdry 🥰

Outdoors under hosepipe with sprinkler attachment in summer. Indoors in warm shower in bath with towels down to stop him slipping (and scratching the enamel) in the winter.
He's a lurcher so has to be hoiked into the bath as he protests so much, yet he can leap out quite nimbly the minute the water goes off, usually just before I've had chance to grab a towel to dry him.
He does not like showers yet will happily dive headfirst into any body of water that he finds on a walk, especially if it's got a film of cowshit on the top of it.

We have a plastic dog bath from amazon outside for dry/warm days. He usually only gets a bath in summer. If he needs one in winter he is in our bath tub with lots of rubber mats down.

Ours goes for a bath and haircut every 4 weeks at the groomers , on the odd occasion he needs a bath in between I put him in the bath as he’s only 15/16 kg so easy enough to pick up . He’s perfectly happy to be washed .

I also use baby shampoo for washing her head and face . Someone is now gonna come along and tell me why I shouldn't do this (3 dogs).

Downstairs shower here, spaniel who does like the odd stinky roll. She has to be pushed in and I kneel on one of her many towels and use the shower head on the offending parts. Shampoo as needed, rinse, sometimes she complies and shakes herself whilst still in shower otherwise chuck a towel over her and race outside. Big shakes and good rough rub with towel followed by tug game then drying coat.

needs a shower maybe 2-3 times month.

Two collies, and only bathed as needed (one needs it more than the other because he tends to get poo stuck in his bum fluff - in fact be needed an emergency shower this evening, merry Christmas!).

I don't strip to my knickers, and I don't lure them in with treats, the dogs just walk right into the shower and look sad until we're finished. I hunker down next to the shower and scrub them awkwardly with one hand while holding the detachable shower head in the other. It works, but I wish the shower was bigger and that I had a lower down shower head holder so I could stick it somewhere and really scrub with both hands. Then they walk out onto towels and I try to dry them as much as possible before they shake (but it's never enough!).

The bathroom always needs a good clean after.

@PaperDoves mine are also expected to stand and get on with it 😄

Even worse they get done outside with the hose (sometimes in winter but I try and just do legs/underbelly!) because they would not fit in a shower or bath in a million years.

I also have a blaster drier for afterwards which was the best £100 I’ve ever spent.

I have 2 labradors,one of them rolls in anything - smelly rolling stuff preferred, but mud perfectly acceptable 😐
I have a mud daddy for quick jobs and an outdoor hot and cold shower for big clean ups 😁
BTW, the outdoor shower wasn't that expensive, and we'll worth nit having to trail dripping, filthy dogs through the house.

WCS gets lifted into the bath in our spare bathroom and hosed off with the shower attachment.

He always gets a treat after he has been towelled dry so tolerates it well and even lifts each paw up in turn for me to clean them.