At the moment Darcy has a bit of a skin condition and I am having to bath her 3 times a week
Nightmare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone got any tips on how to do this with some iota of control.
I just cannot keep her still and shampoo her without practically getting in the bath and sitting on top of her!!!!!!!

At the moment I put a few inches of water in the bottom of the bath and then use the shower.

She runs about like an absolute madman and growls and barks and tries to bite the showerhead and the water coming out of it.

Anyone???????????

Have you tried putting a rope slip-lead on her? It might help a bit. :)

Monty's Mum :)

Poor thing. What has she got as three times a week seems alot ?

Lucy

She's just got an itch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it sounds ridiculous but she is scrtching and biting all the time. The vets have tried everything so we're trying medicated shampoo as a last resort.

Doesnt seem to be working though

They think it might be psychological as they cant see a single thing wrong with her skin

Has she been on grass at all a lot more over the last few weeks and also do you use any carpet refreshers? It sounds like an allergy type of reaction ?? How old is she ? My eldest mars had a grass allergy. Also have you treated for fleas?

The older my lot got the easier it was to bath them . I usually weather permitting use the hose to wash them down and try not to use shampoos where ever possible.

Lucy

hmmm we have used carpet cleaners, I think it was Carpet fresh or something like that.

I did mention that to the vets but he said if she had reacted to that it would show up on her skin.

I'm getting my carpet changed on Saturday now that shes house trained.
Will see if that makes a difference

Hope it does !

Lucy

I'd suspect the carpet - Shake'n'Vac used to have a terrible reputation for causing this reaction in dogs.

Yep that was it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shake'n'vac

not sure where i got carpet fresh from!!!!!!!!!!!

I used it once after a particularly bad night. She weed everywhere and the smell was lingering.

Sounds like the carpet (or rather me) might be to blame then.

Do I have to do anything or will the new carpet (and never using the freshener) do the trick

With luck the new carpet will do the trick. (Fingers crossed). Try to keep her off the old one in the meantime - easier said than done, I know.

Don't forget to permanently delete Shake'nVac from your shopping list!

:)

Might not be any help but my dog had same sort of thing and vet gave me a shampoo to try didnt work so i went out and bought a normal shampoo for dry itchy skin with tea tree in it and it worked doesnt itch anymore also i give him 1 garlic tablet a day keeps insects away and it works better than any of those flea products and its harmless just thought it might help also a lot of foods tend to give dogs itchy skin james well beloved is for that exact problem

Can you not get someone else to help you?

With mine one of us holds the dogs collar and soothes her whilst the other grabs the shower head and does the business! :)

We never put any water in the bath as mine seem not to like this

My boyfriend did try and help me but he jumps away from the bath every time she splashes so he was about as much help as a chocolate teapot.

She definitely prefers the water in the bottom of the bath. Every morning while I'm in the bathroom getting ready she asks to get in the bath and I run a bit of water in and she paddles about.
She loves it.

Could you not just bath her completely? i.e not use the shower at all.

It may be that she thinks that the shower is a good game as mine love a running hose pipe - fortunately have not associated shower with it! :)

Also have replied to your post on being locked out of car - hope it helps

Will try not using the shower I was just worried I wouldnt get all of the shampoo out of her coat!!!!!

My other post seems to have disappeared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Might have been the step by step guide to breaking into a car ! LOL :D

Lucy

Rachael

Drop me an e:mail and I'll give you an idea on how to get round solution if you ever lock yourself out of the car again as my answer seems to have caused offence. :(

Get on your bathing suit, lock the doors, and have a blast. If you cant beat em join em.

Hi, Rachael
I was interested to hear about your dog's skin condition as when I first got my Shih Tzu puppy in the summer, he drove himself and us mad with his constant scratching.
Our vet couldn't find anything wrong with him either - it wasn't fleas or eczema or any thing that one could see.
He gave Mikey Frontline for fleas AND mites etc - slightly more thorough than usual frontline - and he now takes an Oil of Evening Primrose capsule every day in his food.
It might be coincidence but he hasn't scratched nearly as much since - in fact he almost never does.
Worth trying? Primrose oil is supposed to be excellent for skin conditions.
Alison

Thanks will give that a try if changing the carpet doesnt work

Wont do them both at the same time cos I would be interested to know which, if any, works+

Hi,
just to add my 2p worth, my little boy has very itchy eczema and evening primrose oil has stopped the itchyness and helped to reduce our steroid cream use. I also used it with my last dog who had a severe grass allergy - itchy skin, runny eyes!! and sneezing the whole hog. EP reduced his symptoms to almost nothing. Hopefully it'll work for your dog too

Rachel

Have you tried an antihistamine ? When my boy came up in lumps I gave him Piriton and it certainly helped. I also gave him arnica and put rescue remedy in his water. I eventually narrowed down the source of the problem to likely be I had bathed him too much and he was possibly allergic to tea tree shampoo.

Now I just rinse him in water to keep him clean, although he had his first bath at the weekend for 5 weeks, his coat was really dirty. I diluted Infacare baby shampoo in water and used that. Coat now clean and no lumps :-)

She had an antihistamine injection from the vets and that didnt do anything.

There is no visible signs of any irritation so thats why we're at a loss to what it could be.

I'm sure you've thought about it but how about trying a new food? Mine used to scratch a lot more before I changed from Hills to Burns/Nature Diet.

regards
cissy

I hadnt considered that actually.

Shes on pedigree puppy.

Maybe I'll try that if the other ideas dont work

ok good luck- there are loads of threads about food brands and food additives in the Feeding section which I have found very helpful.
cissy