Hi

My 8 month old Staff Ruby is in Season at the moment, has been for about 5 days, and she has blood all on her inner thighs and tail, I have tried in vain to wash her and to bath her but she freaks out and runs away to hide under the bed everytime I try. She has never been easy to wash, but now she hates it with a passion! I know she is probably hormonal and more grouchy than usual, but this girl needs a bath! :)

Please can anyone advise me of a way to make bath time seem less scary to her? I really DONT want to have to resort to getting my hubby to hold her down for me to wash her, as I dont want to distress her more, but shes getting really messy down there. Anyhelp will be much appreciated :)

Helen

Try using baby wipes to clean her up for now :-)
You can get her used to baths when she is more herself. Talk to her to reassure her but the first few times you may need to be firm as she will be scatching up the bath walls to get out! Once she has had a couple of baths if she is anything like our staffs she will love them :D

Gus who is 10 months has now taken a disliking to baths . We have to do it outside in the garden and use a bowl rather than putting him in the bath . I try to have the children with him too as hes not as fretful then .
He only has the occasional one thank heavens
Lel

Thanks to both of you. I will try both your ideas :)

I dont anticipate having much success though as I tried to wipe her with a flannel this morning and she disappeared into her hidy hole again! Poor little mite has a rear end like a baboon and a bright red tail though, so I'll see if I have more luck with your methods. Thanks :D

Helen

I think the biggest thing they fear in the bath is the slippery surface a rubber mat makes my dogs much more accepting, the other thing I have discovered over the years is that they seem more comfortable with barely more that tepid water rather than the warm that you might imagine they would enjoy, perhaps this will help.

Thank you Isabel :)

If I can coax her back into the bathroom I'll try it.

Helen

If she has developed a bit of fear for it you may have to be gentle but firm, enlist the help of someone else, until she has learned there really is nothing to fear. You are probably thinking of just washing her trousers at the moment but come the time when you want to bath her fully another tip you may not be aware of is to completely wash and rinse the body before you wet the head at all as they tend to want to start shaking once the head is wet much more than the body.

Perhaps she wouldn't freak so much if you tried a wet wipe on her when she's already calm and cuddled up with you stroking her?? Poor thing she must be feeling very confused by the whole thing and hormones raging as well bless her :)

Regards
Dill

You could try and put a favourite toy in the bath with her and maybe it will take her mind off the bath making it less of a struggle for you! (just a suggestion!)
Good luck!

Thanks everyone, Im getting really desperate here as her trousers are now really soiled, and its all dried onto her tail. I bought some baby wipes today and have tried 3 times to approach her, even once when she was cuddled up to me half asleep, but every time she shot off to hide, ears back and tail between her legs, poor baby :(

Its her first season ( and mine! ) and shes spotting everywhere. I tried her in a baby bath outside but she wouldnt entertain that idea either.

I've an awful feeling that my hubby will have to hold her so I can wipe her down with a flannel, but I so wanted to avoid restraining her as I dont want to scare her even more. I think it may be a case of having to be cruel to be kind though.

Thank you so much for responding to all of you :)

Helen

When my Belgian youngster needed a wash, when in season, i used a very jolly voice to cajole her along - i also gave her lots of titbits while she was in a titchy bit of water and shall we say, she "coped" LOL !!!

I did restrain her but very gently and tried to be as quick as possible. As soon as we had finished, we had a game with a fav. toy. The toy was put out ready so she could see it and knew that would be her reward.

It is possible to train a dog over a period of time to accept washes, just as it is to get them to accept previously hated nail clipping, but that's no help if you need to wash her a.s.a.p.

Have fun !!!!

Lindsay

You could always just get the Jet Wash out and get it over and done with! JOKE :D :D :D

Hi all

Well the dirty deed is done :D

I am afraid the softly softly approach didnt work, Ruby just hid on every attempt. Eventually I just got hold of her collar lightly, and wiped her tail and trousers with a baby wipe, not perfect but better than it was.

I tried to treat her to some ham and a bit of ball throwing but shes looking at me sheepishly at the moment, rolling her eyes, ears down and tail tucked under her making me feel like a bad mum :(

Anyway, Ive been to look at her under the bed a few times and she has now progressed to licking my face furiously everytime (yuk!!) so I think she is on her way to forgiving me :) Till I have to do it again anyway....yikes!

Thanks to all for the sound advice :)

Helen

Hi Ladymojo

I once had a problem with a dog and a fear of water. I started by washing his feet in a bowl of water when he came in muddy from a walk. This progressed to a babybath outside on the patio with warm water and a non-slip rubber mat in the bottom. A treat to encourage them in helps too. Their fear could be similar to babies who change from the babybath to the bathroom bath - its all so big and yet closed in around them. Then its a case of progressing from babybath being placed in the big bath and onto the bath itself.