Bath time nerves !

So ! Gave George his first bath home here today with flea shampoo as he's been itching and having come from escue I thought it prudent. Also bought spot on flea treatment too. Anyway. My last boy Conan who sadly passed away 2 months ago was hard work to bath and his eyes would be out on stalks, So enter George-hoping things would be different ! Not So ! Just as bad and maybe worse, struggling to jump out and had to keep comforting him to get through it , Question. Is there any secrets to stress free happy bath times ? Thanks Jon

I don't bathe Misty at all as I know she would hate it. When we got her she smelt and was covered in dandruff so I bought some amazing dry shampoo foam from Pets at home. You just put it on them and leave it, no need to get the dog wet. It's amazing stuff, cleared up her dandruff and stopped the smell. I don't use it very often as she keeps herself clean but she just about tolerates having it put on her, I'm sure the treats she gets after might have something to do with that though!

I don't remember the last time Gus had a bath. If he starts to smell we will put him in the bath. I will have a look for that dry shampoo Emma sounds good stuff.

I agree about not really needing to worry about bathing too much but if you do think you might need to at any point, I'd train in exactly the same way I'd train for most other fears - finding ways of breaking things down, building up positive associations, lots of praise and not pushing too far too soon.

An example of how to break down bathing might be to start with just a damp sponge, stroking with it and occasionally squeezing so that he can feel the water. You could do that in the garden or kitchen to start off with so you're not dragging him into the bathroom (an odd room for many dogs anyway). Then build up so the sponge is wetter, then maybe squeezing from a height so there is the sensation of running water, etc. Get him used to going into the room where any actual bathing will happen separately, making that nice. The go back to basic damp sponging in the bathroom before building up again.

I'll confess I haven't taught the staffs to like being bathed but Nola was a horror for rolling when she was younger so I did with her. She'll stand in the shower or under a hose without restraint, which she wouldn't to start off with (we had a couple of 'needs must' occasions where were a bit of a battle!). So it is possible, if you think you might need to.