Bathing reluctant 95 pound dog

Bear is a true weirdo, he's afraid of the rain, and the water hose, and, like most dogs, baths.

He will however, without hesitation, drag you into a river or lake with him, go figure.

He does not fight me in the tub, however, he isn't cooperative either.
I can't even get him into the tub, Jeremy has to pick him up and put him in.

I hate bathing my monsterous dog


One thing always makes it worth all the hassle though.
The crazy antics of freshly bathed dog.
Prancing, ripping through the house, wallowing on anything he can to get dry, and just being all over wiggly, like a young pup.

There is of course a side benefit in that he smells better.
Instead of smelling like dog, he smells like wet dog with a hint of blackberries.

Hmmm, my dogs have always loved to be bathed. A Golden and two Old English Sheepdogs. They run to be first and get in and out of the tub themselves.
What water temp do you use? Do you keep the bathroom too cold or too hot? Do you wash the face last? Mine are least fond of scrubbing the muzzle, so we save that for last - and they know it.

You're not alone... Jake HATES water also... We took him to the beach a couple weeks ago and my DH had to almost drag him into the water by his leash.
When we give him a bath it takes two of us to do it. One to hold him, another to actually bath him...But you're right, I love how he barrels through the house and rubs and rolls on everything to dry off

Have you seen the video (America's Funniest Home Videos) of the dog (golden retriever I recall) who hated baths so much he would grab the doorframes to keep his owners from carrying him into the bathroom? It won the $10,000 prize and the owners said they were planning to use the money to replace the clawed doorframes.

I've only had experience trying to bath reluctant 8 pound cats. (I held her 4 feet and Mom had to do the washing.) We survived with minimal damage...

What kind of dog?

Maybe giving him a bath outside would work better?

He gets bathed in water slightly warmer than luke warm in an 80 degree bathroom.
I wash his face last, with a washcloth, man he doesn't like that
He just doesn't want to be bathed at all, acts like he's being punished.
I tell him how good he is, he wags, looks like he's lost his best friend and tries to drink the soapy water as it rolls off of him.

No place to bath him outside, even if I could, I wouldn't, patio is like an oven, I'd have a heat stroke just trying.
He's a lab mix, so thankfully, not required to be bathed all that frequently.
I only do it about 3 times a year when he gets an oily buildup, or if his allergies have flared up.

He just reminds me of Pigpen.

Its not good to give labs baths very often - strips their coats too much and when you give baths, then you wind up with washing them a lot.

Most lab owners brush the dirt out and only wash them if really really dirty. And labs are one of the few dogs that rarely have that "wet doggie" smell.

Our lab will be 4 yrs old in September and she's never had a bath yet. Only legs/belly wiped off with water after running thru mud in the spring.

I'd use "spot" washing if really dirty; otherwise a good brushing several times a week should be ok.

He gets stinky and since he's a house dog, I have to, and I mean he can give a whole room that doggie smell.
But only when he gets super oily, then you can pet him and your hands just feel nasty afterwards.

The lab coat was one of his 'selling points' for me at the shelter, good, low maint.
He's not too bad otherwise, not sure if it's his mix that makes him so oily and stinky, or his allergies, vet said it could be the combination.
Not really sure what he's mixed with, some bully breed, either Pit or American bulldog from his build.

If you figure out a way to get Bear bathed easily, let me know. I've got a 90 lb-er that doesn't like to be bathed, either! Macey is a basically a 90 lb. German Shorthaired Pointer with the voice of Coonhound...which she brays the entire time she's getting a bath!

I pick Macey up, put her in the bathtub & start bathing her. She looks at me like I'm killing her. She always pees in the tub as soon as I put her in, too. However, she was beaten with a hose several times before I got her, so she has a good reason to be really scared.

Our other dog is a Lab. She gets stinky quite a bit, so I just hose her off(to remove loose dirt), & spray her with a doggie perfume.

I am breaking the rules, though. I am bathing both dogs Wednesday as we have company this weekend & they aren't exactly dog people. I want my girls to be nice & clean...then they don't have anything to complain about except the cats & they've got 6 in their house, so they won't be complaining.