# Uh oh ... time for rescue dog's first bath.



## CindyLooHoo (Oct 24, 2013)

My bf and I are the relatively new owners of a rescue pup, Georgie. He's about 25 pounds and has short, scruffy black/white/tan fur, and so far (for the first 3 months) we've gotten away with not having to bathe him. I've used foam shampoos and dry shampoos on him, with some brushing, and that seems to have kept the smell/dirt level down very effectively. We live in Manhattan, so there's not a lot of rolling around in grass/dirt. Sooner or later, though, puppy's gonna have to get a proper wash, and I am SO stressed out about it. Bringing him to the groomer's is absolutely out of the question, Georgie is VERY sensitive about strangers approaching/touching him (he has to be muzzled for the vet, and often growls and snaps when examined), and is not 100% comfortable with my bf and I yet. He tolerates brushing/combing well, but will get a little nervous/snappy when I touch his butt area, and hates having his paws handled. Also not sure about how he'll like the water -- he likes jumping in the kiddie pool in the local dog park, but HATES the rain. Like, will refuse to walk in the rain sometimes.

Any thoughts on what I should do? My bf says, "Just throw him in there!" :fear: Uhhhh .... not unless I have another option! Other pet owners bring their dogs to the dog park and rinse em with the hose, but that water's so COLD, I don't like the idea of it.

Thanks in advance


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

Throwing him in isn't really the best way to go, especially with a rescue. 
If he isn't getting muddy and nasty, you have some time, so it would be best to use it to get him used to some stuff. Start desensitizing him to having his rear touched, paws, and to grooming. Lots of treats, or even feed him meals by hand every now and then and gently brush him (it doesn't even need to be effective, just get him used to having the brush touch him). You may even need to give him some treats while you show him the brush just to try to get him to think the brush is a good thing and not harmful, same with nail clippers (actually here is a decent video on getting your dog ok with nail clipping). 
As for actual baths, start by getting your dog into the tub, with no water. If it can get in by itself train a command like "in you go" or something to get it hopping in on its own, on the other hand if you have to lift him in first get him ok with being near the tub, once it is obvious that is ok, pop him in and give him TONS of treats in there.....repeat repeat. Add a tiny bit of water, etc. For the actual bathing it'll probably take two....one to give some treats, other to do the actual bathing. You might also want to introduce the towel, and a good rubdown before actual bath day too. I wouldn't suggest adding a blow-drier in until you've got the bathing, rub down and general handling mastered, it can be done though!
Overall just work on trust with the little guy....it takes time and once he starts really trusting you, things will go a bit smoother. Good luck!


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## CindyLooHoo (Oct 24, 2013)

Thanks, Greater Swiss, for all this great advice. Yeah, we've been working with a trainer on counter-conditioning him to getting his paws and butt touched, and it's going slow. He really has a phobia about it! Without knowing what happened to him, it's hard to say why. Sigh. But everything you've mentioned sounds like really good stuff. He is already curious about the tub -- will walk right up when I am taking a bath and poke his head over the side just to check it out  But he is a pretty small dog, so it would involve lifting him in, which he's not going to love -- he'll also not be able to get out on his own. He used to be totally fine when being picked up, but then the bf picked him up once to bring him inside when he wanted to stay out ... then put him down and let him keep walking when he growled ... now there's a non-zero chance he's going to be grumpy when we pick him up.  I've tried to change his attitude towards being picked up (picking him up to bring him to treats, stuff like that), but there's still always the chance he won't like it. 

Lucky for us he's not gotten really gross and gnarly yet (just the occasional roll in motor oil on the street ... yeech). SO I guess in the meantime, it's hot dogs and clicker time (Georgie's favorite time)! I also need to get a nonslip bath tread thing for the tub so he's not slipping and sliding in there. Thanks again for the response, I'll post a photo of Georgie's First Bathtime when it happens 

P.S. Oh, and as for nail clipping, his nails are actually pretty short thanks to long walks and runs on pavement. But we've also started to train him to scratch a doggy emery board! He's getting good at it too  So hopefully we wont have to use the nail clipper ... really really hoping.


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