SUMMARY: And they're not usually fond of it, either.
I seldom bathe my dogs. Chip and Zorro do, on occasion, get wet anyway (out in the rain, or Chip just loves to play in the hose spray), and they get a good towel rub-down, which always seems to be enough. If I think they've been in poison oak--or if they've
definitely (there's no "thinking" involved here) been rolling in nasty stuff, then--yeah. But I and my knees and back would much rather be doing other things.
And that has been true forEVER. Have seldom bathed any of my dogs. Amber was the most often abused, because her coat was oily and accrued dirt like a magnet. And Sheba's white coat parts would gradually turn brownish just from dirt gathering in that tightly packed husky coat, so she was forced occasionally to suffer.
My agility dogs, though--well, I hosed them down regularly at agility events if it was at all warm, which washed away pretty much everything. So not too many baths. Sometimes during coat-blowing season, to loosen the chunks of hair to make removal easier.
I've never worked as hard as I should have to ensure that my dogs love baths. Poor puppers.
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| Sadly, I have few photos of Amber, as much as I loved her. Here she is damp as a teenager. No idea whether it was after a bath or just being naughty somehow. |
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| Nothing digital of Remington wet. This is closest I have. But I definitely have photos of him wet. Will have to look for and scan them in. |
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| Poor abused Tika. In grooming truck owned by her foster mom. Tika was happy to see her, but the bathing part seemed sketchy. |
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| Sheba. I loved the way her coat looked wet, but it did not appeal to her as much. Tika's coat did exactly the same thing. |
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| I have no Chip bath photos, but he looks like this wet; in other words, adorable. (From playing in the hose.) |
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| Have no good digital photos of Jake wet (not surprising, since I had just started digital when he was old), but here he is doing agility after he has been hosed down a bit. |
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| Yep, nothing with Zorro wet at all that I've found. We don't get out enough (e.g., no walking, hence no walking in the rain). He does love playing in water, so this is the closest I've gotten... |
Related posts:
https://dogblog.finchester.org/2008/03/loveyerdog-aka-bath-day.html
Don't feel bad. I've NEVER bathed a dog. We had one dog growing up and he cleaned himself, even when we had all been out in the swamp and he came back black covered in peat mud. My three shelties have gone to a groomer once in awhile...not that often until Katie who seems to need grooming about every 6 weeks. Oh...we did wash Bonnie (prior to Katie) 3 times...after skunks got her. Husband did that. I remember a wet rat, still smelly look. Katie, given she is a runner, never goes out at night without one of us attached to her via leash so hasn't been skunked yet. Closest we got was when we were supposed to soak her leg in epson salts and she wouldn't do it, so husband picked her up and put her whole self in the sink. But only her legs and tummy got wet. I do wonder what she looks like after a bath. Thinking wet rat again.
ReplyDeleteI responded at length but somehow while typing the browser erased it all. Get a photo of Katie being bathed! It's required!
ReplyDeleteI think I have one of her being miserable with her FOOT in water....will see if I can find it.
DeleteThat's funny!
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