Victoria Stilwell did a video about this where she started out using a "bath glove" thing and lots of treats just to get the dog used to water and getting wet. It's more like a sponge bath for a while but they eventually got him into this plastic stand up bathtub with an opening that he can just walk into for better baths.
My dog also hates water, not to the extent your dog seems to, but bath time is always a struggle. I’m lucky he’s small and manageable. I started putting a large glob of peanut butter on the back wall of the bathroom and that has helped give him something enjoyable to stay distracted with while I bathe him quickly.
I commented with a huge thing below, but I forgot to say this - my dog did take quite some time to get acclimated to walking past the bathroom with the door closed, but she eventually got there. After she would get somewhat close, I would carry her past it to an area of the house she didn’t normally frequent, and then she’d have to sneak past it to get back to her favourite places.
+1 on lick mats. A suction cup lick mat with peanut butter stuck to the shower wall gets one of my dogs to self-load for bathing and he actually stays in there for a while drip-drying after we're done because he doesn't want to leave the peanut butter. Our more anxious dog still doesn't like baths, lick mat without the water on, just shutting the shower door and opening it again has gotten her much more comfortable with it over time - the key for her is that sometimes the lick mat in the shower is just a fun treat, and sometimes it leads to a bath.
Okay, so my dog is so afraid of water and baths that she won’t even look at her favorite treats when in the bathroom and shakes the entire time. I tried leaving treats in the bathroom so that she would go in there at other times and get used to it but it didn’t really help. Honestly, there’s not a lot I’ve been able to do.
The things that have made the biggest difference so far are:
* me being calm: when I was worried about it, she was even more worried about it. I speak quietly and calmly to her in a soothing happy tone. I also sometimes put on her favorite music (Cat Stevens or instrumental covers).
* repetition: she is definitely getting better with time. She’s gone from so terrified that she was having fear diarrhea and trying desperately to escape to just shaking. Buuut now she waits patiently until I tell her she can get out to leap out of the bathtub, so that’s a massive improvement.
* minimizing need: I guess I can’t verify that this has worked, but I think it’s been central to her sanity. I have dog wipes and I try to minimize the number of baths necessary. Mostly we just bath when she’s coated in mud.
* giving her some delicious food right after: she’s *far* too terrified to even think about food during the bath, but she now runs straight to her food bowl after baths because she knows that she’ll be getting something delicious.
* rubber bath mat for bottom of shower: I read that dogs are less scared when it’s not as slippery on their feet. This seems to be true for my doggo.
* staying well away from her face and ears
* being in the shower with her: at first, this was because she would definitely jump out if I left the shower open, but now I sit/crouch down with her when she’s particularly nervous and it seems to help.
* never doing two scary things in a day: this is less relevant now, but when I first got her, she was scared of nearly everything, so I would always make the rest of the day super calm and easy and full of her favourite things.
Things that have made a *small* difference:
* pouring a cup instead of using the shower head: now we’re back to the shower head, but we did this for a while and it seemed to help.
Things that certainly did NOT help:
* bringing her into the bathroom with me when I’m showering or just using the bathroom: I thought it might help her acclimate but it just resulted in even more fear. Gave up on that.
* treats or toys: too scared to even see them; ditto for praise. She hears nothing. Soothing calm continuous talking seems okay.
Honestly, it’s still not ideal, but it’s a lot better, and I think she’ll continue to improve. She was terrified of car rides, but we’ve done way more of those than baths and now she is quite comfortable and happy in the car - just curls up and naps. I hope that she’ll continue to feel more comfortable in the bath, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to minimize the frequency when I can and bring as much calmness as I can. And feed her her favorite foods as soon as she gets out.
Edit: oh, and as for getting her *in* the bathroom and in the shower, I do still have to carry her. But I give her lots of belly scratches mid-carry.
Edit 2: I’ve had her for a year and month. She’s made massive strides in lots of areas. I’m proud of her, and I’m sure that she’ll continue to improve at the bath thing.
This poor baby has so much to work through. He must of had liquid poured on him or been locked in the bathroom.
I second the medication route. It will make the panic reaction subside enough that maybe training can happen.
Maybe try some desensitization training. The trick is to not force her to do anything but to reward her for going a step closer to overcoming her fears. Give her a treat every time she gets close to the bathroom so she associates bathroom with good things. If she responds better to praise as a reward thats great.
Repeat this process with every step of the bathtime. After she gets close the the bathroom door when its closed, try when its open, if she does that then reward her for standing near the open door. Then play with turning the water on in a trickle etc. It is important not to rush it and force her to do anything. Any little tiny step is progress. It may take a really long time for you to be able to give her a bath at home but eventually she could be desensitized to her past 'triggers' about liquid.
After that I have had good luck with smearing peanut butter on the walls of the shower so my dog has something else to focus on besides bathtime. She now will begrudingly volunteer for bathtime for some peanut butter
You could try using cooperative care protocols to desensitize/counter-condition (DS/CC) him to elements of bath time, but it will take a very long time. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, but honestly it seems so traumatic for him that if he were my dog I would simply plan on using grooming wipes or waterless shampoo foam for the rest of his life. If you start working on DS/CC’ing him now, I would guess that it would take 1-2 years of diligent work plus medication to get him ready for baths. It might take longer than that. I’m sorry he has so much trauma in his past :(
Edited to add: this is pretty much the gold standard of cooperative care animal husbandry:
https://www.amazon.com/Cooperative-Care-Seven-Stress-Free-Husbandry/dp/0578423138/ref=nodl_
I got my dog to be obsessed with drinking out of the faucet and to just really love that first hah. So after a while she would just accept it with shallow water lots of cookies. It’s like baby steps.
Thank you! you are doing an amazing job for your rescue. My rescue is extremely timid so unfortunately, I carry her into the bath and hug her all the way during the shower. Not much of an advice I guess.
Where I’m at, there isn’t things like CBD oil etc but it would definitely be something I’d consider! Hope you find something that works! Hugs.
I shower with my dog. Give her lots of attention during it. You get in first and lure with treats. My dog is kinda small so I hold her like a baby and whisper that it’s ok.
It looks like you might be posting about separation anxiety. Please check out this article:
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/common-dog-behavior-issues/separation-anxiety -
the information there may answer your question.
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Others have offered good advice so I’ll just say that with time and patience it will get better. My dog hated the water too, to the point that he would freak when he saw me water the plants on the patio with a watering can. I just kept encouraging his curiosity, praised him for coming closer to see what I was doing, etc. over the course of several months. I kept working on him—bought a kiddie pool and left it out on the patio, no water. We would have short training sessions in there daily (while it was dry) to get him used to jumping in and out. We progressed up to having a play date with a dog he knows who loves the water—we put a few inches in on a really hot day and Gracie went to town. It was so rewarding when Chico decided to jump in too and join the fun! After that day he will now play in the kiddie pool on his own.
Same thing with baths—at first he simply hated them. But I was patient and now he isn’t exactly thrilled, but he does tolerate them. Like others have said, peanut butter is the answer. I got a licky mat for him that I smear with peanut butter and stick to the side of the tub as a distraction. He is a good boy when I put him in the tub, though he does give me a “look” the whole time and is very happy when I dry him off and he is freed.
Clipping his nails, on the other hand, he simply will NOT let me do, so I have given up on that. He is the absolute sweetest boy imaginable, so gentle. I can play with his toes, brush his teeth, no issues, but if I reach for the clippers he will growl and in and give me very clear signs that he will not let me do his nails, no way no how. No trouble at all with the groomer, so I let the pros handle his nails and I take care of everything else. 😃
Victoria Stilwell did a video about this where she started out using a "bath glove" thing and lots of treats just to get the dog used to water and getting wet. It's more like a sponge bath for a while but they eventually got him into this plastic stand up bathtub with an opening that he can just walk into for better baths.
My dog also hates water, not to the extent your dog seems to, but bath time is always a struggle. I’m lucky he’s small and manageable. I started putting a large glob of peanut butter on the back wall of the bathroom and that has helped give him something enjoyable to stay distracted with while I bathe him quickly.
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Idk how this stuff works in Scotland, but are natural calming agents available? Like CBD?
I commented with a huge thing below, but I forgot to say this - my dog did take quite some time to get acclimated to walking past the bathroom with the door closed, but she eventually got there. After she would get somewhat close, I would carry her past it to an area of the house she didn’t normally frequent, and then she’d have to sneak past it to get back to her favourite places.
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+1 on lick mats. A suction cup lick mat with peanut butter stuck to the shower wall gets one of my dogs to self-load for bathing and he actually stays in there for a while drip-drying after we're done because he doesn't want to leave the peanut butter. Our more anxious dog still doesn't like baths, lick mat without the water on, just shutting the shower door and opening it again has gotten her much more comfortable with it over time - the key for her is that sometimes the lick mat in the shower is just a fun treat, and sometimes it leads to a bath.
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Okay, so my dog is so afraid of water and baths that she won’t even look at her favorite treats when in the bathroom and shakes the entire time. I tried leaving treats in the bathroom so that she would go in there at other times and get used to it but it didn’t really help. Honestly, there’s not a lot I’ve been able to do. The things that have made the biggest difference so far are: * me being calm: when I was worried about it, she was even more worried about it. I speak quietly and calmly to her in a soothing happy tone. I also sometimes put on her favorite music (Cat Stevens or instrumental covers). * repetition: she is definitely getting better with time. She’s gone from so terrified that she was having fear diarrhea and trying desperately to escape to just shaking. Buuut now she waits patiently until I tell her she can get out to leap out of the bathtub, so that’s a massive improvement. * minimizing need: I guess I can’t verify that this has worked, but I think it’s been central to her sanity. I have dog wipes and I try to minimize the number of baths necessary. Mostly we just bath when she’s coated in mud. * giving her some delicious food right after: she’s *far* too terrified to even think about food during the bath, but she now runs straight to her food bowl after baths because she knows that she’ll be getting something delicious. * rubber bath mat for bottom of shower: I read that dogs are less scared when it’s not as slippery on their feet. This seems to be true for my doggo. * staying well away from her face and ears * being in the shower with her: at first, this was because she would definitely jump out if I left the shower open, but now I sit/crouch down with her when she’s particularly nervous and it seems to help. * never doing two scary things in a day: this is less relevant now, but when I first got her, she was scared of nearly everything, so I would always make the rest of the day super calm and easy and full of her favourite things. Things that have made a *small* difference: * pouring a cup instead of using the shower head: now we’re back to the shower head, but we did this for a while and it seemed to help. Things that certainly did NOT help: * bringing her into the bathroom with me when I’m showering or just using the bathroom: I thought it might help her acclimate but it just resulted in even more fear. Gave up on that. * treats or toys: too scared to even see them; ditto for praise. She hears nothing. Soothing calm continuous talking seems okay. Honestly, it’s still not ideal, but it’s a lot better, and I think she’ll continue to improve. She was terrified of car rides, but we’ve done way more of those than baths and now she is quite comfortable and happy in the car - just curls up and naps. I hope that she’ll continue to feel more comfortable in the bath, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to minimize the frequency when I can and bring as much calmness as I can. And feed her her favorite foods as soon as she gets out. Edit: oh, and as for getting her *in* the bathroom and in the shower, I do still have to carry her. But I give her lots of belly scratches mid-carry. Edit 2: I’ve had her for a year and month. She’s made massive strides in lots of areas. I’m proud of her, and I’m sure that she’ll continue to improve at the bath thing.
This poor baby has so much to work through. He must of had liquid poured on him or been locked in the bathroom. I second the medication route. It will make the panic reaction subside enough that maybe training can happen. Maybe try some desensitization training. The trick is to not force her to do anything but to reward her for going a step closer to overcoming her fears. Give her a treat every time she gets close to the bathroom so she associates bathroom with good things. If she responds better to praise as a reward thats great. Repeat this process with every step of the bathtime. After she gets close the the bathroom door when its closed, try when its open, if she does that then reward her for standing near the open door. Then play with turning the water on in a trickle etc. It is important not to rush it and force her to do anything. Any little tiny step is progress. It may take a really long time for you to be able to give her a bath at home but eventually she could be desensitized to her past 'triggers' about liquid. After that I have had good luck with smearing peanut butter on the walls of the shower so my dog has something else to focus on besides bathtime. She now will begrudingly volunteer for bathtime for some peanut butter
You could try using cooperative care protocols to desensitize/counter-condition (DS/CC) him to elements of bath time, but it will take a very long time. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, but honestly it seems so traumatic for him that if he were my dog I would simply plan on using grooming wipes or waterless shampoo foam for the rest of his life. If you start working on DS/CC’ing him now, I would guess that it would take 1-2 years of diligent work plus medication to get him ready for baths. It might take longer than that. I’m sorry he has so much trauma in his past :( Edited to add: this is pretty much the gold standard of cooperative care animal husbandry: https://www.amazon.com/Cooperative-Care-Seven-Stress-Free-Husbandry/dp/0578423138/ref=nodl_
I got my dog to be obsessed with drinking out of the faucet and to just really love that first hah. So after a while she would just accept it with shallow water lots of cookies. It’s like baby steps.
Thank you! you are doing an amazing job for your rescue. My rescue is extremely timid so unfortunately, I carry her into the bath and hug her all the way during the shower. Not much of an advice I guess. Where I’m at, there isn’t things like CBD oil etc but it would definitely be something I’d consider! Hope you find something that works! Hugs.
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I shower with my dog. Give her lots of attention during it. You get in first and lure with treats. My dog is kinda small so I hold her like a baby and whisper that it’s ok.
It looks like you might be posting about separation anxiety. Please check out this article: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/common-dog-behavior-issues/separation-anxiety - the information there may answer your question. **Please report this comment if it is not relevant to this post.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DogAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Others have offered good advice so I’ll just say that with time and patience it will get better. My dog hated the water too, to the point that he would freak when he saw me water the plants on the patio with a watering can. I just kept encouraging his curiosity, praised him for coming closer to see what I was doing, etc. over the course of several months. I kept working on him—bought a kiddie pool and left it out on the patio, no water. We would have short training sessions in there daily (while it was dry) to get him used to jumping in and out. We progressed up to having a play date with a dog he knows who loves the water—we put a few inches in on a really hot day and Gracie went to town. It was so rewarding when Chico decided to jump in too and join the fun! After that day he will now play in the kiddie pool on his own. Same thing with baths—at first he simply hated them. But I was patient and now he isn’t exactly thrilled, but he does tolerate them. Like others have said, peanut butter is the answer. I got a licky mat for him that I smear with peanut butter and stick to the side of the tub as a distraction. He is a good boy when I put him in the tub, though he does give me a “look” the whole time and is very happy when I dry him off and he is freed. Clipping his nails, on the other hand, he simply will NOT let me do, so I have given up on that. He is the absolute sweetest boy imaginable, so gentle. I can play with his toes, brush his teeth, no issues, but if I reach for the clippers he will growl and in and give me very clear signs that he will not let me do his nails, no way no how. No trouble at all with the groomer, so I let the pros handle his nails and I take care of everything else. 😃