Re: [pyrnet] CHAT, CARE : Tucker gets a bath and HATES it!!!!!

Gunner hates baths! He hates water, period! Summer is better because I can put on some swim shorts and use the hose. I have to straddle him to keep him in place, and the neighbors just grab a cold beer or coke and watch the show..lol! The winter baths are something else. We use the tub and the shower sprayer. Still straddling him, he climbs the back of the tub with his back feet until he is on the ledge of the back of the tub, like a wheelbarrel. I constantly have to ease him back down so he doesn't fall on his face. After all is said and done, he pouts for a day and won't even look my way.

We were walking a couple of weeks ago, and a 3 year old neighbor boy was playing in a gentle little fountain sprinkler. We stopped to talk to the parents and although we were about 15 feet away, Gunner started crawling between my husbands legs, something like little kids that hide under their parents legs.

And oh boy, it was a real fight to make him go out to do his duty in the rain. As it can rain a week at a time, and we've seen him go a couple of days without #1 or #2, we finally just drag him out on the leash and make him go.

We have many funny water stories, but my best advise is to just make sure he knows who's the boss when it comes to baths! As big as they get, we humans could probably lose control quickly! :)

Good luck!

Traci

From: Elaine <ferreirae@earthlink.net>
To: Great Pyrenees Discussion List <PYR-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM>; pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
Sent: Wed, July 7, 2010 9:08:08 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] CHAT, CARE : Tucker gets a bath and HATES it!!!!!

Well, to be concise, Tucker got Â a bath this afternoon and I stopped because I didnât want to force the issue.

I got home from work today and found that Tucker had diarrhea in his crate and there was quite the mess and a very unhappy puppy. So I put him outside after giving him a few pets as he seemed upset and then I cleaned up the crate. I then gathered the stuff to clean up the puppy and went outside to take care of Tucker. I was able to soap him up with the shampoo and warm water, but when I went to rinse him off with the hose, he fuh-reaked!

He hated the hose, he seem to hate the noise the water made when it splashed on the ground and most of all, he hated when the water hit him. I started out with a light spray and aimed it at his feet, but he wanted nothing to do with this bath stuff. I even tried to empty out the bucket and rinse him off with a rag dipped in clean water, but he was obviously not liking that either and I stopped for the night.

So, I was able to get some of the shampoo out, but not all and I am trying to think of a way to start over tomorrow. The possible approaches are a bucket of warm clean water, lots of rags and lots of treats; a trip to a near-by lake; a trip to the do-it-yourself dog wash or a trip to the groomer. I have to say his attitude really surprised me as I have never had a dog that hated baths like that, some liked it and some tolerated it, but they never reacted like that.

If anyone has any thoughts on how to approach this, I am all ears, so to speak.

Elaine, Laela and Tucker