So I gave Charlie a bath tonight, and it was horrible. He started whining/squealing and jumping around. He slammed into the bathtub bottom numerous times, and trying to hold him with one hand and scrubbing him with the other doesn't work well.

When he was smaller, I would just take him into the shower when I got in and hold him close while scrubbing. He's just getting too big for that.

Of course, he looks very pretty and shiny now.

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on how to keep him calm during bath time.
He doesn't get bathed often, maybe once a month. I don't want to medicate him or anything, just get him used to standing mostly still.

And for his ears, are baby wipes good to use?

Much thanks in advance.

I use treats to settle my dogs in the bath. They get one treat {a bite, really} when I put them in the tub; one after I wet them; one after I soap them; one after I rinse them… you get the idea.

Maybe you could start by sitting in the bathroom for a few minutes, petting him, give him a treat, and then leave. Next time, put him in the tub and give him a treat. Next day, put him in the tub and turn the water on low, give a treat.... and so on. May be too much work/time/effort. I don't know. But it may ease him into the idea that the bathroom/tub is a great place to collect treats!

Jazz was never a problem in the tub; Keoki started to panic a bit the first two times, but fast/gentle movement, a calm tone, and treats all seemed to help. Now he's just fine in there.

Both dogs still hate it, and run to hide when they see me go into the bathroom with their towels, LOL, but they do fine during the bath.

I use cotton cosmetic pads moistened with bio-groom ear cleaner { http://www.3cdog.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=1493&osCsid=bbf } to clean the ears.

I also use moistened cotton cosmetic pads to rub down the teeth and gums.

After I finished his bath I thought about using treats. It may be a lot of work to get him used to the bathroom and all, but it'll definetly pay off in the end.

I'm just afraid of him getting hurt because he slams himself against the tub so hard…. then again, slamming his head really hard against a wall while playing with a stuffed bear didn't seem to bother him.

I'll definetly try it, and thanks.

Do you have an anti-slip mat? Those help really well too because then they are not sliding around which tends to freak them out more.

I can't offer any real advice other than that, Tiggy is great in the tub, both Basenji and Boxer got baths yesterday and Tiggy kept trying to jump in the tub while Reggie was getting a bath.

Another thing I found with Ruby, was if I didn't keep the water running or run the water on her, it went a LOT better. I bring a big pitcher, run the water fill it, rinse her with that. Turn the water on fill the pitcher turn it off. I found that if the water out of the faucet actually ran on her that she didn't like it. She was totally calm (let me rinse her and scrub her as much as I needed) when I used the pitcher and when I ran the water to refill and she wasn't under the faucet.

I was really surprised how good she was.

Yes they do "squeal"… ggg... and also remember to use "warm to hot" water... and I use one of those spray attachments so that the water is not running all the time... and a rubber mat.. also, we have glass doors, so I also get in there with them and shut the door, less time for excape... and doubtful he will ever like it much....
Another question... why are you bathing him once a month? Unless showing, mine are lucky to get baths twice a year...

@tanza:

Another question… why are you bathing him once a month? Unless showing, mine are lucky to get baths twice a year...

Mine get bathed every couple of months simply because they LOVE the dirt outside. I gauge when they need a bath by how their coat feels – it feels "dusty" to me when they're dirty -- and what color their white is looking. When they become red and grayish dogs, they get a bath, LOL.

@tanza:

Another question… why are you bathing him once a month? Unless showing, mine are lucky to get baths twice a year...

Right now, we're in the middle of redoing our backyard, since we just got a pool put in. So the majority of the back, where all our dogs spend most of their time, is dirt.
Charlie wrestles with our other two, and of course, all three dogs' favorite time to play outside is when it's damp out.

They all get quite muddy, so I bath him when his white areas start turning dark grey.

Smearing a small amount of peanut butter on the back shower wall works wonders for us!

Sahara use to HATE to get a bath, but these days it is much easier. I would tell her constantly she was being a good dog when she was, and I would tell her, a treat for Sahara for being a good dog. I would give her something really good (she loves sandwich turkey or ham) and it worked. She is so easy to bathe now, praise and treats are the magic solution.

Mickii would scream in the tub…ggg So I started singing back and since I can't carry a tune to save my life... it was so bad, she shut up to make me shut up...ggg... of course now that she is deaf... she doesn't care.... The only one of mine that like baths is Maggii, to her that meant show time and she loves showing...

Wyatt really hates baths, he won't even go into the bathroom, except to sneak in to steal the bath mat:rolleyes: We have to use treats, a no slip mat, and we bought short leads attached to suction cups that we can place on the bottom of the tub or the sides. It gets a little better each time.

My previous beastie hated baths big time and would know when I began putting water in the tub to run and hide. I would have to wear my bathing suit while washing him because he would just make a mess and shake water EVERYWHERE. EL D, being a retired show dog, is much more at ease with it. I don't wash my dogs very often though, once at the end of summer (to get all the dust and sand out) and then if he gets into something.

We got our Basenji puppy on the 12th of March:) and he was only 10 weeks old. He flew from Plainfield, IA to us here in San Diego and he was in his crate and had already did his business. When we got home we had to bath him. So he is use to the baths. But he has dandruff and was wondering how often should we bath the puppy. Or could it be the weather. Down there they had snow. And here its warm. Or could it be the puppy shampoo. I don't know. Does anyone know?

How often are you bathing him? Most basenjis don't need a bath more than once every couple of months. Over bathing can definately cause dry skin. It can also be caused by dry weather and not enough oils in the diet.

@lvoss:

How often are you bathing him? Most basenjis don't need a bath more than once every couple of months. Over bathing can definitely cause dry skin. It can also be caused by dry weather and not enough oils in the diet.

So far this month 3 times. But its only because the first time he was in the crate flying down here to San Diego. The second time was because he was in his crate while my boyfriend took a shower and he did his business and went crazy the poo was everywhere.:( I think the flight down here in the crate was a bad experience, he doesn't like going into his crate. So he had bath him. The third time was because I noticed the dandruff and changed the puppy shampoo and bathed him. So it's been once a week but not because we wanted to but because we had to. He is doing better in the crate. Wow so once every couple of months. I would think more that that.

Once a week is an awful lot so the dandruff is probably from the bathing.

yahhh but we had to. lol Thanks for letting me know. I will definitely not bath him until next next month. Thanks

What kind of food are you feeding him? If it is a low quality food, the lack of oil can cause dandruff too. It also shows up more on tris and blacks too…but usually puppies don't have a lot of dandruff. Stress can cause a big surge in dandruff...so he might be producing the dandruff when he is stressed out in the crate.

I wouldn't worry about it too much while he adjusts to your home. I would worry more about the crate phobia. There are lots of posts here about how to avoid a bad introduction to the crate, and how to deal with it if your dog is already crate phobic.

I only bathe Tucker about 3 times a year. He does fine. I also have a shower wand and I keep the temp up and he seems to like the warmth. He gets a treat when it's all over. Merricks beef filet squares. He loves them! The only thing I DON'T do is wash his face. I do wash under his chin and the top of his head, but he freaks out when the water gets in his eyes or ears. The wand helps control the flow of the water away from his eyes and ears and I can target the areas he doesn't mind pretty well. I'll just rinse his face and ears with water on my hands and no soap because getting it off would be too much for him. I'll prolly have to bathe him a little more now that he's got a group of dogs the he plays with. The other dogs are typically larger and he always gets covered in their slobber AND the other dogs tend to dribble their stink on him. Yucky…