How can I get my dog to like water?

Question

I have a 5 month old Chihuahua. I bathe her once a week. Sometimes more if needed, like this week, I bathed her about 4 days ago, but then had to again today because she had the runs and she stepped in it.
She freaks out, and cries really bad when I'm about to give her a bath, then in the bath, she is horrible. She tries to jump out, and when I hold her up, to rinse off her tummy she acts like she's swimming and kicks her arms really fast, making it hard for me to hold onto her.

How can I make my Chihuahua like water? Or just even be okay with having a bath?

Thank you.

Answer 1

You are washing her to much. What you need to do is get some puppy wipes from the pet store they will help with the dogie oder, try some sprays for the smell as well. I had a Pug who was 10 Years old, when I rescued him from the street, and had a skin condition that made him stink and the vet had us use the spray on him it worked wonders and conditioned the coat as well. As far as the water thing try giving her a treat that she will only get when in the tub start without the water and than gradually add water.

Answer 2

First you are bathing her way too much. Most dogs don't need to be bathed more then once a month. Doing so more often will wash the natural oils out of their fur causing dry skin and other skin conditions. When you do bath her put some kind of rubber mat down in the tub so she can get some traction in the bath. When she begins to freak out, stop with the bath but do not remove her from the tub. Talk gently to her calming her down. Once she calms down, start the bath again. Have a toy in the tub that she likes and when you pause in your bath, play with the toy with her to get her mind off the bath and on something else. you want the bath to be an enjoyable experience not something that she fears.

Answer 3

I can tell that my dogs don't like bath time either, but they will voluntarily get in the tub and stay there calmly until I say so. This is what I do:

1. Make sure your attitude it calm and in control before you start. Your dog will pick up on your body language and voice, so act like everything is NORMAL

2. Get something non-slippery for your dog to stand on. This will help her feel more secure. Ex: shower mat that you can clean easily.

3. Get a shower head that has a hose so you can spray off your dog. Go ahead and get the water warmed up a little before you bring your dog in the bathroom, then turn the water off. Turn to water on when the shower head is close to the lower part of the back of her neck. This really makes them freak out less.

4. Use a washcloth to wash her face instead of spraying her face. They hate being sprayed in the face!

5. make it fun by putting some treats on the inside edge of the bath tub so your dog has to stay in to get them (as long as her stomach isn't upset)

I hope this helps!

Answer 4

Bathing her that often will dry out her skin and make her uncomfortable. If she still smells ask the vet, odor can be related to health problems, and a dog that is kept clean shouldn't smell after a short period of time unless the smell you are talking about is normal dog smell.



That said, you can help her to enjoy it by not doing it more often than necessary, and by giving her lots of treats so she can associate water with happy things. It may or may not work, many dogs know how they feel about water and won't be convinced otherwise. It won't be a problem if you stop bathing her too often.

Answer 5

Just don't hurt her when shes taking a bath and give her a treat afterwards. Also you can't hold on to a Chihuahua? Man you need to start working out if you can't hold on to something that weights 3 pounds or less lol.

Answer 6

You might not be able to get your dog to like water, but maybe to tolerate it...?



Try making bathing and just contact with water an rewarding experience. When your dog finishes taking a bath, give her a treat and praise her. You could even try just putting her into a tub of shallow water and scrub her, and give her a treat afterwards. Eventually, she might learn that good things come out of baths :)

Answer 7

I'm not sure how to get her to like water, but you are definitely bathing her waaay too much. It can be very harmful for her fur and skin to do that.



With my experience with all of the dogs I've had and my friends dogs it's mainly been either the dog likes the water or they don't. I don't really know if you can change that.

My two mutts want nothing to do with the water but my dachshund loves getting baths and he loves to swim in the summer.



Your best bet might be to wait until the weather is really hot in the summer and maybe put her in a small pool to cool her off. She might cooperate if she wants to cool off.



Good luck! :]

Answer 8

You can't, but you can make it easier on you if you hold her ear at the base to keep her from shaking, or desensitize her to the tub by letting her in it when it's dry and rewarding her being calm with treats and praise.

Also consider getting some sort of hose attachment so you don't have to expose her belly. A lot of dogs don't like that and go berserk.

Answer 9

well maybe try bathing her in a little tub where she can stand, also try to only bathe her once a month, too much if not needed horribly dries out puppies skin...and use special puppy shampoo & conditioner, using people shampoo is terrible on dog skin

Answer 10

My dog is almost 10 and still hates bath time. She is a Doberman, but same situation. We just try to make sure the water is as comfortable (temp) as possible and we talk to her like a hairdresser talks to a customer... and she still hides when it is bath time.

Answer 11

You are bathing her too much. If she steps in something, just clean her foot. You are going to destroy the protective oils in her coat.

Answer 12

um i dont think ur supposed to bath ur dog so much...maybe putting her fave toy in the water getting in with her.. treats

Answer 13

you cant.it runs in the family like my dog--lab/chow/pit bull loves water and tries to eat it because that's what her mom does.and my dog's brother hates water because that's how his dad was.

Answer 14

it takes time, remember she is still very young, I have things that I do but my dogs are way bigger...

Answer 15

you can't.