Dog is scared of water

I got a pitbull from a friend of mine as he was moving home.. I have it 5 days now, and when i got it i tried wash it, but it is scared of water.. I put it into a empty bath, and it jumped out and ran, then i turned on the tap and it ran.. I was walkin down the street and a person threw a bucket of water out the door on the ground and the dog nearly ripped me across the road. The dog is very scared and shy, maybe mistreated?


Any help on how i could wash her?

Thanks

Hello Geon you are welcome to the forum. I know that some dogs develope a huge fear of water but with time and lots of patience you should be able to get your dog used to having a bath. You say you have only had your dog for five days so for a while everything will be new for it. I would give him/her time to sttle into the new surroundings and also get to know and trust you a bit before you attempt to introduce any water to her/him. When you feel he/she is getting into the differnet routine try using a wet cloth to wipe her over and then progress to a sponge. In time have the sponge soaking and just rub it over the legs. Untill the dog gets used to this keep away from the back and face. Give lots of praise and rewards if your dog starts to relax and settle. This might take a while but eventually you could have a bucket of water and sponge and wash dog standing outside before you get as far as the bath.
If you get chance stick up a bit about yourself and your new friend in the intro thread would love to see a pic too.

YENALED1 wrote:Hello Geon you are welcome to the forum. I know that some dogs develope a huge fear of water but with time and lots of patience you should be able to get your dog used to having a bath. You say you have only had your dog for five days so for a while everything will be new for it. I would give him/her time to sttle into the new surroundings and also get to know and trust you a bit before you attempt to introduce any water to her/him. When you feel he/she is getting into the differnet routine try using a wet cloth to wipe her over and then progress to a sponge. In time have the sponge soaking and just rub it over the legs. Untill the dog gets used to this keep away from the back and face. Give lots of praise and rewards if your dog starts to relax and settle. This might take a while but eventually you could have a bucket of water and sponge and wash dog standing outside before you get as far as the bath.
If you get chance stick up a bit about yourself and your new friend in the intro thread would love to see a pic too.

Yes i see where you are coming from.. Thanks very much


Will have info and pics up in the next few days also

I used to get shadow into the bath by putting food in it she still doesnt like getting washed but doesnt put up a fuss anymore just stands there looking depressed

well kid...i seen you yesterday with her..she looks well...hope your mother camed down...lol...
ya just do what jules..said with the sponge etc..
the bloke that had her never washed her ,,just walked her when he felt like it..she was put out his backyard when his child came along ...
that happens alot with dogs...sad but true...
but he did feed her and if there ever was a problem with her ..he would bring to vet....he was good that way...he worked long hours,and he knew himself that when he moved house he would not be able to give her proper time ..so now you have her...she a cracking little thing..


she just needs a bit of time..
she not used to the new world

Also forgot to mention, she is one of marks dogs, mark is also a member here..

And like all of marks dogs, she is very beautiful, obedient and well behaved, like any other family pet

water should be second nature to all dogs,we can only assume that some time in her life she has had a negative experiance with water,have a look at our dogs in the gallery,try to find stuff she likes and make it fun and introduce the water to that.........hope this helps ,john

theoldgit wrote:water should be second nature to all dogs,we can only assume that some time in her life she has had a negative experiance with water,have a look at our dogs in the gallery,try to find stuff she likes and make it fun and introduce the water to that.........hope this helps ,john

Totally agree, shadow still isnt impressed when it comes to bath time but she loves the river in the park, she used to never dream of going in the river untill a friends dog was out one day and was diving in having a ball and shadow couldnt help but join in... Now she doesnt mind water at all. Try bring her to a river & find a shallow part and throw a ball or stick in, she might go in you never know, even get somebody who has a dog that likes water to come, alot of the time if a dog see's other dogs having fun with something the will try and join in

Hi,
just wondering, but why would you need to bath the dog? I have never bathed a dog in 25 years of owning them! I often see people say to bath a dog every 6 months or so, but IMO no need to. However, I am open to learning otherwise!
Mine gets walked in fields full of cow pats and the rescued one likes to roll in it. I wait til the dirt is dried off and brush it out.
At worst, do as advised by Yenaled1 and sponge down, talking quietly to her to keep her calm.
One of my rotties was not keen going into water, until in summer I stripped off and went in too. After that she loved swimming!
cheers,Mike
ps my staffie does not like the water, so guess what I'll have to do this summer

Mike7 wrote:Hi,
just wondering, but why would you need to bath the dog? I have never bathed a dog in 25 years of owning them! I often see people say to bath a dog every 6 months or so, but IMO no need to. However, I am open to learning otherwise!
Mine gets walked in fields full of cow pats and the rescued one likes to roll in it. I wait til the dirt is dried off and brush it out.
At worst, do as advised by Yenaled1 and sponge down, talking quietly to her to keep her calm.
One of my rotties was not keen going into water, until in summer I stripped off and went in too. After that she loved swimming!
cheers,Mike
ps my staffie does not like the water, so guess what I'll have to do this summer

GET EM OFF......

lol its gas i only wash my dogs once a year in the summer, 2 buckets of water and scrub from the vets, none of them like it to start of with but as you get them wet and start to give them a good scrub they love it. i think another way for a positive introduction to water is at the beach, if she is toy orientated slip off your shoes and walk her in shallow to start off with while playing with her using the toy, well you got so many good tips to choose from i hope all works out and we see some lovely pics of your little beauty at the beach this summer.

Wish i only had to wash shadow once a year Shes such a scruffy dog starts to smell only a few days after a bath!! She has bad skin too so have to give her bath anyway usually every month or two depends on her skin really

Because my dogs have long hair, and are white, they get dirty very easily, so I just get the hose out and chain one up hose him down, it's the only time they don't bother you if you're just giving attention to one

For dogs that love swimming, they sure do hate that hose

Ell2011 wrote:Wish i only had to wash shadow once a year Shes such a scruffy dog starts to smell only a few days after a bath!! She has bad skin too so have to give her bath anyway usually every month or two depends on her skin really

Hi,
have you looked a Shadow's diet to see if she is allergic to something in the food? Alot of feed contains grains and filler uppers that give no dietary goodness to the dog. This can affect alot of dogs, especially showing up as skin conditions. My rottie had bad skin and I changed his food and he was ok. I done some research (ok clicked on Google! ) and found diet contributes to a large majority of dog skin issues.
Course, you might have sussed it out as something different already, but only a thought!

cheers,Mike

Mike7 wrote:

Ell2011 wrote:Wish i only had to wash shadow once a year Shes such a scruffy dog starts to smell only a few days after a bath!! She has bad skin too so have to give her bath anyway usually every month or two depends on her skin really

Hi,
have you looked a Shadow's diet to see if she is allergic to something in the food? Alot of feed contains grains and filler uppers that give no dietary goodness to the dog. This can affect alot of dogs, especially showing up as skin conditions. My rottie had bad skin and I changed his food and he was ok. I done some research (ok clicked on Google! ) and found diet contributes to a large majority of dog skin issues.
Course, you might have sussed it out as something different already, but only a thought!

cheers,Mike

Her skin is much better since we changed her food, its a dry feed specially for sensitive dogs the guy in our local petshop told me all about how bad most dog foods actually are (hes like an expert on dog food haha) but she just flares up from time to time. We took her to a vet about it and had to fork out 150EURO!! The bloody vet only looked at her didnt touch her or give us anything for the skin just said theres 100s of different reason she could have bad skin (duh) we got specail shampoo that helps alot too but her coat still looks dry and dull most of the time... Any tips for a shiny coat??

try not to bath her to much..... brush her down.... i give the pups mackeral in sunflower oil once a week, also great tip from lilly brush her down with a pair of old tights

there coat was messed up because of demodex... once treatment was finished i started the above and there coats look great now

Hello,
150Euro for a vet visit! I took our foster dog to the vet and was charged £12 without the dog being touched, and I thought that was a bit steep. Told them too! I'd better rethink!
I feed 1/2 barf and 1/2 origin kibble, alternate dasy or so. A tip I got a while ago was to feed a dog with bad coat and skin on fresh rabbit. Don't know if this is fact or not, but mine get rabbit once a week and are ok. fish and oil etc seem to be good too.
cheers,Mike
ps check the ingredients on the food. If there is alot of filler I would consider trying another brand.

The feed is mostly fish (for healthy skin) and a bit of rice... Might try giving her the fish in oil and see if it helps...
I only wash her when her skin gets bad because it calms it down straight away and she'll chew herself untill she bleeds its not nice to watch...
Im defo going to try the fish and brush her down more and see it that helps... Shes kind of bad at the minute is there anything i could use to calm the skin without having to give her a bath?

Yumega oil is a thing that lots of UK people put on their Staffs food for the coat.

Ell2011 wrote:The feed is mostly fish (for healthy skin) and a bit of rice... Might try giving her the fish in oil and see if it helps...
I only wash her when her skin gets bad because it calms it down straight away and she'll chew herself untill she bleeds its not nice to watch...
Im defo going to try the fish and brush her down more and see it that helps... Shes kind of bad at the minute is there anything i could use to calm the skin without having to give her a bath?

maybe a damp cloth or sponge to clean her down..... she might think she is getting a rub. if she is really itchy you can give prition 4mg twice a day.

pitties rule wrote:try not to bath her to much..... brush her down.... i give the pups mackeral in sunflower oil once a week, also great tip from lilly brush her down with a pair of old tights

there coat was messed up because of demodex... once treatment was finished i started the above and there coats look great now

is that the wash skin problems ? had to bring Ruby to the vets with an outbreak of bald patches , vet didnt haveit it in but shes on tablets for 10 days and probably the wash next week . So you recon it messes up their coats , i haveto wash Fellow as well .

yeah there coat was missing hair everywhere..... demodex wont spread from dog to dog. have a look in the health section, under any ideas what this could be.... see if rubys coat looks like theres was... demodex is managable... i had to use aludex for 6 weeks i think it was and there hair started to grow back after 2 weeks.... horrible thing for them to get but as i said it can be sorted... the wash helps alot its the actual demodex that messes there coats up.