Unlike other dogs, chihuahuas typically have the same highly underwhelmed reaction to water. They are the ones who would rather cut a walk short and go home rather than walk through a shallow puddle.
Is it raining? Don’t want to go potty outside. Bath time? Well, you’ll have to catch them first!
This feeling is pretty universally shared by dogs. Even a labrador retriever who may enjoy jumping into a slimy pond finds warm soapy water a completely different beast.
Although it may be a very long road to getting your dog to enjoy a warm bath the way we do, getting them to stop acting like they’re melting is a little easier.
Start With Sound
When working on something especially difficult, it’s best to break things up into small steps. This is why we worked on desensitizing our dogs to touch before adding in another item, like a brush. In this case, we’re going to start with the sounds of being brushed before we bring in water.
At the groomers, most water will be applied through a hose or shower nozzle, so it will have a gushing type of sound. We’ve recorded sound from our own nozzle attachment here you can use.
It’s best to start no where near the bathroom/kitchen sink, or other hotspots where you are stacking both the sound of the bath and proximity to water. The goal here is to get your dog comfortable with one aspect of water at a time, so it’s not overwhelming.
Play the sound softly, and once the sound has started, feed your dog a procession of small treats. When you stop playing the sound, stop feeding the treats.
If your dog runs away from the sound without waiting for the treats, try again later but with the sound lower. You may even have to have your computer, phone or other sound playing device a few feet away from you, playing low, while you feed treats.
It’s important to remember that the treats need to begin after the sound starts playing, and to stop at the same time as the treats. No sound? No treats.
When your dog is completely comfortable with the sound, even when it is played at a normal volume, you can move on to the next step.
Move Closer to a Bathing Area
Once your dog is comfortable with the sound of the bath, you’re going to challenge your dog by moving your practice area closer to an actual bathing area. This should be wherever you typically bathe your dog at home.
If you were working in the living room for example, and your dog normally gets bathed in the bathroom, you might move to the hallway just in front of the bathroom.
The goal is to pressure your dog slightly by being suspiciously closer to the bathtub, while being far enough away they can deduce no bath is going to happen.
Placing your dog in the bathtub or kitchen sink to do this is too much at this time. Baby steps!
Repeat playing sound and feeding treats in this new area until your dog is completely comfortable.
Play Sounds Beside Bathtub/Sink
Finally, you are going to play sounds right next to where you normally bathe your dog, repeating the same treat process. If your pup was fine with treats outside the bathroom or kitchen, but suddenly refuses when you’re right next to the bath tub, pick a spot in between instead.
You may have to repeat the process one step at a time until your pup is comfortable right beside the washing area.
Important Note: Don’t Weaponize These Training Sessions
Sometimes dogs can be pretty difficult to bathe. They are hard to catch, flail, or hide when they know they’re going to get a bath.
When your pup finally has the confidence to come into the bathroom voluntarily to get treats, it may be tempting to quietly shut the door behind them and then give them a bath afterwards. This can backfire on you however, because you are communicating to your dog that there is something to worry about, even if it seems safe!
Resist the temptation to use your dog’s growing confidence as a trick. It will cause problems with training, make them more suspicious of your behavior, and teach them to mistrust you no matter what.
When you have to bathe your dog, deal with the hiding and chasing, but don’t connect it to a training session. Dogs who have poor recall, and don’t “listen” to their owners, often have owners who betray their trust at its root. Don’t be that person!
When your dog is fully comfortable, and even delighted with water sounds, it’s time to add the next step—the bath tub.
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It’s so true, my little guy absolutely freezes when it starts to rain. He really does prefer to avoid getting wet at all costs!