Medicated Dog Shampoo

My dog Maximus is a two year old male Labrador. He is a big fella weighing over 90 pounds and he be can extremely difficult to handle when it is time for his bath. He is a sneaky and devious chap who learns quickly and knows when its time for a bath. That is when he decides to get all fussy. He would go hide under the bed or sneak off into the backyard and make me run after him while he kept circling the house. If I do somehow manage to get a hold of him, I have to tug, push, pull, grab, wrestle and fight with him to somehow get him into his bathtub. Trust me… 90 pound Labrador… not easy! If you thought that was tough, wait till you see what comes next. The next part is really tough. I have to make sure he doesn’t escape from his tub as well as fill his water and mix his shampoo. And then comes the tougher part where I have to scrub him clean and wrestle with him to keep him in the tub. After washing off the shampoo and soap, the next step is the toughest – Drying him with a towel. He loves to grab onto the towel and making sure it doesn’t leave his mouth. It makes drying him very difficult. Overall, I end up taking almost two hours to give him a bath.

After many months of all this, I started to learn how to outwit my dog. If you have a fussy dog like mine, this might help you.

1. Before your dog knows that its bath time, have a friend or someone take him out for a walk like you normally take him.
2. When he is away on his walk, use the time to prepare for the ritual. Prepare the tub for the dog bath. Fill it with the required amount of water and grab the shampoos and soaps and keep them ready for the bath. Use a medicated dog shampoo if he might have ticks. Place a bathroom mat near the tub so that you and your canine pal don’t slip on the wet surface.
3. Once he is back from his walk, welcome him heartily and pet him heavily. Give him a small doggy treat to make him go overboard with happiness. Now that you have him hooked, use another doggy treat and lure him into the bath area. He won’t refuse. Once he is in the zone, spring the trap and hold him in place.
4. Pour water gently over his back first and then the neck and shoulders. Then splash water on the legs and make sure his body is wet throughout. Then pour some more on his head gently. Scrub him with the soap or shampoo and be very careful not to let any get in his eyes. After he is shampooed, splash water and wash away the soapy mixture.
5. Then comes the drying bit. The trick to drying him easily is to use a large pet bathing cloth. The cloth should be long enough to let him grab onto one end but still not restrict you from using the cloth. When you are drying him, let him chew on one end while you use the other end to scrub him dry. It really works!
6. Finally, after the bath, brush his coat and give him his favorite doggy treat.

So there you go. It should help you give your dog a bath in half an hour if you are lucky. All the best!