I gave my XL dog a bath
I gave my 120 lb dog a bath at the local tractor supply store. They have self wash stations for dogs. And that's how it's always been pretty much since we got her, we used to get her groomed by petco but they told me to stop bringing her because the lady who normally groomed her wasn't there, and the new one didn't listen to my warnings and used the blow dryer on her.
So she was surprised when my dear XL dog decided to growl. She was labeled aggressive after that. Oh well. In reality. She's not. The last thing she will ever do is bite.
I'm currently 4 1/2 months pregnant. Or, 18 weeks almost 19 weeks, and getting her INTO the bath was the most difficult part. Not even the bath itself came close in difficulty.
Getting her into the closed in wash area space was kind of difficult. I had to grab some treats from the shelf strategically placed next to the wash station.
Getting her into the bath itself was almost impossible. At first I tried carrying her in.
Keep in mind this dog weighs more than I do, I could only get her front feet up.
After that, She bucks away like a horse.
You really start second guessing yourself when she starts looking at you with crazy eyes after the fourth attempt.
But I know she's mostly harmless. She's well trained. But she's an anatolian. They don't do things they don't want to do, they're not like your typical labrador. It doesn't matter. She must understand that she must listen eventually and that things don't go her way.
But the only way I finally got her into the bath was coercing her with massive amounts of high reward treats. First jerky. Then freeze dried lamb liver treats.
Two different kinds. It took persistence, and a bit of force and trickery on my end and I finally got her in 20 minutes into this ordeal.
Normally, my husband is the one who strong arms her into the bath. But this time he's out working... And she really needed a bath. So it was my turn. But I managed. And...honestly the entire process was ultimately rewarding.
Would I do it again? If absolutely necessary. Next time, I'm giving her a long walk, and way more treats to make this process as painless as possible.
Here's a picture of her right after. At the tractor supply parking lot.
