ChloesDad

None of my dobe's ever liked the water, including our new boy Gunner.

May try to see if we can change that with this guy but our two previous girls wouldn't think about the pool.

Took Chloe to the ocean once and she kept biting the waves and got the "squirts" from drinking the ocean. Never took her back there.

hrd2gt

Karma likes to swim in the lakes, she is all about it even. But the sprinkler and the hose when I water plants she is edgy. Since its so hot I started to bathe her outside. Not to kill my back I wash her on my table we use for agility (dual purpose, yeah!) of course she was standing on in shaking.. then after I soaped her up she ran in the house thru doggy door :| After that I put a leash and collar on her and tied it to the table, I just was slow and massaged the soap and kept saying good girl. But I didnt let her run away, I made her stay put, anotherwords, you dont have a choice.

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annmarie~
Dreaming of Good Karma CGC
& the Italians
Indigo in the Sky of Dreams MX MXJ
Lexus of My Dreams AX AXJ
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White Cleats

Jm1080,

This is a matter of motivation. The dog must feel like the reward is worth the stress load. Under the circumstances that you described, there is only one thing that will work here: Food. And not the treat kind of food, but meals.

First, this method will only work if your dog views food as a precious commodity. Many dogs don't feel this way because they are free-fed -- meaning, their owners put down their meals and give the dogs however long they want to finish. My dogs get 5 minutes to eat and then the food comes up. In the beginning, this program causes a few meals to be skipped but dogs catch on quick and soon realize that food is precious and that they need to concentrate and not mess around.

Once you've gotten to that point (and maybe you already are) then feed your dog in a dry kiddie pool or your bathtub (sure the tub is awkward to get into for a dog but trust me, they manage if they are hungry enough). Do this until the dog displays no signs of stress at dining in this odd new environment.

Next, move on to an inch of water. This may throw your dog off of food again, but stay strong. Missing a few meals won't hurt the dog (unless he's sick or pregnant). Once the dog is fine with an inch, move on to water that comes a bit more and a bit more. If you get to the point where the water floods the dog bowl then put the bowl up on a short stool or wooden crate -- whatever you have.

This is a self correcting method, one that does not require that you correct the dog -- or at least that's how the dog sees it.
Eventually the dog will learn that water is not only nothing to feel anxiety over but actually really great because this weird wet stuff is where food, wonderful food can be found.

At some point you'll have to make the transition from meal time in the water to treats given for submitting calmly to a bath but that's usually no problem. Just make sure that you're keen in identifying signs of stress and then on to capitulation to submission to neutrality. It's a process and you'll need to identify each step so as to know when to proceed to the next. Good luck!