Don't let this cute face fool you. THIS is a bad puppy.
So Chris and I have been having problems bathing Coco and clipping her nails. Luckily, we walk her so much that her nails stay trim on their own - so we only have to trim them about once a month. But even still...Coco is beyond traumatized by the basics of bathing and nail trimming. She is downright INSANE.
Yes, my sweet little Boo Boos went over the edge today.
I took Coco to our neighborhood Dog o Mat and thought that working with a professional may be a better route for her to take. Get her out of her element...some new faces...new smells. Um, NO. She was way worse than I could even imagine. After a pretty drama free nail trimming, I was optimistic about getting her into the tub. Once she felt that water spray on her back, you would have imagined that she was being sprayed by sulfuric acid.
The groomer was shocked and we even had to muzzle Coco after a while, I have the red marks up and down my arms to prove it -- that pup went BONKERS! Ugh. After flailing around like a goddamn fish and biting and scratching and wailing...that groomer rinsed her off, smiled pretty and charged me EXTRA for dealing with a complete lunatic.
So right now, I'm settling for those super size Doggie Wipes and I tell you what -- we will ease back into the bathing thing. I'm not saying that I completely give up. But I am going to be realistic here...I've been to Crazy Town and I am NOT going back anytime soon.
Zouave, my pit mix, is deathly afraid of water. She does not bite, but she will do her damndest to get out of any water you put near her, let alone on her. The last time I successfully bathed her was in my parents' back yard, with me basically wrestling her to the ground and my dad and I tag team scrubbing her.
ReplyDeleteIn part I blame this on when she was a puppy. I was trying to ease her into the bath thing, by putting her in the tub with me, and just turning the water on at a drizzle. She didn't like it, but with many treats, she was willing to sit there. However, a clear genius that I lived with came in, said it was "taking too long" and turned the water up. And the dog freaked. And that was the end of that.
HOWEVER. Zooie can be washed by someone else IF I'M NOT THERE. So, as always, my own tension about giving her a bath clearly comes across to her. It's not EASY for others to bathe her, but she's just scared then, and not fighting it. Perhaps that's the route you'll have to take as well.
Yeah - thx Tass! I may have to try that one out. Just drop her off and see what happens. She tends to GO FOR THE OSCAR infront of Box and I because she knows we'll coddle her. We're workign on that. ;)
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