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My dog is terrified of baths. How can I make bath time easier?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Female | unspayed | 5 months and 5 days old | 20 lbs

My pup has a really bad fear of bath time. She often gets scared to wits end when bath day comes. I truly hate seeing my baby like that, do you have any tips or tricks that could calm her down?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Katie S

Certified Dog Trainer

Published on January 28th, 2019

Baths can be fun or really scary. I would work in desensitizing your pup about baths. You c am do this by making the bath a positive experience. I would work with really yummy treats and putting them in the tub. No bath. Just getting used to getting in the tub and having a treat. You could even start putting his food in there (as long as she can reach). Keep working on this until she goes in and out easily on her own without much coaxing. Then next time I would have treats in one hand and turn the water on and off. Keep offering lots of treats and praise. Still no bath. Do this daily until she’s no longer worried about the water. Then you can start to work on getting her wet and progress until she’s comfortable with that too. Secret trick is smearing peanut butter (all natural of course!! Make sure it has no sweaters and NOT XYLITOL, it’s highly toxic). It usually keeps them busy working on that while you bath.

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    Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 9th, 2018

    Try using the bathtub and smearing peanut butter all along the edges of the tub to distract her. I've seen this trick work many times. Associate treats with bath time so that she looks forward to the baths or at least does not mind them. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 7th, 2016

    Great question! One important thing to do is to stay calm and don't show stress. Maisy will pick up on your stress, and will react accordingly. I would make bath time fun for her, and make is a positive place for her to be in. You can bring food into the tub, such as small treats, to feed her. Reward her when she stays still and tries not to get out the tub. You can also give her toys to play with, which will make it more fun to be in the tub. Be careful about the water temperature. I would keep it lukewarm, as warm water may be a shock to her. There is step by step training you can do to help her get used to a bath, and I will put a link to a website below that details this for you: http://pets.thenest.com/make-dog-like-taking-baths-4303.html

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The trick that worked best for my dog, which was absolutely terrified of the tub to the point where he would dig his claws into my arm and try to climb over me, was to smear peanut butter all over the sides of the tub. It worked like a charm for him and I've recommended this trick to several other owners of dogs that do the same thing and they all seemed to have nothing but positive results. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.
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