We had our puppy, Mocha, for about 10 days before we decided her smell was getting too strong. So we decided to give her a shower, and also desensitize her to the bathtub.

Before that first shower, we had tried putting her in the bathtub and only made her slightly wet by using a wet washcloth. We also had put her in a foldable kiddie pool with an inch of water in it to get her paws wet in the patio for 5 minutes a few times. We just wanted to see her reaction, or wanted her first shower to be at least a neutral, if not positive, experience. So her first shower was definitely not her first time being wet.

Equipped with a peanut butter wall on the side of the bathtub, she barely noticed that she was wet with washcloth. We used lukewarm water. Later on, we tried bringing the trickling water right on her and she kept enjoying the peanut butter wall and didn’t even notice what was going on. We were lucky, I guess.

We toweled her off, which is always fun, but when we attempted to dry her hair off, she started being unhappy. We knew that she doesn’t mind the noise, but definitely reacts to the sensation of directed strong wind on her, which is funny because she really likes riding the car on the window.

Anyway, she then smelled nice for about 2 more days, before she started having a little bit of smell again 🙂 But that’s ok. Successful bathtime.