[Dhatt]

*There is a quite a bit to read, just to help explain what happened *

I adopted my dog from an Animal Shelter when she was roughly 8 weeks old. & I instantly started training her.

She actually LOVES water! She loves water so much, I got her a kitty pool one summer, and she played in it all the time! :thumbsup:

But then, In April 2011, my sister got married in Mexico. & my sister-in-law didn't want to bring my nieces across the border, so she didn't attend the wedding and instead stayed behind.

I originally had my Best Friend as the main care taker of my dog while I was away for about a week and a half.
My sister-in-law is a perfectionist, and I could trust her. She offered to watch my dog since she would be staying at my house anyway. So I thought, 'Yes! That's perfect!'

Just before I left, I had told her that she HAD to watch my dog while she was outside or she would try to get out.
One day, while I was in Mexico, she left the back door open, and was inside playing with my nieces, and letting my dog run in and out whenever she pleased. Well within all this time, my dog managed to escape my backyard.

She didn't come home until really late that night, my sister-in-law told me she was covered in feces so she made her sleep outside that night.

The next morning, she put her in her kennel, put her in the bath and bathed her that way.

Ever since I can't even say the word 'Bath' or else she runs into her kennel or into a corner. Her ears and tail instantly go down.
She follows me everywhere and she won't even go into the bathroom with me when I take a shower anymore. Even if I have the door wide open.
She stays as far away as possible whenever the bathtub is in use.

Just before I left for Mexico I had trained her to jump into the bathtub whenever I asked her 'Wanna take a bath?!'

I wasn't told this story until after I got back home.
I honestly feel so disrespected. My dog is like my child, and I expected her to be taken good care of. I feel like all she did was cause major anxiety in my dog.


Any ideas of how I can fix this??
Please & thank you!

 

[marbear]

Wow- that is awful. Can you maybe reserve a favorite toy or treat for the tub and just get her ok with getting in the tub again. Once she's ok with being in the tub, could you maybe get a little plastic tub (the kind you get in a hospital) and fill it with nice warm water and just give her lots of treats for being in there w/ the tub of water...move on to using a washcloth to wipe off her fur..then move on to pouring the water out?

This is not a 1 time fix even though the trigger was 1 time. You can get her in a dry tub with a kong every day though...might speed up her good associations without the hassle of a full bath. I am sorry about your sister-in-law and also about your dog The bad thing is that it takes a lot longer to fix a problem than to just do it right the first time.

ETA I see you say it's the entire bathroom. Have you tried the kitchen sink or is she too big? you will probably need to start at the entry of the bathroom and work your way to the tub.