bathing my dog

Question
I fill up the tub.


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Followup To
Question -
One of my dogs hates to be be bathed.  She is a large, somewhat wrinkley, short-haired dog (Sharpe and some sort of bull dog mix) The one time I tried to give Molly a bath in our tub, she fought very hard, scratching me and almost hurting herself on the fixtures.  I have thought about taking her outside and trying to hose her off, but we rescued her a few years back and beleive that she was abused.  She hates the sound of running water and rain.  She has a wonderful diposition and is very loveable, but I find it hard to be affectionate due to the dirt and smell.  I have tried to brush her with cleansing powder, but that only masks the smell for a short time.  The other dogs are easy to bathe, so I find myself paying more attention to them and I feel horrible sometimes.  Do you have any ideas?
Answer -
Hello Dawn,  Are you filling the tub with water or are you using a sprayer?

Answer
Hello Dawn, just as I would have suspected.  OK, this is my best advice for you and it is exactly what I would do myself.  Put a rubber matt in the botton of the tub so that the dog will not slip.  Then get youself a hose attachment for the tub faucet or one of those hand held shower massage devices that you attach to the shower faucet.  They make those also with extra long hoses.  Turn the water on slowly and at the correct temperature before you bring the dog to the tub.  This way you don't have the quiet of no water and then suddenly turn it on and have to quiet the dog down while adjusting the water temp.  Have this already done.  Again only have the water on at just a little more than a trickle.  Start at the dogs hips, farthest from the head and then proceed to wet her down everything but the head.  Once the dog is wet just leave the water running and let the hose hang.  Again this way there is no starting and stoping of new noises.  Wash her and then rinse.  If all goes well use a wet wash cloth for the head.  Next time she may be ready for the water to go over her head, maybe not. Introducing her to this slowly should help her fear of water and using the matts in the tub should give the dog some security from slipping especially when the shampoo is introduced.  This has worked great for me when I have a dog afraid of water.  Mostly it's the not slipping and using the water at a low pressure.  You can always increase the water presssure when she is ready.  Good luck, Cindy lou :)