Do you get battle scratches when bathing your dog?

I took this quote from a previous post.

We always say that dogs can put up a fight when imminent danger is near. In this case, it's the dreaded bath.

Have you ever gotten scratches from a dog who was trying to flee the bath? Or have you experienced worse?

 

Oh yes. I don't think it's intentional to actually hurt me either, but it just sort of happens when they're trying to get out of it. I think it's way worse with cats, though.

 

I agree, it's probably not intentional. Also, I'm pretty sure that Homer doesn't put all of his strength into biting me - he doesn't want to hurt me, he just really doesn't want to be clean .
He fights with me also when I try to clean his couch

 

I've never been scratched but I always end up wet from head to freaking toe. He's shaking the water off constantly so there is no avoiding it. I'm thinking about buying some kind of rubber apron to protect myself.

 

Mishka's fine with baths mostly. Getting her to sit in the tub sometimes is a hassle. Not sure why she refuses at times. Scratches are not a problem.
She's off to the hairdressers next week. That will make washing her easier with short back and sides.

 

My dogs didn't enjoy being bathed but we made sure to ensure bathing experiences were as stress free and comfortable for our dogs as possible.

I can't recall any scratches resulting from bathing our dogs. Although occasional scratches are probably a common occurance amongst dog owners. I'm sure the scratches are never intentional.

 

So far I haven't had any fights with any of my dogs yet when it comes to bathing. It's not that they would take a bath willingly but once I get them to the bathroom, they just stand there quietly until they are done. Then I have to scrub them dry very quickly before they are ready to bolt as soon as the bathroom door is open.

 

My dog and I fight every time I want to bathe him. As soon as I say 'let's go shower' he hides and won't come out until he thinks I've left the house. Once I actually get him into the tub though, that's where the real battle begins It's complicated to keep him down, and even though he's a small dog, he gets really strong when it comes to getting out of the tub, lol. I have a bunch of scratches on my arms from bathing him but he knows that he's hurt me so after his bath he licks my arm to say sorry. He hasn't hurt me a lot, aside from that one time that he scratched my face instead of my arm - but I recovered pretty quickly.

 

I lucked out, two of my dogs really didn't mind baths at all as long as the water wasn't too hot or cold obviously. They would just take off running through the house like maniacs for a while afterwards. I think all the scrubbing and drying would get them excited or something.

My oldest dog, however, hated baths. She really didn't like to be picked up in general, but picking her up to put her into the utility sink was even more of a hassle. For some reason, I was the only one she would allow to pick her up. She would start flashing her teeth and snarling in protest at everyone else who tried to do it. Occasionally she would snap and bite at them. She wouldn't claw at me, but you could clearly tell she wasn't enjoying it. I would only put a few inches of soapy water in the sink and hose her off gently.

 

I think it's very possible that many of our dogs get this phobia about taking baths because we expect them to. I mean dogs can sense our moods more acutely than we think. It's like they can sense that we are expecting trouble when giving them a bath. So they automatically go on the defensive. Of course, this is only an armchair canine psychologist talking. I wonder if there has been any study about this.

 

My dog is less fidgety if I tie his leash to a pole and just use hose.He'll stand there and let me bathe him. When I use the kiddy pool it seems that is the thing that makes him antsy. So maybe if I just wash him free standing it won't be as bad for me. He still shakes every 10 seconds though.

 

I can relate. My dog shakes after getting wet, getting soaped and being rinsed. When he's done getting his bath and I ask him to shake, he'll just stare at me as if asking, "What do I do now?"

The little ones leave the nasty scratch marks because they move a lot- in a futile attempt to escape. Once, Chooey got up the basin and jumped out of the counter the moment I turned my back on her.