I very rarely bath my dogs. It’s not as necessary as some people make it sound. In fact, bathing too frequently strips a dog’s scalp of the natural oils. Weekly grooming (brushing) seems to work best for my dogs. My vet comments every time we visit how nice my dog’s coats look.
I agree with Jean here. If your dog really needs the bath (is smelly), start out using a groomer. They’ve got all sorts of fancy contraptions built just for dogs. And they do a great job with the nails. It's funny how well most dogs respond to a good groomer.
Keep playing with your dogs feet when you’re home to get him use to you touching them. Because my dogs are older now I lay on the floor with them when I clip the nails. This way I’m not pulling their legs up in the air and making them uncomfortable. That just makes clipping unpleasant for them and then they don’t want to cooperate.
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