[Kinjal]

Hi All,

Some suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Gabbar is now 3 months amd 1 week old, he still has his play biting moments which we are working on (but its a lot less- 1 or 2 times a day instead all the time). The main issue is when we give him a bath, he bites at the towel when we are trying to dry him. Its quite a struggle. Is this normal behaviour and how does one get him used to it?

 

[Maddie'sMom2011]

13 week golden? From my somewhat recent experience (April), this is completely normal. Try distracting him with something else--favorite toy or treat. It's good thing they're so cute huh?

Just wait. The fun has just begun.

 

[rhondas]

I have not experienced this with my now 4.5 year old at this age. He has always let me towel dry him, even when he comes in from a rain or if I have to rinse him down after swimming etc. My now 14 week old allow you to towel dry him. In fact, the 14 week old had his first real grooming last week and the groomer (only grooms goldens in her house) said he was great through the whole thing - some towel drying, blow drying, dremelling (sp?) his nails and even ear cleaning (which I also do).

 

[Kinjal]

That's great Rhondas, I'm not that lucky, so hoping to hear from people who had the same issue and conquered it ....

 

[quilter]

This is one of our puppy's favorite games. My husband taught it to him. (OK, it doesn't really take much to "teach" this game.) We live in Seattle, so there is a lot of toweling off. Makes for a lot of playtime for the dog. It's all OK as long as the dog doesn't get forget the difference between us and the towel.

 

[puppydogs]

towel drying is my pup's favorite part of the bath. she kinda runs into it like a bull...i dry her, she moves around a lot then comes charging back. try making it as much fun for them as possible..maybe praise him when he's NOT biting it too

 

[jluke]

Yep...

Maisie likes to bite at the towel(s) when we're drying her, too. (When she was younger she also used to chase paper towels when I was cleaning up the water she spilled when she drank from her water bowl, but she's mostly stopped that.)

If I give her a toy she likes to really chew on, I can usually keep her distracted while I towel her off. I also taught her to "shake" paws, so for routine drying off when she comes in, I can get her to shake to dry off her front paws and praise her for that which also helps.

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

I use 2 towels: one to dry her with and one for her to hold in her mouth.

 

[Yuki]

this is a method i have always used on my previous golden Saya and it worked. i am using the same for my current pup Yuki.

i use two towels and treats. i put one towel on the floor and let my pup sit or lie down on it, give the treat and towel dry him with the second towel. i also clean his ears while i am drying him. then i give him few more treats while i blowdry him. i am still training him to stay still when i dry him. hope this is helpful.

 

[kbiocic]

haha I'm glad I'm not the only one either. After Bella's first bath she went nuts with the towel and I didn't know how to train her not to play with it. Then after the second bath I decided that it would be a good treat. So after her bath she has to sit calmly in the tub and then when I say "OK" I'll let her come out of the tub and roll around in 1 towel and play with it all she wants as I dry her off with the other. She has gotten much better with the drying off after walks too as long as she has something I can stuff in her mouth (toy or treat)!

 

[Willow52]

Hank is 2.5 years and still bites the towel then grabs it and runs. I guess it's all part of the after-bath-zoomies!

 

[Mom of Maizie]

Same problem here

I have the same problem with my 5-month old golden, Maizie. I guess I was never persistent enough to get her used to a hair dryer or a towel!!! She's had some dry skin so I've followed the advice to avoid bathing her too often, thus we haven't had a lot of opportunities to practice.

I'm curious to learn any tips or hints in this thread and just thought I'd check in to let you know you're not alone in this!!

Mom of Maizie