# Recirculating Bathing System and Getting Poodle Clean



## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

I know nothing about this topic, but I am interested.op:


----------



## Axeldog (Aug 29, 2014)

I have never heard of this either! Will be interested to hear if others have any knowledge/experience with this method.

I completely understand the issue you have with bending over the bathtub to bathe. We have a little hose and sprayer head that hooks to the tub nozzle and that's how I wash my two. I sit on the edge of the tub and wash them. It is not easy on the back!


----------



## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Axeldog said:


> I completely understand the issue you have with bending over the bathtub to bathe. We have a little hose and sprayer head that hooks to the tub nozzle and that's how I wash my two. I sit on the edge of the tub and wash them. It is not easy on the back!


That's how I do it too. Absolutely back-breaking! Wish I had a large walk-in shower so I could get a booster bath.


----------



## chinchillafuzzy (Feb 11, 2017)

I have a showerhead with a hose and I use that to bathe Luna. I just kneel outside the bathtub to do it. It is a little easier on the back but kills the knees. I am also very interested to learn about the recirculating system talked about in the OP.


----------



## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

If it had some pressure, it would dislodge dirt. Without a bit of a 'blast', it won't. You really want a hard spray at least. Can you adjust the hose nozzle to narrow the stream and increase it's velocity?


----------



## MissMahonia (Dec 27, 2016)

Yes. The nozzle is adjustable. I have it on a stream with more pressure, but I have to be careful around the feet and face of course. He is very sensitive about his feet in general even though he is fine with them being touched. He just does not like pressure applied and really does not like the sight of a grooming tool near them. Although the scissors are fine. He has accepted scissors as an acceptable tool to be near him.

I agree you need a pretty strong spray to push the dirt out of the thick coat. Before I tried this set up I like you put him in the bathtub and kneeled outside and bent over or sat on the edge and bent over. I have a handheld attachment sprayer at the shower head with a 6' hose. It's the same set up as a shower head with a handheld sprayer for people. This works, I just need a longer hose. He tend to back up to the back wall where the hose can't reach to rinse him off. The stinker. 

I just read so much hype about bathing systems such as the Havanese and similar ones that professional groomers use and thought, wow, that must really help them save time and their back! 

I've been kept using this new setup weekly and it's okay. If I notice a dirty spot in general I still need to wash by hand. The noise is becoming bothersome though as it is loud. I probably should invest in a mat for the bathtub to place it on.

I have found that I do need a lot more than a teaspoon or even a tablespoon of shampoo. I use probably about 3-4 tablespoons of shampoo in about 4 inches of water in the bathtub. I'm not sure if I'm really saving any water. I don't refill the bathtub with clean water for rinsing. I just use the handheld shower head sprayer. Saves time so that the dirty water can drain while I rinse off the shampoo and any trapped dirt. 

Bottom line. I'm dreaming of one day having an elevated tub I can stand to bathe him in. I've used them at a groomers nearby that has a self-washing section in their salon and it's nice. Yet, Ari still tries to back up and out of the tub there too. I need to figure out why he is becoming more uneasy about bath time. He used to love it and still loves swimming. Oh, how I love it, but wish he wouldn't jump in just any old time. Especially when we are coming inside so I can leave for work! Ugh.


----------



## MissMahonia (Dec 27, 2016)

By the way, I just think you poodles are beautiful! They are all beautiful. I never knew how much I loved them until I became a poodle owner myself. They have a way of weaving into your heart.


----------



## MissMahonia (Dec 27, 2016)

I posted back to Countryboy that I thought their poodles were beautiful. That applies to you and everyone else too. Black poodles scare me more (thinking of a black wolf in the woods - that is scary), but yours have such sweet smiles that all fear subsides.


----------



## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

I use a bathing beauty in my job (professional groomer) and for my show poodle and 2 other dogs. I get small dogs bathed, and dried in 15 mins or under.
I just fill the tub to the line on the machine, add my shampoo (Most of my shampoo is K9Competition, but I've used it with other shampoos), and spray. I usually use my other hand to do a bit of massaging. I then turn it off, quickly rinse, then with the same water (unless the dog was actually really dirty) I do a quick second bath (again if dogs are REALLY dirty I may have to do more, but that's rare and usually only large hairy breeds).Then rinse and I'm done (the cleaning part, depends on the dog and such if I do in bath conditioners or not).
For my show dog I usually only bath once on a maintenance bath since he gets done weekly so is clean. Most of my other baths don't 'need' a second bath, but it's just a good back up in case they had a spot dirtier than I realized.
A video I did a while of bathing my show dog. I used a fair bit of shampoo in this video sine I had done a spray up so he had hair spray in his hair that I wanted to get out. Bathing starts at 1:20ish





I only put about an inch and a half of water in the tub and use more than a teaspoon or table spoon of shampoo. I use usually a full 'squirt' from a pump, sometimes 1.5 pumps depending on the shampoo concentration and how dirty the dog is.


----------

