Re: bathing--ahhh...fresh, fluffy, clean puppies!

[Dr. William B. Neff]

I have a few hints for bathing your Berners in your bathtub.

First, Get yourself a rubber mat so your Berner feels secure in the tub. There's nothing worse than a sliding Berner who is then leary of the whole process. Winston loves to get a bath and jumps right into the bathtub onto the rubber mat. It also helps a great deal to have something like a Shower Pic attachment so you can use the gentle spray to wet your Berner down and rinse them thoroughly.

Second, Get one of those drain filters that catches the fur before it goes down the drain. That way it won't collect in the drain until it can stop up the water flow some day.

Third, It makes life a lot easier if you get a plastic bottle (a pop bottle with a sipper top on it is great) - that way you can dilute the shampoo in it and squirt it where you want it.

Fourth, Teach your Berner the command, "Shake!" After Winston is done with his bath and thoroughly rinsed, I close the shower curtain on both ends and say, "Shake!"....and he does. I repeat it at lease three or four times and then open the curtain and towel dry him before he gets out of the tub.

Fifth, Don't open the bathroom door until you have used at least three towels on him.

Sixth, Put towels all over your bed!!! I just know that the place Winston is going to end up on is our bed, so I've learned to put towels on the entire bed. Otherwise, he lies on the few inches that do not have a towel on them.

Seventh, Enjoy the process. I usually end up just as wet as Winston is, but we both have fun.

Eighth, Snuggle with your nice clean Berner!!!

Ninth, DON'T even try to get the fur off the walls in the bathroom until it is dry. Then you can just use a soft broom and slide the Berner fur onto the floor and into your dust pan. You can use the shower attachment when the bath is finished to wash the fur off the shower stall walls, collecting it in the drain filter.

Hug those berners - they are so very precious!
Joye Neff and Winston (Samantha and Ben)
Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh, PA