Pace Gets Really Woozy During His Bath

[Guest KateWantsaGrey]

So pace has been with us for about 2 months now, and we've given him 2 baths. He is a white dog and for some reason the dye from his dog beds rub off on his fur. Nothing major, just after a while his thighs start to look dingy from the dark khaki color rubbing off on him. He also has this chemical smell from his Frontline application last week, and I wanted to wash that off. So the first time I gave him a bath, about 5 minutes into it he started getting really tipsy and woozy. First his back end starts getting weak, and he leans on the edge of the tub or sits, and then he gets weak all over and has to lay down or he will fall over. I thought that maybe this was because the water was too hot or something, so this time when I gave him a bath the water was just barely warm. But the same thing happened again, with him getting all wobbly. It's like he is fine for the first few minutes, but once he starts getting wobbly, it progresses rapidly to where he can't really stand on his own anymore. The total bath time only lasts about 10 or less minutes. And I've been using puppy/kitten shampoo on him, which my group said was safe to use. As soon as I let him out of the tub and towel him off, he seems to get his balance back, and by the time i've dried him off and let him out of the bathroom, he is fine. So what's the deal?? Has this happened to anyone else?

[ahicks51]

Have you tried using colder water?

 

Warm water can cause vasodilation, which lowers the blood pressure. It's not unheard of for greys to collapse in a warm bath or shower.

[seeh2o]

It sounds like maybe he really likes it, kind of like getting a massage and melting into it.

[LBass]

I have experienced the same thing with Piper at each bath. I had heard that tepid water might help but it seems to make no difference with Piper. The moment the water hits him, even if it is just shy of being stone cold, his legs turn to noodles and I help him lie down in the tub. He is fine afterward.

[Guest KateWantsaGrey]

I have experienced the same thing with Piper at each bath. I had heard that tepid water might help but it seems to make no difference with Piper. The moment the water hits him, even if it is just shy of being stone cold, his legs turn to noodles and I help him lie down in the tub. He is fine afterward.

 

that's exactly how it is with Pace. It sort of scares me, what if i'm injuring him? But he is right as rain as soon as the bath is over. It's so odd...

[RobinM]

Greyhounds are known to "faint" during warm baths. My Beau fainted when he was being bathed by the adoption group I got him from. They thought they killed him.

 

Whenever I bath him, I never let the water go above 80 degrees.

 

ETA- I ALWAYS go into the tub with them.

Edited July 5, 2008 by RobinM

[fritofeet]

Diesel does that too, and it doesn't matter what temperature the water is. Usually I get in the tub with him, and pretty much stuff his back end between my knees so that if he does collapse he won't get injured. I end up soapy, and he is always the last one to get a bath because it is more work to bathe him. I use bath wipes and a "dry" spray shampoo in between to get the grungies off.

[Guest jg_consult]

Yes, I've had three different foster greyhounds fade out in the tub. They are terribly stinky when they come off the haul truck, so a full bath is a necessity. Needless to say, I'm in the tub too! That water sure feels tepid to cool to me. They would just slowly lean over and slide down the side of the tub. They were each very relaxed and calm about it. I've had other fosters who stayed upright the entire time.

 

After the bath is done and the hound is all dried off, I put the foster in the crate with a nice peanut butter biskie. They like this part very much! Then off to scrub the tub and me!

 

I had one foster with a just-healed broken leg. The minute I set her down in the tub she leaped right out. Superman couldn't have jumped higher than this girl. Nearly had a heart attack on the spot, I was so worried she might hurt her leg. She was fine and went on to a happily-ever-after forever home.

[Guest KennelMom]

It's normal. Cool water usually helps.

 

Someone on GT had a foster returned b/c the family thought there was something wrong with the dog - despite all assurances that it was normal. The family didn't want a defective dog. Can't recall who on GT's foster that it was but I remember that whole episodea b/c it was so odd.

[Guest LadyChester]

I have one that faints almost every time we bathe him if we aren't very careful. We have to be sure the water is barely lukewarm or he melts. The vet said it is exactly what ahicks said ... it affects their blood pressure.

[Guest MAXNAV]

I have experienced the same thing with Piper at each bath. I had heard that tepid water might help but it seems to make no difference with Piper. The moment the water hits him, even if it is just shy of being stone cold, his legs turn to noodles and I help him lie down in the tub. He is fine afterward.

 

 

My collie used to do the same thing. I thought there was something wrong with him, but my groomer told me that a lot of dogs react this way.

[Guest mickey85]

We had a pug that just loved the water. They were washed in teh utility sink in the basement, and she'd just sit down with her tail plugging the drain! lol.

[DunesMom]

Dune has always collapsed in the tub, so does my vet's grey. Water temp doesn't matter; we've tried hot, cold, warm...he still slowly collapses and has to be held up the whole time. It takes two of us to bathe him -- thank goodness we have a big tub!

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

Katie....this actually happened to Drake after a hot shower. Poor Pace...give that happy boy a kiss for me!

[Fiona3]

I'm glad to see this post. We haven't had this happen with any of our 6 greys over the years but as we plan to adopt more in the future this is a good thing to have in mind if it happens. I would have the same reaction as you did and wonder if I had injured my grey. Good information to know. There's always something new to learn on GreyTalk!

[Guest VelvetEars]

Don't worry - you didn't break him! Jackson does the same thing. I've also had fosters do it. Jumpy needs a bath soon, so we'll find out how she handles it.

[Guest luvskinnies]

Yes! My girl does the exact same thing. She's timid by nature and she sort of goes a bit limp in the bath, it is definately that she is nervous, so we try not to bathe her unless necessary. Actually, while the water is off and I'm soaping her up she's fine, but when I turn the water back on, she reacts the same way. I just chalk it up to a bit of nerves. I wasn't really convinced until we fostered her mother a few years ago and she did the exact same thing!

[Guest KateWantsaGrey]

Wow... this is so odd! But I feel a lot better knowing that this happens to a lot of greys. What if they want to go swimming in a lake? Do they still get noodle-legs? That would be extremely dangerous... I'm very glad to see these posts though because I was about to take him to the vet over it, it scared me that much. Like his eye just glaze over and he melts into a floppy pile of doggy mush

[Greytlady94]

Use cool water to bathe, that should help.

[Guest chucknstan]

Yes, a little colder than you would think.

[sobesmom]

Wow... this is so odd! But I feel a lot better knowing that this happens to a lot of greys. What if they want to go swimming in a lake? Do they still get noodle-legs? That would be extremely dangerous... I'm very glad to see these posts though because I was about to take him to the vet over it, it scared me that much. Like his eye just glaze over and he melts into a floppy pile of doggy mush

 

Lake water would be a lot cooler than "bath water", so they'd be fine there. I bathe my dogs in quite cool water - much cooler than I'd get in! And, no need to fill the tub! Just dump big cups of water over them, or get (my favorite thing) a shower head with a long hose. I think that sometimes standing in warm water gets to them.

 

Many other breeds "faint" in warm water, but I think that greys, with so little body fat, are especially prone to have their body temp rise too quickly in warm water.

 

Another possible cause, if the bottom of the tub is slippery, the dog may feel insecure and slup down. Put a towel in the bottom of the tub for traction.

 

 

[Greytlady94]

With our first greyhound we had a very expensive ER visit on a Sunday due to a bath. We had no idea what was wrong, and neither did our veterinarian at the time. Not even our adoption group knew what to tell us. That was 1994, I think the word on warm baths for greyhounds has gotten around some since then.

[Guest TBSFlame]

Beecher did this unless the water was cool to touch.

[GeorgeofNE]

George fell asleep getting a bath once. I thought I had killed him--then I realized he had just relaxed so much his knees slowly buckled!

 

You really shouldn't bath Greyhounds very often. They have naturally dry skin. How about washing the dog bed cover and getting the excess dye out instead of washing the dye off the dog?

 

Dry skin = itchy skin!