I have owned dogs for years (GSD's for 12 years) and have never seen this. We have a 5 mo old female GSD.

Gretta is awesome! Crate trained, potty trained, affectionate. She's leash trained, knows commands. Smart (she brings cell phone to me when it rings along with other amazing feats). What can I say? She's a great addition to our family.

Problem? She turns into atilla the hun when it's bath time. She has always had this "issue" with water. She has never "licked" water when she drinks. She BITES it. She sticks her snout down into the bucket/bowl, bites it and swings her head up. This is how she drinks! It's hilarious!

She does love to wade in her pool...and then she will go wild and bite the water while rushing in and out of the pool. She will circle the pool while intently looking at it. Will not take her eyes off of it. She will do this FOREVER.

A water hose? Oh my........she will spend an hour chasing the water as it pours out. Jumps in the air to get it. Spins. She's snapping the whole time at the stream of water. We can move it all over our acre and she is relentless. She will exhaust herself.

Soooo, can you imagine bath time? I'm sitting here laughing but it is getting to be a bigger problem as she grows. Last night my husband bathed her outside. They both came in afterwards madder than heck at each other and equally exhausted.

My husband was soaking wet. Scratched up. He said she would snap at him, but thankfully she didn't bite him. He compared it to a rodeo with her being a spinning, bucking bull. (She was on a leash.)

After they came in, she immediately kenneled herself and we shut the door. She sat there for the next hour intently staring at my husband. She'd do the head-cocking thing like "what was that?"

I finally took her outside and she and I had quiet time - it's a routine that she and I have (without going into detail). This soothed her and she became herself again. When we came back in, she went and loved on my husband. By the way, the two of them also have a great relationship - except when it comes to bath time.

I'm sometimes not the sharpest tool in the shed but I make the connection between watering herself and the "play" with the outside water.....and with when it's time to bath her.

So, what to do? It's not going to get easier bathing her and I certainly would never take her to a professional groomer.

How was the bathing done? Hose or a tub full of water?

With a hose. And, now that you ask this, that explains a lot. I didn't think of this.

Should we try a tub keeping in mind what she does in her wading pool?

By the way, you should see her with a sprinkler...........

Well, I have had pretty good luck with getting into the tub with the dog, with the glass door (or curtain) closed, having about 6" in the bottom and using a plastic cup to rinse.

Kept my clothes dry and eliminated the need to kneel by the tub.

In summer, yes, I do use a galvanized tub outside.

Oh, and start with a tired dog!

My dog has to be bathed several times a week and it's not something he really enjoys. Here's what I do (since he's way too big for me to force into the tub):

I start with a dry tub, no water running, and lure/encourage him in with his favorite treat. I'll get in the tub first if I need to. I keep a small bowl of treats by the tub and dole them out with lots of praise all during the bath.

I add water once he's in and I only fill the tub up enough to cover his paws. I've found one of those rubber no-slip mats in the bottom of the tub seems to help him feel more secure and it certainly helps keep a dog from falling if they get antsy. You don't want any negative experiences associated with the tub.

Like Connie, I also use a plastic cup to rinse.

Oh, you remembered the no-skid part!

I do line the tub with a towel.

These are great ideas! I've never had to bath a dog in the tub but with Gretta's antics, it's definitely an alternative. I didn't think of this. She might actually like the "closeness" doing it this way. I hope......if not, it could be really bad. I'll make sure there are lots of treats.

What do you think is her "thing" with water, with biting it, and chasing? We can't even water her in the house because after she buries her snout in it, bites it and slings her head up.....well, the whole area is saturated. And she does this repeatedly. She will do it with the whole bowl.

Your Gretta sounds a lot like my Danke.

She adores water- does the water-biting routine frequently as well. (Her inside bowl is small, and on a raised feeder. to prevent this. Her outside bowl is large, and she plays in that thing... she also paws at it and knocks it over a lot.)

We bathe her in the tub, because trying to keep her still around a hose is an exercise in futility.
She has a blast in the tub.

I put her in there with it already pre-filled, and let her jump around for awhile. She soaks herself pretty good, jumping and biting at the water, with a ball or two for good measure.

I also put a no-skid mat in, or she'd probably kill herself, with her antics.

I can actually get her to lay down in the water, she seems to enjoy it, and I rinse her with a pitcher.

I knew a Border Collie who went nuts with a hose or sprinkler. The stream of water must have looked like a rope to him, a moving rope, and he went bananas jumping and biting at it. Really funny to watch.

With the pool and her intent focus on it, any chance she's reacting to the reflection of light off the water? Maybe reacting to her own reflection in the water?

My dog will sometimes blow bubbles in the water bowl, which is odd to watch. Thank God he doesn't attack it as my house would be flooded.