# How Warm Should the Water Be?



## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

How warm do you feel bath water should be? I try to make it slightly less warm than I would like to have in the shower. Willow shivers and shakes when I bathe her and I really don't know if it's because she is cold or if she is just not liking being bathed. Should the water feel fairly warm or quite warm to the the touch?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> How warm do you feel bath water should be? I try to make it slightly less warm than I would like to have in the shower. Willow shivers and shakes when I bathe her and I really don't know if it's because she is cold or if she is just not liking being bathed. Should the water feel fairly warm or quite warm to the the touch?


I have it about like you described&#8230; a little less warm than I would run the shower. With Kodi, I've found that his shivering has more to do with the house temperature than the water temperature. If I turn the temperature in the room up a couple of degrees, he doesn't shiver.


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> How warm do you feel bath water should be? I try to make it slightly less warm than I would like to have in the shower. Willow shivers and shakes when I bathe her and I really don't know if it's because she is cold or if she is just not liking being bathed. Should the water feel fairly warm or quite warm to the the touch?


I bathe Rory at 100° F and use this digital kitchen thermometer to make sure both her shampoo and conditioning bins are the same temperature (I do the bin bath).

Why 100°? A dog's normal body temperature ranges from 99.5° to 102.5° and 100° is easy to remember and feels just right.

Yes, I'm probably a little OCD, but Rory is comfortable, does not shiver, and enjoys her bath time.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Thanks everyone. I'll check the temp with my thermometer next time to see just how warm it really is.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> Thanks everyone. I'll check the temp with my thermometer next time to see just how warm it really is.


You really, REALLY don't need to use a thermometer. If you want to, it can't possibly hurt, of course, but there is no need. I never used a thermometer to bathe my babies, let alone my dogs! :laugh:


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## RitaandRiley (Feb 27, 2012)

Some of us ARE OCD about our dogs. Not that there's anything wrong with that....


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## emichel (May 3, 2012)

RitaandRiley said:


> Some of us ARE OCD about our dogs. Not that there's anything wrong with that....


LIKE :biggrin1:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

RitaandRiley said:


> Some of us ARE OCD about our dogs. Not that there's anything wrong with that....


Absolutely! I am too. Just in different ways!


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## Ramona (Aug 15, 2015)

When i bathe dogs I use slightly warmer water than I would like for myself. Dogs have higher body temperature than us, and has fur in between too, so I would be on the warmer side  My former dog LOVED to shower, and I used quite warm water, not too warm, but a little warmer than I would like myself.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ramona said:


> When i bathe dogs I use slightly warmer water than I would like for myself. Dogs have higher body temperature than us, and has fur in between too, so I would be on the warmer side  My former dog LOVED to shower, and I used quite warm water, not too warm, but a little warmer than I would like myself.


Be careful with that, though... Many people, (myself included!) like really steamy showers. That is DEFINITELY too hot for a dog, and they have no way of easily letting you know.


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## Ramona (Aug 15, 2015)

As I wrote _slightly_


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