Beardies tend to enjoy the water. If you ever take your Beardie to a beach or a
swimming pool, they will love to get in.
But keep in mind that their coats can become waterlogged, so don’t
expect your dog to easily swim long distances.
Bathing a Beardie is also generally not too difficult, but
be prepared for the sight of a transformed creature, with its hair plastered
down looking forlorn and being an excellent visual definition of the phrase “a
drowned rat”.
Beardies also tend to think that a toilet bowl is a far
superior water source to any water dish that you may supply. The water is always cool and evidently tastes
much better than just the plain water out of the tap. With this in mind, you need to be careful of the
use of any toilet bowl rinses or other chemicals. What might help keep a toilet bowl looking
nice and sparkly is usually not too good for the innards of your Beardie. This is also a reason to be very careful when
you have your Beardie around toilets not in your home (for example, if you are
in a hotel room). Whether you are male
or female, you need to keep the lid of the hotel toilet closed when you are not
using the toilet, as you don’t know what kind of chemicals the facility may be
using.
Another thing you’ll need to get used to is a having a soggy
lap. After having a long refreshing
drink that will thoroughly soak their beard, Beardies will seek you out and
lovingly plop their head on your lap.
This seems to provide them with a way to dry their beards, with the
added bonus of hearing your startled exclamation when a drippy dog muzzle lands
on your lap. This seems to be an
instinctual behavior of all Beardies.
Some of them would never put their head on your lap except when their
beard is wet.