give a dog a bath

You want to be prepared before you try to get Fido to the bathing area. Get a bunch of old towels and lay them down in the bathroom or other area that you are going to wash the dog. Have a large cup (preferably something unbreakable) handy, in addition to dog shampoo.

If your dog is difficult - meaning resistant, not mean (if he's mean, don't attempt to bathe him if he doesn't want it) - you might want to slip a collar and leash on him to coax him into the bathing area.

Once he's in there, try to get him into the tub or under the hose. If he won't jump in (this is where treats will come in handy), gently lift him in.

Wet Fido down well, the plastic cup will help move this along. You may need someone with an extra set of hands to hold him inside the bathing area. Once he's good and soaked, lather him up with dog shampoo. Make sure you read the bottle, because some flea and tick shampoos require that it stay on the animal for a certain period of time.

After he's good and lathered and you've followed the instructions on the bottle, rinse him very well (another good time for the plastic cup). Make sure to get the soap off all of him, as it can dry out his skin.

Now comes the tricky part. Try to towel off all the excess water you can, before Fido leaps out and drenches the floor. Just in case, have a bunch of towels laid out to try to catch some of it.

Now you can either help him jump out or let him do it on his own. Stand back, because he's gonna shake a couple times to get off all the water.

Once the wet dog smell passes, you will have a fresh Fido!