Would you pay to bath your dog somewhere else?

[E!!]

Let me start by saying that I HATE bathing my dogs. First off, I have to figure out a way to tie them in the tub and then I have to run bath water and drench them with a cup, which is even more of a pain when I am trying to rinse the soap off. After I have done all three of my relatively small dogs my back is killing me. It is bad enough that I haven't bathed my dogs in about 3 months and they stink. (they are inside dogs)

I recently notice a place a few miles from our house. You pay to bathe your own dog. They have the nice waist high tubs with hoses, all the shampoo stuff, brushes, driers and grooming tables. I think it is $10 or less per dog. It cost me about $24 per dog to have them bathed and brushed at a groomers.

I am seriously thinking about trying it out. Just the thought of not having that knot in my back seems worth $30 to me.

Has anybody used a place like this? Does it sound like a reasonable price?

[JR1030]

I've never used a place like that, but it seems worth at try at least once.  My dog has a broken/healed leg, and she's old, so I don't want to make her jump into the tub, so I usually wait for summer and warm up some water in the sun to wash her with outside.  Do you know how you're supposed to get the dog into the waist-high tub?

[E!!]

I haven't really thought about that aspect, but since my heavest dog is 25 pound and the other two are 12 pounds it won't be to hard. They do have a couple of staff on hand, so I wonder if they can help with lifting and such...

[Heather]

From what I've been told, the self wash areas have steps that go up to the tub for the dogs. When I wash mine, I have a removable shower head thing that I use. I can stand up and wet him down and when I soap him up I sit on the edge of the tub with my feet in, that way I only have to lean a little bit forward. I used to do the cup method and it was a royal PAIN. I wash Amos about every month because he rolls in stuff and after 4 weeks he's pretty dirty. I can buy a high quaility shampoo for $10 and get 12+ baths out of it. And I don't have to use any gas to drive anywhere. It never hurts to try this place though. If you like it and the money is worth not having to hassle with the experience at home then go for it!

[star2]

That sounds like a really cool idea!!  If I had bigger dogs I would definitely consider that!
Carl's 13 lbs and Mia is 5 lbs so I can easily stick them up in the tub and wash them up!

[tsk_n_such]

I do use one. I don't have a handheld shower head, nor a forced air dryer...both of which are pretty necessary if you have two Chows. I bathe my two small dogs myself, but with the fluffy kids it's just not doable. Once I have a forced air dryer for home it won't be so bad, but until then we go to the self service dog wash. I'm in and out, even with a Chow, in less than half an hour with a clean, completely dry and tangleless/extra undercoatless dog. (bless the forced air dryer)

[strangeduck]

I've always wanted to try one, because the clean up issue is just annoying.  I take my shih tzu/poodle mix to the groomers at least once a month and he gets another bath at least once between groomers visits...his fur just gets so coarse and icky feeling if it's not clean, and I love his soft fuzziness.  The big issue is my GSD/Chow mix.  She weighs in somewhere between 55-60 pounds and hates having a bath.  When I had neighbors in close proximity, I was always afraid that someone was going to call animal control or the police because of how loud she screams when I'm bathing her.  A river, lake...heck, even a larger mud puddle and she's all for it..swimming and laying down in the water if it's shallow enough, but a bath?  Nope.

Plus with her coat and the amzing amount of hair she sheds despite being brushed weekly is ridiculous.  Although, I did just discover the joys of shedding rake.  I'd always seen them in the petstore, but never tried it till a friend recommended it.  I don't know how I ever lived without it.

But, yeah, to get back on topic...I would totally bathe my dog at one of those place especially since I think clean up is included in that price.  And if I'm willing to pay 30 bucks a month to get Charlie groomed, why wouldn't I pay 10-20 bucks to save my back and the clean up?

[rat_hammie_lover05]

I've heard of those places and I've always thought, why would I pay to wash my own dog? lol I have 6 dogs that I bath (usually) 1x a month. If I had say one extremely large dog I might do that, but even though it's a pain and my back is killing me when I'm done, I'd rather just do it here. It's WAY cheaper I don't have to spend gas money to go any where and I can do them all in one day here. NONE of my dogs like baths so it's a "wonderful" challenge lol. I did buy one of those hoses to attach to the shower head to wash them though as soon as we got a house. So it makes it a little easier. If you are willing to pay the money I don't see why not, but I'd rather keep that money in my pocket. I even shave our shi tzu and cocker spaniel even though I HATE it just to save that money. Maybe I'm just cheap though. 

[tsk_n_such]

I'd rather be out the $10 than wait 3 hours for my Chows to dry, plus lacking the benefit of the forced air dryer getting rid of a lot of loose undercoat.  I'm all for saving money, but sometimes one has to weigh the options

[Heather]

Couldn't you just take a shop vac hose to them? Just kidding.

[rat_hammie_lover05]

I can understand if you have Chows or something like an Afgahn hound or something for the dryer reason. The only long haired dogs I have a a shih tzu and a cocker spaniel, so it's not that big of a problem. Honestly though if I had a chow or something with that much hair I'd be taking them to a groomer so they could do it. lol I'm cheap, but I'm lazier than I am cheap. When I only had Sweet Pea my Chihuahua I lived within walking distance of a groomer and I'd take her there to get washed and all that stuff. 

[ScoutGotBig]

Scout ALWAYS goes to the self-service dog wash.  He's too big to fit well in the tub, and the joys of the forced-air dryer PLUS the attendents who help when he's a big fat weenie and wants to go hide in the corner.

Bath at home?  Ewwwwwwwww - the tub is FULL of wet dog hair, the bathroom is covered with soapy water, it's a wrestlemania to get him fully rinsed, then he's wet for 3-4 hours.  Then he stinks again.  Plus, he's probably gotta go out at some point in that time, so then the damp dog is rolling in grass and dirt, so that defeats the point of the bath.

Hershey, the Cocker, goes to the groomer once a month for the clipping and such, and gets a bath as needed otherwise.  But, she's pretty good about it, and since she's clipped, she's dry in no time at all.  Nope, can't clip her at home, she doesn't look as pretty

[Dearpie]

I have a weim and a shower stall with a hand held shower head.   It's an excellent combination.  However, if the situation is that difficult, I'd consider something else!  One of my friends just had a portable grooming van come to the house and groom/clip all 3 dogs (2 poodles and something else) for $35? per dog.  I thought that was reasonable, overall, since she didn't have to haul all 3 dogs somewhere and then go fetch them!  I can't fathom having a long haired dog that has to be 'groomed'. 

[andrea1970]

There is one of those places near us, and they charge $16 which includes the tub and dryer, shampoo and conditioner, towels, brush/comb in a cubicle.  Probably for a high-maintenance grooming dog, I might consider it.  RIght now, Ginny just goes swimming several times a week, so baths seem overkill.  And most of the year, we really can do baths in the yard.  Had no choice with Bailey since there was no earthly way she was getting upstairs or stable enough to be in a wet tub.

Pie -- you need to send me the info on that groomer.  I haven't found anybody yet that I like for Ginny.  So she gets super shaggy.  The last place left her in the cage ALL freaking day with no water.  Kept doing other dogs first because she was being good and I wasn't in a hurry.

But there is something to be said for having everything specifically set up for dog washing. 

[E!!]

We ended up going a few weeks ago and it was great. Turns out they don't advertise a special that they have. The first bath is regular price ($10 for our sized dogs), the second is 25% off and the third is 50%. So we ended up paying $23 to bath all three. And your eighth bath is free. Everything was included; shampoo, towels, dryer, brushes and they let your borrow nail clippers if you need too. I am planning to go back, maybe even this weekend because it makes things so much easier and it is only about 5 minutes from the house. I am still getting use to Lily being gone and when I think about doing those things it just doesn't feel right that she won't be there. 

[star2]

I am still getting use to Lily being gone and when I think about doing those things it just doesn't feel right that she won't be there. 

*hugs*

[kalijo]

I work at a grooming shop, where we do everything, but there is a petstore with a self dog wash near me. The self dog wash has ramps to get large dogs into the tubs, good quality shampoo, smocks, zoom grooms, and cage dryers (gets the dog dry, but dries long hair in funky directions and doesn't remove undercoat) for $10.00, which is a great deal for dogs without much undercoat, but the high velocity dryers are amazing if the dog is shedding really bad.

To me, $10.00 is definetly worth not having to clean your entire bathroom when you're done.

[chiropteragirl]

I think that if you think it's worth the cost, go for it!