photo credit: Clevergrrl
Coming out of a grocery store this weekend, I noticed a sign in front of Pet Food Express advertising a $15.00 self service dog washing center. I had to go in and inspect what $15 would buy and was surprised to find a very nice set-up with clean waist high shower areas and blow driers. Having two labrador retrievers, the cost would be $30 to bath my canine friends. I spoke to an employee who told me they were having a special if you purchased 3 dog baths, the 4th was free. Is it really worth $15 to take my dogs to a store and bath them myself?
What’s the time and cost of washing your own dog?
1. Time. It take me approx 20 minutes to rinse, soap, rinse and dry off one of my dogs. If I got in the car and drove the dogs to Pet Food Express, it would add an additional 10 minutes.
2. Dog shampoo. I purchased a fairly inexpensive dog shampoo at the store and it’s lasted for almost a year now. Total cost of shampoo was $9.99.
3. Hair Drying. I use old beach towels that we have set aside specifically to wash our pups. The store did have a large hose hair drying that would not require me to wash and dry my beach towels. This would save a little bit of time and resources. I’ll say $3.00
4. Water. If your dog requires warm water baths, it would add a little additional cost to your home utilities. I would imagine it would cost about the same as a long 20 minute shower. If you did take your dog to a self service dog store, you could bath them as long as you like. I doubt though you would want to make a day out of it. An extra money saving tip: you could jump in the shower with your dog and save time and money by conserving water. Just be sure to use the correct shampoo on your pooch.
5. Extras? No need to clean up. You can leave dog hair, water puddles and just walk out the door. How much is this worth to you?
If you have children at home, maybe you can wash your dog together as a family. That would certainly speed up the process and you probably will share a few smiles and laughs together. If you have several children, you could put one in charge of washing and another in charge of drying. Having a labrador that gets dirty constantly, the price could easily hit $30 during the rainy months.
Maybe you live in an apartment and don’t have a large shower or bathtub to wash your dog. Taking your dog to a self service dog wash or groomer may be your only option. Some breeds also require grooming and trimming, but fortunately that’s not needed with our labs. Although, I do have a neighbor that shaves his dogs each summer to help relieve them of the heat. I think my dogs would just run away if I approached them with a pair of hair clippers. Is it worth $15 dollars to make a mess of your yard and use a few towels?
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